China: 2013

Special Reports

  

Second worst year on record for jailed journalists

For the second consecutive year, Turkey was the world’s leading jailer of journalists, followed closely by Iran and China. The number of journalists in prison globally decreased from a year earlier but remains close to historical highs. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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Challenged in China

The shifting dynamics of censorship and control As Xi Jinping takes office as president of China, the citizenry he governs is more sophisticated and interconnected than any before, largely because of the Internet. A complex digital censorship system–combined with a more traditional approach to media control, such as jailing journalists–keeps free expression in check. Repressive…

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Video: A Chinese journalist’s inside view of censorship

Journalist Liu Jianfeng worked in China’s state-controlled media for nearly two decades. Eventually, frustration with the system and pressure from his colleagues prompted him to quit. He continues to report on public issues such as land grabs, and hopes to find a new model for investigative journalism in China. Jonah Kessel reports. (11:10) Read our…

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Challenged in China

Preface By David Schlesinger There is nothing like reading a report on China and the media to highlight the mass of contradictions that is the country today.

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Challenged in China

1. Beyond censors’ reach, free expression thrives, to a point By Sophie Beach On March 24, 2012, investigative journalist Yang Haipeng posted on his Sina Weibo microblog a story he had heard that alleged a link between Neil Heywood, an English businessman who had been found dead in a Chongqing hotel, and Bo Xilai, the…

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Challenged in China

2. Although not explicit, legal threats to journalists persist By Madeline Earp Even as China’s virtual landscape buzzes with criticism of social injustices, government policy, and propaganda directives, independent journalism and expression are still perceived by the Communist Party as explicit political threats. Authorities also exploit vague legal language to prosecute dissenters based on published…

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Challenged in China

3. Made in China: Models for media and censorship By Danny O’Brien and Madeline Earp As the founding editor, in 2005, of the Liberian online investigative news site FrontPage Africa, Rodney Sieh has fought off lawsuits, imprisonment, and death threats. In the face of such pressures, he has still managed to expand the website into…

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Challenged in China

4. CPJ’s Recommendations CPJ offers the following recommendations to Chinese authorities and the international community.

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Internet usage in China

Over the past 10 years, China’s media environment has been transformed by the explosion of the Internet and, since 2010, the phenomenon of weibo, or microblogs, which now have more than 309 million users. Click through the slideshow to see how Internet use has evolved.

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Journalists Imprisoned in China

China consistently imprisons dozens of journalists, usually under anti-state laws. The makeup of the prisoners has evolved with the rise of the Internet and as ethnic minorities are increasingly targeted amid unrest in prominently Tibetan and Uighur regions. Below, click on years and categories to see the journalists jailed from 2002-2012 and to group them…

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2013