"We need investigative journalists" courageous editorial

[Long Pan]

Courageous and powerful editorial from today China Daily columnist You Nuo. Taking the recent “Shanxi slaves story” as example, You Nuo points out the importance of journalism which in that particularly event was first to investigate and denounce the case. Trouble is that this kind of journalism is uncommon in China where (I quote) “the national and city based media coverage only cater to middle-class consumer interests – expensive houses, European tours, Italian fashions” [feeding a society] (I still quote) “where saving face is traditionally more valued that telling the truth”. Then going on further “the lack of investigative reporting also has to do with the fact that despite the award ceremonies that appear in the press almost daily, there has never been an award for investigative journalism”. Investigation journalism that according to You Nuo could help denouncing the “loop-holes in the system” as “corruption among law-enforcement authorities” – which in the Shanxi case was “collaboration between some local officials and the mafia that runs he brick trade”. To conclude that “to do so, sooner or later, the nation will begin to appreciate the usefulness of investigative journalism”. Thanks for this editorial.

[gato]

The problem is with the government control of the press. It's as if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had the power to appoint and dismiss all news editors in California.

The article below gives more details.

http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2001/China_aug01/China_aug01.html

Although financial controls over the press have eased due to the growth of the advertising market, there has been no fundamental change in the relationship between the press and the government.

Central control over information in China is part of a systematic, institutionalized mechanism. Local officials are directly responsible for implementing central policy, which includes controlling the legal, political, and personnel structures of media organs.

[wushijiao]

For awhile, it seemed that investigative reporters from a paper in, say, Guangdong, could go to another province and do some good reporting, exposing cover ups, scams, corruption and the like. Then through word of mouth and the Internet, the news about that story would reach back to its original place.

I found an article on Google that sums it up:

"Until recently, some in-depth reporting on land grabs, corruption, and other local issues could be done, ironically enough, by journalists from outside the local area. These reporters, if they moved fast enough, could file at least a few, relatively uncensored reports before local propaganda officials would be able to alert central authorities to shut down nationwide coverage.

Central authorities banned this reporting practice— known as yidi baodao, or cross-territorial reporting—last year. Reporters told CPJ that the ban, while applied unevenly, has had a profound impact. The decree has compelled editors to rein in some of their strongest investigative reporters, and has empowered local officials to harass, intimidate, and block access to journalists who were once beyond the censor’s grasp. "

http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2006/DA_spring_06/china/china_06.html

The problem is with the government control of the press. It's as if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had the power to appoint and dismiss all news editors in California.

I think the analogy would be a bit better if it were Bush (as the leader of the "central" government) who could fire and jail journalists in and editors based on their reporting.

But I agree 100% that good investigative journalism is needed to make a society function well.

[gato]

I wanted to make a point with the Arnold analogy that censors exist at the local level, too, in China. But yes, the central-level censor obviously matter. But even if the central censors liberalized, the local censors still have quite a bit of power to stop investigative reporting in its tracks.

You Nuo, the China Daily column, may be well-intentioned and a little naive about why investigative journalism hasn't flourished in China. But China Daily is an English language paper intended for a foreign audience. Until we see the same editorial in People's Daily, I don't think we can take this is call too seriously.

[wushijiao]

I wanted to make a point with the Arnold analogy that censors exist at the local level, too, in China.

Yeah, you're right. I was just about to edit my post to reflect that.

I just wanted to point out that the lack of investigative reporting stems from the center, and therefore it is a systematic problem, not the problem of some rogue official.

[boiten_valise]

If anyone wants some good, reliable information concerning the chinese government - that sounded more covert and fbi than intended - then I have some really good documents I can send you guys. My friend, who works as a lobbyist, is very anal about keeping up-to-date with the current events. I've noticed how hard it was for me to find any reliable information on China's government, so I asked him if he knew of any good sites, information, etc. He sent me two attachments which turned out to be fantastic sources of information. If you guys are interested, just email me or whatever.