In fairness, much of the paper’s content is fine. Critics tend not to notice balanced and factual reporting, but it’s there. And occasionally something genuinely intriguing comes along, like the recent map of Hong Kong showing suicide rates by neighbourhood, which gets my cut-out-and-keep award. The SCMP is trapped like much Hong Kong media, wanting to do good journalism but required to appease the owner’s pathological need to shoe-shine Chinese officials who probably pay little notice anyway. Laughably clunky globs of pro-Communist tripe and an aversion to anything but mild and meek views are a price that, in today’s environment, has to be paid. It could be worse.

If you doubt that, take a trip over to the Standard. With little or nothing in the way of opinion pieces, and local reporting lifted from Sing Tao, the paper is far more obviously a tycoon’s plaything.With little or nothing in the way of opinion pieces, and local reporting lifted from Sing Tao, the paper is far more obviously a tycoon’s plaything. You are entering a parallel universe…

A universe where the presence on the Mainland stock market of 700 companies apparently overvalued by a factor of maybe seven prompts the phrase ‘of course’. And where bad news for landlords is a matter of genuine sorrow and distress…

The landlord who goes without income for six months before halving the rent to HK$400,000 is the Standard’s equivalent of children starving to death in Africa. (Today is unusual in that there is no glowing coverage of suckers snapping up the developers’ latest batch of overpriced apartments – talking up the property market is a core part of the paper’s mission, along with blatant fawning over tycoons and their offspring.) Meanwhile…

Rita Fan, pro-Beijing figure and self-appointed expert on What the Politburo Really Thinks, will not seek re-election to the National People’s Congress. Re-what? NPC deputies are appointed. A small group of loyalists pretend to vote for them in a contest in which the number of candidates equals the number of seats (honest). Not in Standard-land, where for good measure anti-locust protestors (a threat to landlords’ revenues) get the venom-treatment such bastard scum deserve, and an uptick in consumer spending predicted by, um, a credit-card company is due to the horrors of the Occupy movement(don’t ask).

As in any self-respecting parallel universe, the bizarre is considered normal…

A packaging company listed on the dubious GEM exchange is to be used as a front by a mysterious Mainland consortium offering secret funding to acquire Hong Kong’s disastrous ATV (sounds like they all deserve each other). This is Standard-land; as with the 700 firms with triple-digit P/E ratios – of course.

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Chinese reporter Li Xuejiang gets forcibly removed by the RCMP at a press conference on August 23, 2013.

The Canadian government has banned certain Chinese reporters representing specific news organizations from participating in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s upcoming trip to the country’s north.

Spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office, Jason MacDonald, told QMI Agency that “certain news outlets were no longer welcome” to travel with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, reports the Winnipeg Sun. A source in the government said reporters from the People’s Daily and Xinhua news agency will not be able to attend the trip this year.

The decision follows an incident that took place last year during Harper’s previous visit to the Canadian north.

Chinese reporter Li Xuejiang argues with Julie Vaux on August 23, 2013.

On August 23, 2013, a Chinese reporter named Li Xuejiang got into a heated exchange with a member of the Prime Minister’s office, and had to be forcibly restrained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

During a press conference at Raglan Mine, Li was upset that his opportunity to ask the Prime Minister a question was revoked and tried to grab a microphone, after which a physical altercation took place.

As reported by the CBC, press conferences run by Prime Minister Harper are tightly scripted events in which questions from reporters are first verified, and then scheduled. Li was going to ask about investments made by foreign entities into Canada’s natural resources. “I wanted to clarify the federal government’s policy and the regulations toward foreign state-owned company investment,” he said.

Li was unrepentant. “Why should I apologize? They should apologize to me for depriving me of my right to ask a question. The Prime Minister’s Office shouldn’t deprive my right. It’s not democratic.” 

However, Li eventually did apologize, saying that he was “sorry for what happened”. All the same, Li continued to complain of unfair treatment. He showed off bruises he claimed he suffered from the altercation, and then wrote on September 8 that Chinese reporters stationed in Canada are discriminated against. Li said that police followed him everywhere, even to the bathroom.

Prime Minister Harper will be making his annual trip to northern Canada from August 20 to 26 and will be accompanied by staff and members of the Press Gallery, an organization of journalists who cover national politics on Parliament Hill.

Despite being identified by the Canadian Press as the Ottawa-based bureau chief for the People’s Daily, Li has also been identified by Xinhuanet as a correspondent working for the Global Times and the People’s Daily Online.

[h/t @spilledtea]

Photos: CBC, China.com

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Called “China’s biggest journalist“, Rui has become a celebrity that is seen and read all around China. His television shows on CCTV-2 are watched by some 300 million viewers nightly. Rui has had the distinction of having interviewed some 300 high-level political leaders.

The anchor was conspicuously absent from the July 11 broadcast of his “Economic Information Broadcast” television show, and rumors began to spread online about why he was absent. Police still haven’t indicated why they are investigating Rui.

