At a recent international seminar on the Asian media held in Beijing, a well-known researcher from the People's University called for greater self-discipline among China's journalists to halt the so-called 'red envelope', or bribery, deals that are all too common in the trade. The 'evil tendency', said the professor, has increasingly jeopardised the credibility of China's news media.
As he made his remarks, some journalists were sitting right under his nose - having been invited to cover the conference. A newsman myself, I was working as an interpreter for the event, and asked the liaison officers during a break whether 'red envelopes' had been given to these reporters.
Without blinking, they said yes. They are studying journalism at college and were working as volunteers, and so I asked what they thought of this practice. They either smiled ambiguously or looked perplexed. One student recalled that a lecturer had once said during a class that 'transport fees' of up to 500 yuan should not be regarded as a bribe. This, said the student, freed him of any guilt should he be in that situation one day.
While I do not know if the fees paid to the reporters covering the event was necessarily bribery, I am also unsure whether the seminar found its way on to the reporters' agenda because of its news value or because of the money. But I do wonder how the university professor would have responded if he had known about this at the time.
Despite rules on ethics issued by the central and local news organisations in China, there is still a grey area. Cases of reporters taking bribes to help cover up incidents have been exposed, and the offenders have been dismissed or even jailed, but other forms of 'cash for news' - such as 'transport fees' - seems to be taken for granted. Why?
Those in the business sector are known to hand out the biggest 'red envelopes'. Shrewd public relations agents prefer news reports to adverts, as they often have a better impact, fostering a sense of trust among the public.