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2008 Assessment

China: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

China: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Media
Indicators		Score
5	Are media and free speech protected?	50
6	Are citizens able to form print media entities?	44
7	Are citizens able to form broadcast (radio and TV) media entities?	25
8	Can citizens freely use the Internet?	25
9	Are the media able to report on corruption?	33
10	Are the media credible sources of information?	35
11	Are journalists safe when investigating corruption?	33

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are media and free speech protected?

5a: In law, freedom of the media is guaranteed.

Score:

YES

Comments: Private print and broadcast media outlets are not allowed.

References: Chapter 2 of the Chinese constitution.

Peer Review Comments: Formal Constitutional provisions notwithstanding, the media in China is ruled not by law but by the Communist Party's directives. No private ownership of media (except the Internet) is allowed and the Party has absolute control over media outlets.

Peer Review Comments: The Constitution protects freedom of the media, but the present existing laws and regulations fail to guarantee its freedom.

5b: In law, freedom of speech is guaranteed.

Score:

YES

Comments: This question is a little bit tricky when considering China's case. The right of speech situation is surely not good in China, but in law, we do have such a right and in reality, Chinese today enjoy much much more right. We can even be quite critical of government in some public events, of course, no media will publish it.

References: Article 35 of the Chinese constitution.

Peer Review Comments: Chinese criminal law punishes political speech that is critical of the Communist Party through accusations of incitement and subversion. There are many examples such speech-based prosecutions and convictions.

Peer Review Comments: Constitutionally, freedom of speech is protected, but neither laws nor regulations guarantee Chinese citizens' freedom of speech in newspapers and magazines, and on radio and television.

Are citizens able to form print media entities?

6a: In practice, the government does not create barriers to form a print media entity.

Score:

100

Comments: It is extremely difficult to get a license for private organizations. However, it is still possible because China's situation is highly heterogeneous. Some local governments may be the titular owner of new print media, with the real control residing with private organizations.

References: 1. "The Restrictions of Media Should Be Lifted," China Youth Daily, June 26, 2007. [ LINK ] 2. Regulations on the Administration of Publication. [ LINK ] 3. Measures for the Administration of Foreign-Funded Distribution Enterprises of Books, Newspapers, and Journals. [ LINK ] 4. Some Decisions of the State Council on the Entry of the Non-public-owned Capital into the Cultural Industry. [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: The Constitution does protect freedom of the media, but, in practice, citizens cannot set up a private and independent print media entity under the present existing laws and regulations, which actually marginalize their constitutional right to form such an entity.

6b: In law, where a print media license is necessary, there is an appeal mechanism if a license is denied or revoked.

Score:

YES

Comments: There are several agencies for appealing, including the General Administration of Press and Publication of China, and courts at various levels.

References: The Regulation of Publications issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication of China and State Council in 2001 prescribed the right of print media from illegal interference from government.

The Administrative License Law of China of July 1, 2004, gives the legal protection of appeal. Any individual and organization can go to court to prompt a review on the executive's actions using this law.

Peer Review Comments: In Mainland China, only government-sponsored or Communist Party of China (CPC)-sponsored organizations and institutions are able to form print media entities. Therefore, such an appeal mechanism, if any, looks more like a consultation between government and CPC agencies.

6c: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a print media license within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: It is extremely difficult to get a license since a media outlet must find one mother organization that used to be government agencies. However, no government agencies are willing to do this. Licensing really depends. If one people can find some connections with government, this license can be obtained quite soon. Of course, bribery, sometimes, is necessary.

Thus, in theory it is possible. However, in reality, it is extremely difficult.

References: Interview of Mr. Gao Yan, deputy director of Unirule Institute of Economics, Aug. 13, 2007.

Peer Review Comments: The Constitution does protect freedom of the media, but, in practice, citizens cannot even submit an application for a private and independent print media entity under the present existing laws and regulations, which actually marginalize their constitutional right to form such an entity.

6d: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a print media license at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: See comments for Media Sub-Indicator 6c.

References: Interview of Mr. Gao Yan, deputy director of Unirule Institute of Economics, Aug. 13, 2007.

Are citizens able to form broadcast (radio and TV) media entities?

7a: In practice, the government does not create barriers to form a broadcast (radio and TV) media entity.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: According to Article 10 of the Regulation of Radio and Broadcast issued by the State Council on Sept. 1, 1997, entities other than the government are prohibited from establishing a broadcast media entity.

Peer Review Comments: The Constitution does protect freedom of the media, but, in practice, citizens cannot set up a private and independent broadcast media entity under the present existing laws and regulations, which actually marginalize their constitutional right to form such an entity.

