What the Mainland Media Say | Coverage of Shanghai, Harbin tragedies points to constraints on 'free press'
State media ignore human cost of accidents to paint flattering picture of officials' response, angering the public
The mainland ushered in the new year with a string of tragic accidents. A stampede in Shanghai killed 36 people on December 31, and an inferno on January 2 in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, killed five firefighters.
The coverage about the loss of life highlighted not only public grief and anger but also the state of media freedom in the world's last major communist-ruled nation.
In the aftermath, Shanghai's propaganda department was quick to swoop to control media coverage and try to sway public opinion.
While the deadly stampede made headlines around the world, the financial centre's two major state-run dailies - Liberation Daily and Wenhui Daily - limited their coverage to a small story in the bottom corner on the front page on their New Year's Day editions.
The Daily splashed instead with text and photos of President Xi Jinping's new year address. The front page also played up two other stories about Xi and one about Premier Li Keqiang .
In Harbin, propaganda officials spun the news about the blaze into stories lauding the "diligent senior officials who had directed the firemen". Local media trumpeted the officials and their rescue efforts, but found no space to name the firefighters who died in the disaster.