CHINA, JOURNALISM AND THE STATE SERIES: Crabs, Heroes -- and Zhao Yan?
[See Series Introduction -- the Editors]
By Wendy Li
People always say that the first person who dares to eat crab is a hero. Although Zhao Yan is not the first journalist to dare to speak the truth, even at great risk to his own interests, all for the benefit of the voiceless and powerless people, he is a hero. But the hero is in a fix.
Let's look at the case. Reports say he was involved in revealing national secrets. Some people guess that he was arrested because of an article Joseph Kahn wrote last September for The New York Times predicting the resignation of Jiang Zemin as the military chief of China. Some people suspect he wasn't arrested simply for this reason, but for other, more severe reasons, because this charge does not deserve a prison sentence. But still, the officials have not given a clear explanation of Mr. Zhao's alleged crimes.
From the Internet, I got a lot of information about Mr. Zhao. It is said that he is a very responsible journalist who consistently points out flaws in society and government. He helps peasants ask for their money back. He gives voice to the voiceless, and monitors power. I really admire him and journalists like him. They are heroes of the society. And China, or rather every country, needs this kind of a journalist.
However, even though I don't know whether the news of the resignation of a high level leader can be called a national secret, I do feel that it is not proper to see this news appear first in a foreign newspaper, reported in part by a Chinese journalist. In that case, Mr. Zhao might have done something improper.
Firstly, I think, as a Chinese journalist, Mr. Zhao shouldn't have given this news to a foreign media first, even though he was working for them. As a result, he put the Chinese government and Chinese media in an embarrassing situation.
Second, I think a good journalist must learn to protect himself, otherwise no matter how great a mission he has, he won't have a chance to realize it. And in China, journalists have unique situations and rules to consider, which inevitably demands them to be on alarm and careful to protect themselves. As for Mr. Zhao, to have such news printed in a foreign media was not a sensible choice. For two reasons: it may have caused the nation a bad effect, and it gave the country a chance to arrest him.
In all countries, the press is working for the party it supports, and China is not an exception. Communism is the national Party of China, it is easy to understand why it chooses to control the media. The state-owned media is the throat of the Party. Therefore media can not exactly be independent from the seat of power. Which makes it very hard for them to monitor power, and expose it when power corrupts. But what is exciting is that in China today we have a lot of media or programs that strive for the achievement of democracy and the right to monitor power, like China Youth, Southern Weekend, and some TV programs on CCTV.
Nowadays, merely announcing information is not the most important task for print journalists, since there are more and more media offering more convenient and faster news. For newspapers, and other print media, new angles and deeper reporting with additional knowledge are more and more important.
This is also important: Since there is a unique situation in China, journalists have to adapt a particular way to express our views, and it must be above the bottom line of protecting ourselves.
By Wendy Li
People always say that the first person who dares to eat crab is a hero. Although Zhao Yan is not the first journalist to dare to speak the truth, even at great risk to his own interests, all for the benefit of the voiceless and powerless people, he is a hero. But the hero is in a fix.
Let's look at the case. Reports say he was involved in revealing national secrets. Some people guess that he was arrested because of an article Joseph Kahn wrote last September for The New York Times predicting the resignation of Jiang Zemin as the military chief of China. Some people suspect he wasn't arrested simply for this reason, but for other, more severe reasons, because this charge does not deserve a prison sentence. But still, the officials have not given a clear explanation of Mr. Zhao's alleged crimes.
From the Internet, I got a lot of information about Mr. Zhao. It is said that he is a very responsible journalist who consistently points out flaws in society and government. He helps peasants ask for their money back. He gives voice to the voiceless, and monitors power. I really admire him and journalists like him. They are heroes of the society. And China, or rather every country, needs this kind of a journalist.
However, even though I don't know whether the news of the resignation of a high level leader can be called a national secret, I do feel that it is not proper to see this news appear first in a foreign newspaper, reported in part by a Chinese journalist. In that case, Mr. Zhao might have done something improper.
Firstly, I think, as a Chinese journalist, Mr. Zhao shouldn't have given this news to a foreign media first, even though he was working for them. As a result, he put the Chinese government and Chinese media in an embarrassing situation.
Second, I think a good journalist must learn to protect himself, otherwise no matter how great a mission he has, he won't have a chance to realize it. And in China, journalists have unique situations and rules to consider, which inevitably demands them to be on alarm and careful to protect themselves. As for Mr. Zhao, to have such news printed in a foreign media was not a sensible choice. For two reasons: it may have caused the nation a bad effect, and it gave the country a chance to arrest him.
In all countries, the press is working for the party it supports, and China is not an exception. Communism is the national Party of China, it is easy to understand why it chooses to control the media. The state-owned media is the throat of the Party. Therefore media can not exactly be independent from the seat of power. Which makes it very hard for them to monitor power, and expose it when power corrupts. But what is exciting is that in China today we have a lot of media or programs that strive for the achievement of democracy and the right to monitor power, like China Youth, Southern Weekend, and some TV programs on CCTV.
Nowadays, merely announcing information is not the most important task for print journalists, since there are more and more media offering more convenient and faster news. For newspapers, and other print media, new angles and deeper reporting with additional knowledge are more and more important.
This is also important: Since there is a unique situation in China, journalists have to adapt a particular way to express our views, and it must be above the bottom line of protecting ourselves.
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