China

Call for ethics in journalism

By Bao Daozu (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-01-17 08:03

BEIJING - China's media industry has launched an educational campaign designed to curb false and distorted news through the twin processes of self-inspection and self-correction, in a bid to promote media ethics and strengthen reporters' sense of social responsibility.

According to a statement jointly released on Sunday by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the All-China Journalists' Association and the General Administration of Press and Publication, a lack of "conscientiousness" and a "superficial work style" on the part of some journalists has led them to resort to the use of online rumor and other unverified information to write reports that have a negative influence on society.

Two fake reports were cited as examples of this phenomenon.

In one of them, the weekly news magazine China Newsweek falsely reported on its micro blog the death of Louis Cha, one of the foremost authors of martial arts novels.

The online post, which received thousands of responses and condolence messages from netizens, proved to be false. A deputy editor-in-chief and two Web editors from the Beijing-based magazine resigned over the incident.

In the second case, Xiangfan Daily, a newspaper in Central China's Hubei province, published a story based on a leaked notice from local industrial and commercial authorities without verifying the facts.

The story said 50 packages of corn-flavored dairy beverage in the province were believed to contain melamine, a toxic industrial chemical.

The officials behind the drive accused the reporter of making factual errors in the story, including the claim that the tainted beverage was produced in Hubei when it was actually manufactured by a company in neighboring Hunan province.

The report, which was republished by other media, had a negative impact on Xiangfan city and the wider province.

The campaign for ethics in journalism urged reporters to "learn a lesson" from the two cases.

Liu Xiaoying, a journalism professor at the Communication University of China, said fake news items are on the rise due to a "lack of professionalism and the pursuit of profit".

Reports should "seek out newsmakers and other sources of information" to verify details, rather than filing reports based on hearsay, Liu said.

He welcomed the campaign for ethics in journalism as "necessary and timely", especially when there is an overwhelming amount of information flowing about in the Internet age.

Zhao Yinan and Xinhua contributed to this story.

China Daily