China's media response to the story of the stabbing of two
Americans was standard procedure: The government took charge of a sensitive
story and determined what would be said. Hong Kong reporters might break new
ground, but look at the mainland's media coverage (here's
Kristin Jones's analysis) and
the only story you will see is from the official Xinhua New Agency. Carefully
vetted crime scene footage is supplied only by China Central Television. The
Central Propaganda Department issues directives to papers and magazines across
the country about how to handle the story, but reporters and editors already
know they won't be able to break any news about the incident without the
government's approval.
For a clear idea of how the government controls domestic media in China, read Kristin's chapter on "Censorship at Work: The Newsroom in China." It's in our overview of press freedom in China in advance of the Games, Falling Short.
As Madeline wrote yesterday, "While police have severely
restricted her movements since her husband's arrest in December 2008, she
continues to update her blog (which was not one of the ones recently unblocked in
In its statement before the
Games opened, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China noted that this was
an increasing threat: "Chinese sources report being intimidated or warned not
to speak out," the FCC's statement said. CPJ repeatedly warned of the problem
in Falling Short and in several other
venues, including testimony
to the Congressional-Executive Committee on China in February.
Print
Share
Delicious
Digg
Google
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Subscribe
Leave a comment