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China cracks down on false news reports

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-16 22:09

BEIJING - China's press watchdog on Thursday urged effective measures from media organizations to weed out false reports after a slew of fake news undermined press credibility and caused unwanted social effects.

The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) in a circular told newspapers and organizations to enhance management and verify the facts to ensure truthfulness and objectivity in their news coverage.

Media organizations must be strict in hiring reporters and editors, the circular said. Those with a track record of fabricating news stories or seeking profit by abusing their jobs should not be employed.

They were told to offer employees regular training on laws, regulations and professional ethics, and formulate rules and standardize their procedures of news reporting and editing.

Reporters should carefully verify news sources, conduct in-person interviews, and never distort facts or fabricate stories based on hearsay or imagination, the circular said.

It urged news organizations to set up an accountability system. Editors-in-chief of newspapers carrying false reports should openly apologize to the public or even resign in accordance with the degree of damage done. The journalists concerned should also be held accountable.

Before reprinting a news story from other media, organizations and journalists should also verify its truthfulness.

The circular also required press administrators to strengthen supervision over media organizations and news production, and punish violators with warnings, fines or suspension of businesses.

The administration had earlier named and shamed six newspapers for carrying false reports. The mass-circular Beijing Times, for example, in a September 11 report last year said the China Merchants Bank (CMB) lost a book value at more than 10 billion Hong Kong dollars from Hong Kong's Wing Lung Bank.

The report based on incorrect data collected by reporters led to the tumbling of CMB's stock price and the fall of the entire banking stocks on that day. The bank's A-share price lost 12.75 billion yuan, and its H-share slumped by 5.16 percent, according to GAPP.