More talk shows put off the air
Propaganda authorities have made another move to sanitise the airwaves and imbue socialist values ahead of a key party congress next month, banning four more sexoriented talk shows and setting up a hotline to encourage the public to report vulgar broadcasts.
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said on its website on Wednesday the decision was made because the programmes were of 'low quality and vulgar taste' and 'too pornographic'.
The four talk shows ordered off the air were run by three provincial radio stations in Ningxia, Jiangxi and Shanxi, Xinhua reported yesterday.
'These three radio stations refused to mend their ways despite repeated warnings. Their problems are serious and those responsible should be severely dealt with,' the administration said.
The staff responsible for producing the radio shows, including directors, producers and anchors, were punished accordingly, it said.
The campaign against 'vulgarity' shut down seven radio programmes earlier this month because they were devoted to 'talk about sex lives, sexual experiences, sexual organs and the efficiency of certain drugs for sex'.
The watchdog has since ordered that sexually-explicit programmes, those featuring sex toys and contraceptives, and anything involving sex-change operations or real-life cosmetic surgery are off-limits.
The ban is the latest in a long list of orders in a censorship campaign started in April. It is aimed at 'purifying the screen, and building socialism and a cultural environment by purging vulgar trends' before the congress begins.
Analysts say propaganda authorities are doing their best to ensure Beijing's moral infrastructure presents a true reflection of President Hu Jintao's vision of 'a harmonious society'.
Major state-run newspapers and television stations have been rolling out items praising 'new socialist moral models' in the past few days, and Mr Hu said this week that 'moral cultivation' was of vital importance for the survival of the Communist Party and the entire country.
Mr Hu is expected to cement his power at the Communist Party's 17th National Congress, which opens on October 15 and is expected to enshrine his 'harmonious society' theory in the party constitution.
