Chinese journalism ‘coronavirus crisis hero’ comes under attack online
- Reporter applauded for frontline efforts becomes target of backlash over ‘whistle-blower’ story
Liao took the stage as a representative of the media, alongside two women frontline medical personnel, an NGO worker, a women’s federation official and a cleaner – all described as heroes in the battle against coronavirus.
“We must use our pens and cameras as weapons to tell stories about China’s morale and power out loud to the world,” Liao said.
Angry Chinese netizens later pointed out that Liao wrote a much-discussed story in January about eight people being reprimanded by local police for “spreading rumours” about the virus. Like many other stories by Chinese state media, it only cited official sources, including the local police, which were quoted as warning the public against “spreading rumours”.
The article repeated the official line from health authorities that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.
The eight whistle-blowers were later revealed to be doctors who were silenced in the early days of an outbreak that has ballooned into a pandemic, sickening more than 130,000 people around the world and claiming over 5,000 lives.
Mainland media have since quoted whistle-blower doctors as saying they knew there was human-to-human transmission as early as December but were gagged by their supervisors or the police. It was only until January 20 that the government confirmed that human-to-human transmission had occurred.
A month after his death, Li remains a symbol of courage in speaking the truth in the public interest.
His social media account has also attracted more than 1.4 million followers and a flood of comments critical of the central government’s response to the crisis.
While articles in official mouthpieces are seen as government dispatches, many internet users criticised the decision to hold Liao up as a hero.
“What a disgrace to journalism … that you are being praised is an insult to Li Wenliang!” one commenter wrote on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.
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