China on Thursday celebrated its 8th Journalist's Day, the last before the 2008 Olympics, prompting the old topic of expanding media freedom to find its way on lips of government officials, experts and media workers.
The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), the press regulatory body, reassured all Chinese journalists Thursday in an open letter that "no organization or individual shall disturb or stop legal news reporting as it is under the protection of the law".
Journalists shall be protected by their agencies when covering news and the Party and government departments shall facilitate their legal news reporting, the GAPP said.
"Journalists are the members of our society to help push forward democracy, civilization and social development. They also form an important force to inform people, promote social justice and harmony," it said.
The GAPP has admitted that some organizations and individuals had meddled in journalists' legal news reporting and, in some cases, journalists had been beaten and their equipment destroyed.
The latest instance of media interference was reported in August, when five Chinese journalists covering a bridge collapse in central Hunan province that killed more than 40 people were roughed up by local officials.
"Few local officials view the media as tools for 'positive and helpful publicity', and refuse investigative reports and media oversight," said Zhan Jiang, director of the School of Journalism and Communication of the China Youth University For Political Sciences.
The GAPP will "try its best to protect the legal rights and interests of reporters," says the open letter.
Greater media transparency has been promised by the central government through a series of efforts made over the past few years, as a commitment to the International Olympic Committee.
Observers believe that as the country's reform and opening up has gone through almost 30 years, the trend of greater opening up to media is irreversible.
In January, China issued new media rules that granted easier access to overseas reporters who would not necessarily have to be accompanied or assisted by a Chinese official when they report in China.
In April, China adopted regulations on "open government information" that promised public access to information on a range of issues including government spending, drug and food safety, and land seizures. These new regulations were intended to curb the government from abusing power.
In August, China adopted the Emergency Response Law, which requires officials to provide accurate, timely information on emergencies.
Zhao Qizheng, an outspoken former director of the Information Office of the State Council, said that "Chinese officials have started to realize that speaking to the media is speaking to the public."
"SERVING THE PEOPLE"
While the Mao era gospel of "serving the people" still reverberates today, Chinese media sector recalls it on such a special occasion to remind all the working staff, "Chinese journalism of the people by the people and for the people, shall never be changed."
"Over the past 70 years, the principle of adhering to the CPC leadership and serving the people, the faith of always reflecting people's aspirations and closely following the pulse of the time, the work style of going among the public, and the aspiration of promoting a professional spirit and abiding by occupational ethnics, all have not changed," says a commentary from the People's Daily, the leading newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Reality has proved that the Chinese journalistic cause can "well stand to the trust of the people and the Party", it says, noting that the size, mechanism and technical means of journalism have undergone "immense change" over 70 years.
As Thursday was also the 70th anniversary of the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA), which was established in then chaotic foreign-occupied Shanghai and a symbol of Chinese journalism of the revolutionary time, the newspaper reminded all media workers that the ACJA had "made great contribution in fighting against enemies with pens as a weapon", and called on all media workers to follow the tradition of "serving the people".
The GAPP also warns journalists to avoid accepting money from organizations in return for writing favourable stories and stick to moral code.
"Journalists should report the true voice of the people, promote the right and lash the wrong," it said.
The GAPP launched a nationwide campaign in August to crack down on false news stories, unauthorized publications and bogus journalists soon after the "cardboard dumpling" scandal.
Zi Beijia, a temporary employee of the Beijing Television Station, who fabricated a news story on Beijing dumpling makers using cardboard as a filling, was later sentenced to one year in jail with a fine of 1,000 yuan for the crime of "commodity defamation".
"The wrongdoing has severely affected regular news coverage and infringed upon the interview rights of journalists and the right of the general public to know," the GAPP said, adding, "Journalists should report the true voice of the people, promote the right and lash the wrong."
Source: Xinhua
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