In June last year, a mine explosion in Fanzhi county, Shanxi province, trapped all 38 miners in the shaft. No one survived. Last month, Xinhua revealed that 11 journalists had received bribes to under-report the casualties. On the night of the accident, the mine operators decided that the magnitude of the disaster must be kept quiet and concocted a story that only two miners had died and four were injured. Ten miners, who were not working that day, were coached to pretend that they were survivors. The official investigators accepted the false testimonies and issued a casualty report. Four Xinhua reporters based in Taiyuan, the provincial capital, sought confirmation from county officials after learning of the accident, instead of heading to the mine. At the county government office, they were wined and dined. The magistrate, acting on the advice of the party's publicity chief, who said that the accident would reflect badly on the local government, tapped into public funds to pay off the reporters with 40,000 yuan (HK$37,600) in cash and gold ingots valued at 9,600 yuan. But in the meantime, reporters from the Huashang News in neighbouring Shaanxi province, and from the China Youth Daily, rushed to the mining town and reported not only the full tragedy but also how the operators had moved, burned and buried the bodies retrieved from the site of the explosion. The Xinhua headquarters, shocked by the expose, launched an internal probe and an overall investigation of the cover-up. As well as the four Xinhua reporters, four from the Shanxi Economic Daily and the Shanxi Legal Daily, and three from Shanxi Life were found to have taken bribes, totalling 74,600 yuan. Many suspected that the number of journalists having taken bribes was far higher after it became known that government agents had been posted at train and bus stations to pay reporters to turn back. The Huashang reporter arrived by van, following a tip-off from some of the victims' relatives, who were from his province. The China Youth Daily reporter was also aided by families of the victims. The findings of the Xinhua investigation exploded like a bombshell and sparked a debate on journalists' credibility. Public respect was already waning, with unethical practices frequently being exposed. Some people claim journalists are no worse than others who abuse their position for personal gain. Many blame the market economy and the changing value system that puts money ahead of everything. But one should not forget the reporters who found out the truth. Liu Chang, the young reporter from the China Youth Daily, described how he foiled the agents, shaking off cars that were tailing him, and got information from scared relatives before finding the grief-stricken families. He told how one little boy kept tugging at his mother's sleeve, crying: 'I'm hungry,' while the woman sat motionless for ages, stunned by the death of her husband. Later, one of the Xinhua reporters sheepishly confessed to Liu that his story had put him in a very awkward position. The fact that officials handed out the bribes, rather than the mine's operators, has complicated the case. The reporters, driven by greed as well as fear of retribution, found it very difficult to turn down the money. If the market economy has brought more corruption to the profession of journalism, it has also broken the exclusive hold on the news by a single outlet. The Huashang News, in Xian, had no qualms about reporting what happened in the neighbouring province. Multiplicity and competition may offer the best way to shine a light into the dark corners. Nailene Chou Wiest is a Post correspondent based in Beijing
