China
Caught between authorities and private businessesPosted Oct 6 2010
In China, journalists not only have to fear the authorities, but private entities as well. Numerous cases have been reported recently about repression and violence against journalists who attempt to do investigative reporting on local businesses.
A Beijing-based media worker surnamed Liang told Radio Free Asia that companies would usually offer money to the reporter as a “request not to report something, or report it differently.”
“If they don’t accept it, that’s when they’re likely to beat up the reporter, or threaten them,” Liang added.
According to several reports, private companies can also use their influence over authorities to avoid negative coverage. “The companies that dare to beat up journalists all have some serious pull in the government,” Liang said.
“The phenomenon is not new, but it is tending to grow in an alarming manner,” writes Reporters Without Borders.
June 24 – Science reporter Fang Xuanchang was beaten over the head with a steel bar, possibly for writing stories that exposed fake doctors, challenged phony scientific claims and questionable practices of health-sector companies. (Reporters Without Borders)
July 28 – A reporter from the Peninsula Metropolis Newspaper of Qingdao was attacked by a gang and suffered broken bones. He was doing an investigation on a driver’s education school that was suspected of swindling students. (Epoch Times)
July 29 – Reporter for China Times Chen Xiaoying received an anonymous call claiming to have information on a company that she had previously written negative reports about. She followed up the lead and was ambushed by a man who swore at and her and beat her. (Epoch Times)
July 30 – After a Shanghai newspaper reported on alleged high levels of carcinogens in a certain shampoo, four people from the shampoo company stormed the newspaper offices and threatened its editor and staff. (Reporters Without Borders)
Aug 9 – Liu Hongchang was interrogated by the police and forced to withdraw his article about the internal problems and ambitions of a biotech company. (Reporters Without Borders)
Aug 29 – Fang Zhouzi, another science reporter was attacked in similar fashion as Fang Xuanchang, possibly for campaigning against a controversial surgical operation. (Radio Free Asia)