Journalists call for censor to quit over editorial scandal
Dozens of journalists have demanded the resignation of Guangdong's propaganda chief, after he swapped one newspaper's new year's outlook with his own piece praising the “Chinese Dream”.
In the backlash against a top government censor’s heavy-handed editorial intervention into a prestigious Chinese newspaper, dozens of prominent journalists have issued an open letter demanding the resignation of the top propagandist in Guangdong Province.
“We believe that Minister Tuo Zhen’s actions overstepped boundaries, that they were authoritarian, ignorant and unnecessary,” read the letter, which carried the names of more than 30 journalists who used to work at the paper, the Guangzhou-based Southern Weekly.
Many of these journalists are now prominent opinion leaders, including published authors, columnists, university professors and senior editors at other news organisations.
Their target of protest, Tuo Zhen, is the top propaganda official at the Communist Party’s Guangdong provincial committee.
He is believed to have given direct orders to swap the paper’s new year editorial, due to be published this Wednesday, for a piece he penned himself, praising the “Chinese Dream” and new leader Xi Jinping’s policies.
The open letter is the latest development in a wave of online protests in the last few days against the recent media clampdown.