Locustland | Odd stirrings online amid official silence as authorities plan Southern Weekly's future
Global Times prints a bizarre accusation, propaganda authorities make a halfhearted attempt to rein in China's most outspoken newspapers, part of which for the moment centres around those ever handy 'hostile foreign forces'.
Plenty of coverage to read today of yesterday's peacefully rally in support of Southern Media Group, arising from outrage after one propaganda official tossed out the highly regarded Southern Weekly's 2013 new year address and snuck in his own (factually inaccurate) version in its place.
-- Southern Weekly censorship causes nationwide condemnation
-- Chinese Journalists Demand Resignation of Provincial Propaganda Chief
-- Online and Off, Social Media Users Go to War for Freedom of Press in China
-- Media Outlets Protest State Editorial on Southern Weekly
-- Chinese protest over news censorship
-- Southern Weekly Editorial Staff Goes On Strike (Updated)
-- Calls for Press Freedom in China’s South
Monday evening, word began to spread online that propaganda officials from across the country decided to stick with their version of the story, which takes the responsibility for the censored new year address off Tuo Zhen.
They also were said to have decided that unspecified meddling by unnamed "foreign powers" has been fueling the backlash within Southern Media Group and what we saw on the street in Guangzhou yesterday.