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The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the General Administration of Press and Publication issued a notice on July 23 about a false report by Beijing Television Station (Beijing TV).
Beijing TV's Life Channel broadcasted a fabricated report titled "Steamed Buns Made from Cardboard" in its Transparency program on July 8, the notice said. The report groundlessly claimed that some underground makers sold steamed buns stuffed with chopped cardboard waste in a district of Beijing. After it aired, the report was picked up by a number of media outlets, causing widespread concern at home and abroad and creating extremely negative social repercussions, the notice said.
The Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC and the city government took effective measures immediately after the incident happened, the notice said. They urged Beijing TV to set the record straight and apologize to the public. They also meted out severe sanctions for those responsible. A notice of criticism was directed at the station's president, while its editor-in-chief received an administrative warning. The deputy editor-in-chief in charge of the program had a demerit put on record and resigned. Beijing TV removed from office the deputy director responsible for its Life Program Center, the center's deputy director overseeing the Transparency program and the program's producer. It also fired the editors of the false report.
Over the years, journalism professionals have played an important role in helping improve the performance of the CPC and the government and in safeguarding, realizing and advancing the interests of the general public as they commit themselves to strengthening supervision by public opinion, the notice said. However, there are some reports that are not strictly reviewed and contain inaccurate information, it said.
The fabricated news "Steamed Buns Made from Cardboard," in particular, teaches bitter lessons, the notice said. It not only runs counter to the state's laws and regulations, the CPC's journalism discipline and journalists' work ethics, but also has jeopardized social order and damaged the image of journalism professionals, the authoritativeness and credibility of the news media and the image of the CPC and the government. The false report also had negative repercussions in society, the notice said.
The notice stressed that the principles of truthfulness, comprehensiveness, objectivity and fairness should be upheld in news reporting and that the reliability of sources and the accuracy of information should be ensured. It called on news organizations to improve internal management, standardize their work procedures and put in place a strict copy examination and approval process. Journalists should show their press cards when conducting interviews, the notice said. News organizations should abide by the administrative regulations on the use of contributions from the general public and information from the Internet, it added. They also are obligated to confirm the information in earnest with strict examination and approval procedures and refrain from publishing, broadcasting and reproducing wholly or in part unconfirmed contributions and information, the notice said.
(China.org.cn)
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