7b: In law, where a broadcast (radio and TV) media license is necessary, there is an appeal mechanism if a license is denied or revoked.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: According to the Administrative License Law, radio and TV stations can appeal to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, or go to court, although there is no record that such cases ever happened, because in China only the government is allowed to establish radio and TV stations.

Peer Review Comments: In Mainland China, only government-sponsored or Communist Party of China (CPC)-sponsored organizations and institutions are able to form broadcast media entities. Therefore, such an appeal mechanism, if any, looks more like a consultation between government and CPC agencies.

7c: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a broadcast (radio and TV) media license within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: According to the law, only the government is eligible to establish radio or TV stations.

Peer Review Comments: The Constitution does protect freedom of the media, but, in practice, citizens cannot even submit an application for a private and independent broadcast media entity under the present existing laws and regulations, which actually marginalize their constitutional right to form such an entity.

7d: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a broadcast (radio and TV) media license at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: According to the law, only the government is eligible to establish radio or TV stations.

Can citizens freely use the Internet?

8a: In practice, the government does not prevent citizens from accessing content published on-line.

Score:

100

Comments: The Chinese government blocks some websites, for instance, Voice of America and closely monitored websites including BBS. Despite the fact that websites are closely monitored, some negative comments toward the government are left alone.

References: 1. David Bandurski, "China's Guerrilla War for the Web," Far Eastern Economic Review, July 2008. [ LINK ] 2. Leanne Mezrani, "China tightens control over Web media," IT News, April 7, 2008. [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Yes, the government censors a large amount of political content, but outside this particular category, access is not a problem at all.

8b: In practice, the government does not censor citizens creating content on-line.

Score:

100

Comments: Government censors some information, but many negative comments can still be found on-line.

References: 1, David Bandurski, "China's Guerrilla War for the Web," Far Eastern Economic Review, July 2008. [ LINK ] 2. Leanne Mezrani, "China tightens control over Web media," IT News, April 7, 2008. [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Online (blogging, BBS, etc.) criticisms of government policies are harsh and largely tolerated.

Are the media able to report on corruption?

9a: In law, it is legal to report accurate news even if it damages the reputation of a public figure.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Chapter 2 of the Chinese constitution.

Peer Review Comments: The Constitution does protect freedom of speech, but the present existing laws and regulations fail to stipulate how to guarantee the constitutional right of the media to report on corruption involving a public figure.

9b: In practice, the government or media owners/distribution groups do not encourage self-censorship of corruption-related stories.

Score:

100

Comments: Censorship in China is very powerful. A list of topics that are prohibited from coverage will be given beforehand to the media outlets, and if they report on these topics, they will be punished. The general punishment is that the editor will be replaced. More severe punishment is closing down the media outlet. The media owners/editors have to follow these rules, otherwise they will lose their jobs. Thus, media owners practice self-censorship to guarantee that there are no subjects that are off-limits.

References: 1. Li Datong "A letter to Editor in Chief of China Youth Daily" 2005 CEO&CIO 2. "China Increases Censorship of 'Dangerous' Foreign News (Roundup)", Asia-Pacific News, Sept. 10, 2006. 3. Rob Gifford and Melissa Block, "China Tightens Control on Corruption, Quake Stories," NPR, June 12, 2008. [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Censorship is highly selective and government at higher levels does encourage reporting on corruption. Otherwise, we would not see the massive reporting on corruption (on the website of the Supreme People's Court for example). There are also strong financial incentives for the press to report on corruption. In a commercialized press like China's, corruption stories sell.

9c: In practice, there is no prior government restraint (pre-publication censoring) on publishing corruption-related stories.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: 1. Li Datong, "A letter to Editor in Chief of China Youth Daily," 2005 CEO&CIO 2. "China Increases Censorship of 'Dangerous' Foreign News (Roundup)," Asia-Pacific News, Sept. 10, 2006/ 3. Rob Gifford and Melissa Block, "China Tightens Control on Corruption, Quake Stories," NPR, June 12, 2008. [ LINK ]

Are the media credible sources of information?

10a: In law, print media companies are required to publicly disclose their ownership.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Measures for the Administration of Foreign-Funded Distribution Enterprises of Books, Newspapers, and Journals. [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: The listed media companies and joint venture media companies are required to disclose their ownership.

10b: In law, broadcast (radio and TV) media companies are required to publicly disclose their ownership.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: No such laws exist.

Peer Review Comments: At present, all broadcast media companies are wholly state-owned. When they go listed, they must publicly disclose their ownership.

10c: In practice, journalists and editors adhere to strict, professional practices in their reporting.

Score:

100

Comments: For example, there is one document widely distributed on-line concerning a search engine. The content of this document is that this search engine should censor all negative information concerning this firm. In return, the company pays a lot to the search engine in the form of advertisements.

