31 August 2004
JOURNALISTS FACE NEW THREATS AS CHINA OPENS UP ECONOMY
While censorship, detentions, imprisonment and legal actions against journalists in China are a familiar story, new dangers have surfaced as the country's media becomes more market-oriented: violent attacks from individuals or groups implicated in journalists' reports on corruption and crime.
This is the major finding of a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), based on interviews with more than 20 journalists in China and on research over the past year. "New Journalism and New Threats" documents the changing situation journalists find themselves in as China proceeds with economic liberalisation.
The removal of state subsidies to the media have forced newspapers and magazines to re-orient their editorial strategies in order to increase readership and secure advertising, writes author Sophie Beach. "Private investment in the media is increasingly widespread, and several major official newspapers have launched tabloid-style dailies or weekend editions, often with private advertising revenue."
This has given an increasing number of publications a relative degree of independence, with editors encouraging journalists to report more aggressively on stories such as crime, corruption, police brutality, and natural and man-made disasters.
However, journalists who report on corruption and crime are increasingly being targeted. Beach says the country's trade association for journalists has received hundreds of reports of attacks or threats, and journalism is now listed by some insurance companies as being the third most dangerous profession in China. A weak judicial system and the reluctance by central authorities to actively defend journalists' right to free expression means reporters have few avenues of defence against these attacks.
Read the full report here: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2004/China_8_04/China_8_04.html
For the latest information on freedom of expression in China, visit:
- IFEX: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/147/
- Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=china
- Human Rights in China: http://iso.hrichina.org/iso/
- Washington Post Story on a Crusading Editor: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5569819/print/1/displaymode/1098
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