Training used to tighten control of China’s media

The government has announced measures designed to tighten its grip on the national media, including a national exam for journalism students that could entail more intensive study of Marxism at university. The authorities have cited the need to combat media corruption. Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about the measures, regarding them as an attempt to control news coverage “at the source” and even to “indoctrinate” journalists. “The authorities regard freedom of information and opinion as the Communist Party’s enemies,” Reporters Without Borders said. “By citing corruption cases, some of which are not proven, the government claims to be trying to put the media back on the right path and remind them of their role as the engine of ‘social progress.’ “The Party would be better off concentrating on its own internal corruption problems. The existence of corruption at all levels of the administration is one of the main causes of its spread to the news media. “The arbitrary control methods used by the government not only infringe on freedoms; they are also counterproductive. Imposing the teaching of Marxism or ‘ideological standards’ in journalism will not help to reestablish ethical behaviour or improve social discipline or the party’s image.” This “national examination” for journalists, to be used to determine their suitability to cover the news, has existed since 2003 but it seems that the new version will be stricter. In September, the General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television asked all the media to organize classes to prepare their employees for the exam. The next exam, on which the renewal of 250,000 press cards will depend, will be held in January and February and will consist of six subjects: Chinese socialism, the Marxist vision of journalism, journalistic ethics, regulation of journalism, the rule of news reporting, and combatting rumours. The declared goal of this initiative is ending the corruption that is endemic in the media. This was also the grounds on which Xiong Xiong, the editor of the Beijing Youth Daily supplement Digital Age, and Yang Kairan, the editor of the Jinghua Times’ automobile section, were arrested on 12 December. Xiong and Jang are accused of taking bribes of up to 10,000 yuan from private-sector companies. A few weeks ago Zhen Yongzhou, a journalist with Xin Kuai Bao, confessed on television to taking bribes in order to report allegedly fraudulent accounting in the semi-state-owned company Zoomlion. China is ranked 173rd out of 179 countries in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index and is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “Enemies of the Internet.”