Pair fined over editing error
Two staff members at an outspoken mainland newspaper have been punished after one described a migrant worker's flattering speech to a high-ranking Shenzhen official as 'a***-kissing' on a proof copy that was mistakenly published.
A report published in the Southern Metropolis Daily on January 22 inadvertently included critical comments about an activity celebrating the Lunar New Year involving migrant workers and Li Yizhen, a member of Shenzhen Communist Party standing committee.
Few readers noticed the mistake until netizens wrote about it early this month and the newspaper announced its punishment of two staff members responsible for the error.
Proofreader Yuan Fang, who used the offending words to describe the speech, was fined 1,000 yuan (HK$1,135), while subeditor Shen Huawei, who failed to notice the error, was fined 500 yuan.
It was an error committed in the editing process rather than anything political, the newspaper said.
A reporter with the newspaper close to the two said the proofreader had written a critical comment in anger over the reporter's decision to reproduce the migrant worker's flattering speech in full as it went against the newspaper's policy. His comment had been incorporated by mistake into the body of the article by a typist.
'He highlighted the speech and wrote, 'How can they kiss a*** like that?' on the proof copy to vent his anger. Later, a typist mistakenly typed his comment into the story, while the subeditor failed to take the error out,' the reporter said.
The story was only published in the Guangzhou-based newspaper's Shenzhen version. About 420,000 copies with the mistake were sold in Shenzhen, while the newspaper's website immediately deleted the phrase from its digital copy.
Privately, reporters praised the comment as brave and truthful.
'For Shenzhen and its people, it would be a true insult if there wasn't a newspaper daring to tell the truth ... Actually, I admire the proofreader,' a reporter said.
