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

Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom
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Wang Lianmin, a resident of a neighborhood condemned to be demolished to make way
for Olympic installations was arrested this month because he objected to the destruction
of his house.
Police have been ordered to turn back foreign journalists who attempt to enter villages
that have been the scene of disturbances. In 2007, no less than seven journalists were
stopped for questioning or attacked when they attempted to enter the village of
Shengyou, south of Beijing, the scene of fighting in 2005 in which at least six persons
were killed when thugs sought to take land away from farmers. The journalists attacked
included Barbara Luthi of Swiss TV, who was beaten up by police.
German journalists were stoned by thugs, apparently employed by the police to dissuade
them from visiting the house of the wife of the jailed blind lawyer Cheng Guangcheng.
To do reporting other than of a sporting nature, the thousands of foreign journalists, of
whom only a tiny minority will be able to speak Chinese, are going to have to find Chinese
journalists or translators willing to take risks.
There is a shortage in Beijing of good “fixers” capable of helping a foreign reporter in a
sensitive investigation. Resident correspondents in Beijing work with researchers or
translators because it is still impossible to hire a Chinese as a journalist. Working for the
foreign press is a risky calling, as shown by the case of Zhao Yan, a researcher for the
New York Times, who is serving three years in prison. Through him, authorities are
apparently seeking to intimidate others who might want to work for the foreign press.
The official guide for journalists covering the Olympic Games recommends working with
accredited organizations to find a translator. This must absolutely not be done, since it
would mean employing a potential spy who would report everything the foreign journalist
says or does to his employer, and thus to the government.
A British journalists working on a story about preparations for the Olympics was forced to
change fixers twice, since those he employed were terrified by the idea of working on
subjects such as the illegal imprisonment of petitioners or dissidents.
Fixers are also essential to decipher the propaganda in the official media, which has
intensified on sensitive subjects like Tibet, the autonomous Xinjiang region or dissidents.
The government has prepared other obstacles for foreign journalists - the blocking of
hundreds of Internet information sites, particularly those of non-government organizations
and Chinese media abroad, the jamming of international radio stations and the bugging of
phones and other communications.
So that journalists will have no time to dig into sensitive topics, the organizers of the
Games are planning to inundate them with information and invitations that will keep them
busy round the clock.