Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...

Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom
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No company wants to advertise in a publication that is not in the good graces of the
authorities or which is liable to be criticized. This soft power combined with the iron
methods of the Central Publicity Department does nothing but increase censorship and
self-censorship. Not a single journalist dares write an article criticizing the Olympic Games.
To do so would reduce the advertising in his publication, and he would then risk being
fired or having his pay cut. Copy editors need an even more critical spirit to control the
articles written by the journalists. The editors are in effect the guardians of the Central
Publicity Department since their task consists of supervising the journalists and copy
editors to avoid attracting official wrath. There is a saying that Chinese journalists
attribute to their editors: “I am the watchdog of the party. I stand in front of its door. If it
asks me to bite someone, I obey.”
The financial liberalization of the media has not been followed by any progress in press
freedom, and this combination of soft power and tough regulation has been responsible
for serious problems of corruption in the media. Investigations by reporters are not
necessarily meant to be published or used to increase the value and authority of their
publications, but to obtain advertising and financing from companies operating illegally.
How does this work? The reporters carry out their investigations in secret, and once they
have gathered information concerning illegal acts, they write a report that is used to extort
large sums for “publicity” from the company concerned. Press outlets are very generous
with such reporters, and give them up to 40 per cent of the sums obtained. The national
journals are in contact with the big companies, including those quoted on the stock
exchange, while the small journals content themselves with striking up deals with mines or
illegal brickmaking works.
The death of Lan Chengzhang of Zhonggguo Maoyi Bao (Journal of Commerce of China)
at the hands of men from an illegal coal mine in Shanxi occurred under such
circumstances. The weekly China Economic Times carried out an investigation and
published articles affirming that Lan Chengzhang was a “false reporter” - not because he
did not have a press card but because, in the three years he had worked in a local news
bureau, he had not published a single article. Apparently, in this province, it is not rare to
see dozens of journalists turning up at a mine where an accident has happened to receive
a handful of yuan as “expenses for keeping their mouths shut.” Sometimes, the same
newspaper can send six or seven of its staffers.
Before coming to France, I interviewed Hu Jiwei, former editor and director of the People’s
Daily and president of the National Association of Journalists in China, today aged 92. He
said, “One cannot hope that the Communist Party and the government of Beijing resolve
all the problems of human rights and press freedom before the Olympic Games. But the
Chinese government ought to free all those imprisoned for their opinions, including all
journalists and cyber-dissidents.”
I think that if the authorities do not listen to our appeal to free Hu Jia, the Olympic Games
will only worsen the situation of freedom of the press in China.