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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

China cracks down on the Press


The Chinese Communist Party is threatening reporters that their press credentials will be revoked for between five years and life if they recycled "untrue" information from the internet or phone texting.


Unrest and instability  -  China has banned journalists from getting their information from the internet because it might cause social unrest.



With more than 400 million Chinese now using social networks to spread information in real time, the Communist party has fretted over how to stay in control.

China's leaders, already spooked by the rapid spread of the Arab Spring pro-democracy movement, worry that rumors on the internet, and then picked up by journalists, could lead to unrest and instability.

In a statement posted on its website on Thursday, the General Administration of Press and Publications said reporters would have their press credentials revoked for between five years and life if they recycled untrue information from the internet or mobile phone messages, reports the UK Telegraph.

Reporters "must insist on doing their reporting in the field and not rely on unverified hearsay or other non-first-hand information in their reports", the regulations say.

Journalists will also be required to produce at least two sources for news reports and to personally conduct interviews when quoting people.

"False reports not only seriously hurt the interests of the parties involved, but also seriously undermine the credibility of the news media, or even seriously affect the social and economic order," the bureau told Xinhua, the state news agency.

Since 2010, the press administration said, more than one in five of its investigations of "illegal news publishing" involved false reports.

The Chinese media is censored retrospectively, and journalists are expected to toe the line or face punishment. The latest warning appears to be another shot across the bows to urge journalists to double check their information, and to avoid contentious issues.

Proper thinking will be rewarded.  Unapproved thinking will be punished.

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