References: 1. Gady A. Epstein, "Dark Journalism," Forbes, July 21, 2008. [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Chinese journalists and editors are trying very hard to maintain professional practices in their reporting, but some of them fail to adhere to their professionalism in reporting certain news owing to the political pressure from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and government organs or the offer of monetary benefits from the concerned companies and individuals.

10d: In practice, during the most recent election, political parties or independent candidates received fair media coverage.

Score:

100

Comments: Independent candidates in China are politically negligible. However, there are some reports on them. Independent candidates exist in villaga level, in some cases even township level. For example, in Hong He district of Yunnan Province, there is direct election township level. Any candidate is possible to run for elections, once he secured 20 nominations.

From this, we can see that as long as the independent candidate does not oppose the CPC leadership, the media has no bias against him/her.

References: 1. "Independent Candidate Defeats Official Candidate To Be A Representative," China Youth Daily, May 21, 2003. 2. Yin Donghua, "Independent Candidates: Walking ahead with Difficulties," China Elections & Governance, June 1, 2007.

Peer Review Comments: There is hardly any independent candidate in any election from congressional elections to villagers committee elections.

Peer Review Comments: The media do not provide wide coverage of elections in Mainland China because, for one, the general public has little interest in selecting who to vote for from the candidates that are chosen by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and, also, the general public has little interest in reading news about the CPC-orchestrated elections.

10e: In practice, political parties and candidates have equitable access to state-owned media outlets.

Score:

100

Comments: Independent candidates in China are politically negligible. However, there are some reports on them. From this, we can see that as long as the independent candidate does not oppose the CPC leadership, the media has no bias against him/her.

Peer Review Comments: There is no other independent political party except the Communist Party and it controls all elections in China.

Are journalists safe when investigating corruption?

11a: In practice, in the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been imprisoned.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there were no journalists imprisoned related to work covering corruption during the study period. A YES score is positive. NO: A NO score is earned if any journalist was jailed because of his/her work covering corruption during the study period. The causal relationship between the official charges and the journalist\'s work may not be explicit, however the burden of proof here is low. If it seems likely that the journalist was imprisoned due to his or her work, then the indicator is scored as a NO. Corruption is defined broadly to include any abuses of power, not just the passing of bribes.$

Comments: Journalists are discussed in the broad definition -- not necessarily referring to those that are licensed -- since licensed journalists will generally not expose themselves to sensitive topics. Zeng Hongling, who wrote about the Sichuan earthquake for forgeign media, was arrested June 13, 2008.

References: 1. Eric Green, "Human Rights Groups Concerned over Chinese Press Freedom," USINFO, August 8, 2007. [ LINK ] 2. Committee to Protect Journalists, "One online journalist arrested, one missing in Chengdu," June 13, 2008. [ LINK ]

11b: In practice, in the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been physically harmed.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Interview of Ms. Zhou Yue, a reporter at a Beijing TV station, via e-mail, Sept. 1, 2008.

"Network Newspaper Journalist's Bone Broken While Investing Coalmine Accident in Shanxi," [ LINK ].

Peer Review Comments: On 4th June 2008 two journalists from Network Newspaper went to investigate a series of safety accidents on a coalmine located in Datong, Shanxi Province after Network Newspaper had received repeated reports by local people that there might be a organized cover up of the real situation of these accidents. The journalists were badly beaten by the coalmine guards and one of them got a foot bone broken. Their car was also broken. Safety accidents frequently occur on those coalmines whose safety measures usually fail to meet the standard safety requirements. However, they may still manage to get a go-ahead green light from their well-connected government safety officials. Journalists are the last person coalmine owners wish to see whenever a safety accident occurs on their coalmines.

See: "Network Newspaper Journalist's Bone Broken While Investing Coalmine Accident in Shanxi," [ LINK ].

Peer Review Comments: CHINA: Journalist beaten to death while looking into Chinese mining ([ LINK ]) Journalist who criticised corruption repeatedly beaten in police custody ([ LINK ])

11c: In practice, in the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been killed.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there were no documented cases of journalists being killed because of their work covering corruption-related issues during the study period. A YES score is positive. NO: A NO score is earned if there were any documented cases where a journalist was killed in relation to his or her work covering corruption-related issues in the study period. The relationship between a mysterious death and an individual\'s work may not be clear, however the burden of proof here is low. If it is a reasonable guess that a person was killed in relation to his or her work on corruption issues, then the indicator is scored as a NO. Corruption is defined broadly to include any abuses of power, not just the passing of bribes.$

Comments:

References: Interview of Ms. Zhou Yue, a reporter at a Beijing TV station, via e-mail, Sept. 1, 2008.