Rui came to prominence on social media when he wrote a post about a Starbucks located in the Forbidden City in 2006. His screed against the coffee chain being in the Forbidden City led to it eventually being removed. Rui was named “Blogger of the Year” in 2007 as a result of his efforts.

Rui is also well known for his controversial remarks. At a 2009 press conference with US President Barack Obama, Rui volunteered himself when the US President was instead seeking a question from the Korean press. As Rui explained at the time, “Unfortunately, I hate to disappoint you, President Obama, I’m actually Chinese. But I think I get to represent the entire Asia, part of the family on this side of the world.”

Photos: Sina, china files

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SCFBM says the new rule is designed to protect national secrets and copyright. In a recent interview with Caijing, the SCFBM added:

Recently, some industry workers have engaged in professional misconduct over the use of information, and have wantonly transferred and disseminated secret information, and have put this information attained through professional means on social media. Some industry workers have exploited their position or influence for inappropriate gain, leading to an illegal transgression. This behavior has disrupted the systematic broadcast of news, and has damaged the Party and national interests. To strengthen the information management of industry workers is to strengthen the establishment and preservation of the urgent requirements of systematic news broadcasting. This is also to guarantee the healthy development and promotion of domestic news.

The SCFBM then explained the requirements this law will make upon news industry workers:

First, in dealing with information related to national secrets, industry workers must abide by the “Preservation of National Secrets Law” and other regulations. They are forbidden to illegally copy, record, or store national secrets; forbidden to transmit national secrets in any way or form; forbidden to transmit this information as an individual. Secondly, in regards to information not classified as a national secret, newsrooms must establish a unified management system whereby a signed contract that forbids the transmitting of secrets by holding the person responsible. News industry personnel must abide by all these regulations. Workers can not work for other foreign media or websites, work as a “special correspondent“, special author or special columnist.

No specific details were given pertaining to what will happen to journalists who breach the new contract.

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The convictions of the journalists are part of what the city calls its “iron-fist response” towards fake and negative press coverage, Yangcheng Evening News reported on April 12.

Luo Mouchun, a journalist from a Maoming TV station, was handed a 10-year sentence for extorting money from victims that include government officials, company executives, school teachers, and ordinary citizens, the report said. Luo was said to have accepted 111 red envelopes (红包), worth more than RMB 149,000 ($24,000 USD).

The sentence is probably the harshest punishment so far handed down to any journalist in the country since the launch of the anti-fake news campaign last year. In the notice issued by the eight central government institutions, the campaign was announced to be taking place nation wide and vaguely outlined the damages of fake news, state news agency Xinhua reported on April 9. It states, “fake news and journalist extortion have severely disrupted the daily work and life of lower-tier officials. The campaign is not afraid to take bold actions. It is the practical result of the Party’s line education to the masses.”

But throughout the report, it did not mention what constitutes “fake news”. Given that the central publicity department regularly bans media from reporting on sensitive topics ranging from political scandals to reports on MH370, it should be among the agencies targeted in the fake news crackdown if the Party is really getting serious about the campaign.

Home page: Sohu 

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Shanghaiist translated the original story into English from the Guangzhou News:

A female street cleaner fainted on Huancun road on Wednesday due to the sweltering heat. Many passersby ignored the unconscious woman until a small girl, walking by with her mother, insisting on stopping and shielding the woman from the sun with their umbrella until help could arrive.

A man surnamed Fok told reporters that once he heard the little girl shout “Mum, quick, help her!”, he was shamed into doing so himself.  He and several of his collegues carried the woman into some shade with another passerby telephoned for an ambulance.

It’s a touching story that drew attention partially because nearby Shenzhen had just introduced a Good Samaritan Law. The law aims to encourage people to help those in need, and this case warmed the cockles of the hearts of those who believe in helping the vulnerable.

The original photo of the girl helping the street cleaner.

The only problem? The whole thing was faked by the reporter from Guangzhou Daily.

A reporter from Xin Kuai Bao decided to investigate the story and spoke with the street cleaner, surnamed Tang. Tang said the picture published in the paper was taken at 12 noon on Tuesday (July 30). Tang said she was told to lie down three times so the reporter could test different camera angles. After after about an hour and half, the reporter took the picture that was published in the paper.

“They told me it was for an umbrella commercial.  How would I know… that it was for a newspaper? If I knew, I would never do it no matter how much they pay me!” Tang said.

The street cleaner was recruited for the role a day earlier. “I was cleaning the street on Zhucun Hulin Road around 3pm on July 29th when four adults came along; one of them was a skinny man wearing glasses.  He came up to me and asked if I could help them shoot a commercial. He told me that they think street cleaners have tough jobs and lives. They’d like to do a non-commercial advertisement for an umbrella brand, and they’d pay me RMB 100 for it. I agreed without thinking too much about it.”

Tang said she was paid RMB150 at the end for her “hard work.” Xin Kuai Bao also reported that the young girl was also paid RMB150, and that her “mother” was one of the four people who originally approached Tang a day earlier.

 (h/t @MissXQ)

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