State media urged to be innovative
The Politburo is encouraging editors to move way from staid reports of meetings
In a clear indication that China's rigid official news media has to change to stay relevant, the new propaganda chief, Li Changchun, has urged a different approach to covering government meetings and reporting on leaders.
At a recent Communist Party Politburo meeting, an item on the agenda was how to improve news reporting. The resulting 'opinion' asked officials to support the media in making improvements. The content should be enriched and presentation made more attractive so that the media could function effectively in guiding public opinion and serving the party.
Mr Li, a member of the Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee overseeing propaganda work, succeeded Ding Guangeng, who had kept China's media under an iron grip for over a decade. Because of his experience of working as the party secretary in Guangdong, where the media is relatively open, many people have expected Mr Li to make his mark in gradually loosening state media control.
Responding to the politburo's call, the Beijing city government says reports on government meetings should be trimmed. The roll call of officials will be eliminated.
Shanghai has not only put a limit on the length of reports, but has encouraged editors to be innovative in presentation of news.
Until now, the two papers in the city, the Wen Hui Po and Liberation Daily, have had identical page layouts when news on officials is reported.
Li Xiguang, professor of journalism at Tsinghua University in Beijing, is not impressed with the change.
He said it was simplistic and wrong to focus on cutting down reports of boring meetings and officials on inspection tours.
'On the contrary, meetings should be reported in detail. Reporters should be urged to focus on debates and stories behind the scenes,' he said.
'Even comprehensive coverage of individual officials is justified because, as public figures, they should subject themselves to public scrutiny.
'The public have a right to know if an official is putting government cars to personal use, or putting his household nannies on the public payroll.'
One editor of a party newspaper said the bold new vision for 'deep reporting' was unlikely to take hold among journalists until they became fully reassured of the new parameters.
Shortly after Hu Jintao became Communist Party General Secretary, he reportedly complained that in the half-hour evening news on China Central Television, 23 minutes were devoted to officials receiving foreign visitors, attending meetings and going on inspection tours. He wanted that changed.
'Some editors welcomed the idea, but others feared the new field would be strewn with landmines,' the editor said. 'The Politburo 'opinion' would help reinforce the idea that the leadership was serious about change.'
Ding Boquan, chairman of the journalism and communication department at Nanjing University, said the state news media reform was overdue because a rigid formula served no one.
'With the news coverage of the Iraq war, the Chinese news media professionals have proven that, given the right circumstances, they can produce quality reporting and reconnect with the audience and the readers.'
