Media scrutiny intensifies in key year
Beijing concerned how Mao Zedong, Long March anniversaries get handled
The mainland's media watchdog has warned its branches to keep a close eye on the sale and broadcast of sensitive content with several key political anniversaries rolling around this year.
The General Administration of Press and Publication, which oversees mainland newspapers, periodicals, television, radio and other electronic media, said it would closely monitor content on the anniversaries of events such as the Cultural Revolution, the Tangshan earthquake, the Communist Party's founding, and the deaths of Mao Zedong and other senior leaders.
The warning, the latest among moves by the central government to tighten media and ideological controls, was carried in a circular issued late last month and appeared on the administration's website this week.
'Audio and video product publication always has an important position in the party's ideological education and close control of audio and video production relates to the country's political and social control and safety,' it said.
The directive specifically referred to a run of 'anniversaries of a number of important events' this year, including the '85th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party, the 70th anniversary of the Long March Victory by the Red Army, the 30th anniversary of the death of Mao Zedong, Zhu De , Zhou Enlai and other party leaders, the 40th anniversary of the commencement of the Great Cultural Revolution and 30th anniversary of its ending, as well as the 30th anniversary of the Tangshan earthquake'.
Analysts said the directive reflected fears content to mark those anniversaries could be used to criticise the present leadership and its policies amid growing social discontent over widespread corruption and social inequalities.
To maintain its tight control over the media and ideology, the administration issued a regulation in 1997 and three supplementary orders defining appropriate topics for books, periodicals, video, audio and other electronic publications.
According to the 1997 regulation, products touching on sensitive topics, including the assessment and interpretation of party history, the Kuomintang, Taiwan, party leaders and historic and political events, are topics of importance to 'state security and social stability' and 'must be closely examined'.
The regulations demand that before going into production, production companies and stations submit applications to local administration branches detailing intended footage, scripts and crew backgrounds.
The June directive requires a thorough check by the end of this month of products already in distribution to ensure content is in order, and those products without the application procedure 'will be suspended from distribution, sealed and recalled ...'
Media analyst Zhan Jiang, from the China Youth University for Political Sciences, said the directive showed the authorities 'are trying to control the general quantity of the products on sensitive topics before the products are distributed and become the source of public discussion'.
He said producers were allowed to address such anniversaries but once the content was released, Beijing grew uneasy.
'It's a regular and common practice to control audio-visual distribution,' he said.
