China cracks down on its ‘fake’ reporters

The General Administration of Press and Publications issued a circular on Friday asking journalists to register for press cards “in order to prove their legal identities to their interviewees,” the government’s official Xinhua news agency said.

The circular was designed to “protect the legal rights of news organizations and journalists” and to “step up a crackdown on fake journalists,” the agency said.

People who forged press cards would be “severely punished,” it said.

Media organizations should “improve their journalists’ ethics and skills,” and prevent them from seeking money or other advantage for favors, the agency said.

The circular banned paid journalism, “emphasized the importance of credible reporting and directed journalists not to distort the truth or disseminate false information.”

Most registered Chinese journalists face strict rules and censorship of their reports by editors of state media.

But a growing number of freelance journalists working for Chinese media and state media have highlighted several recent cases of unregistered or bogus journalists allegedly demanding “hush money” from companies for not reporting accidents, environmental problems and other bad news.

The circular said that no-one should “interfere with or prevent journalists from carrying out legal interviews,” the agency said.

“Government organizations at all levels and their employees should provide convenient access to journalists and take the initiative in releasing information relevant to the public interest,” it said.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it recorded 22 journalists in Chinese prisons at the end of last year, the highest total in the world.

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