CHINA, JOURNALISM AND THE STATE: Zhao Yan and the Great Firewall of China
[See Series Introduction -- the Editors]
By Lucy Yang
When I first got this topic, I spent quite a lot of time on the net searching for news on the journalist Zhao Yan. But as some of my friends had expected, most of the websites with information on the arrest of Zhao Yan were blocked. Finally, I found some information on foreign websites.
Compared with other media, the Internet offers more space for academic and intellectual discussion. As proved in many cases, discussions on the net do facilitate social protests and people rely more and more on the web to get information.
However the Internet is not an absolutely free place due to the system of Internet censorship. One part of this system is known outside China as the Great Firewall of China, which blocks content by IP addresses. This firewall is largely ineffective at preventing the flow of information and is rather easily circumvented by determined parties using proxy servers outside the firewall.
Although the government does not have the physical resources to monitor all Internet chat rooms and forums, the threat of being shut down has caused Internet content providers to employ internal staff who stop and remove forum comments which may be politically sensitive.
However, censorship has no way to stop truth or discussions of truth from spreading. Political criticism and the pressure of public opinion on the web have become a significant force. This was particularly evident during the SARS epidemic. At the very beginning of the epidemic, news about this disease was first released by net media. It was long after that when traditional media began to cover the story. Technical advances in the field of communications are undercutting efforts to control media content and are likely to play an even greater role in the future.
Zhao Yan has been an outspoken critic for many years. Before joining the New York Times bureau, Zhao was a reporter on farming issues for Zhongguo Gaige (China Reform) magazine. He also worked as an activist and advocate for peasants facing abuse at the hands of corrupt officials. According to a friend who worked with him for a time, Zhao is a person full of courage but sometimes lacks discernment. Based on the information I obtained, Zhao is a journalist with a keen sense of civic responsibility. I pay my respects to him because he served his role well, and he helped those voiceless peasants make their voice heard.
Frankly, I have doubts as to the truth of the details in Joseph Kahn's September 7 article in The New York Times, and that Zhao Yan was the source of its information. But even if he was, the government was unjustified in arresting him on the charge of "providing state secrets to foreigners," for there was nothing in the article that could impact an individual's safety, national security or national defense. Someone wrote something that our government did not want us to discuss; reports of this kind help to keep the public informed about matters of critical public interest, which often relate to governmental misdeeds.
Following the case of Zhao Yan, the Propaganda Department ordered official media outlets to stop publishing articles from six reformist political commentators. They include Jiao Guobiao, a professor of journalism at Beijing University, who called for the abolishment of the Propaganda Department. Under official pressure, the university cancelled his journalism course.
Recently, there's a wave of people calling for the promulgation of press law, including law that provides protection to journalists seeking to maintain the confidentiality of an unnamed source. But some experts worry that press law might have a negative impact on free expression for the law will probably lead to the practice of classifying more information as secret.
While searching for related information, I found that every year Reporters Without Borders establishes a ranking of every country's level of freedom of the press. In 2004, the country with the least degree of press freedom was North Korea, but China was not that far behind.
Yet, the media in China are becoming more autonomous and more diverse. The media's growing autonomy is reflected in its increasingly diversified content. In recent years our media paid special attention to public issues and published debates on such fundamental issues as the rule of law and human rights.
There are many factors behind the emergence of more diverse and autonomous media in China. Intense competition for the media market is among them. Nowadays most state media outlets no longer receive large government subsidies. They have to pay for themselves through commercial advertising. The urge to respond to the demanding market is a major liberating force for the media in China.
What's more, journalists are now receiving more professional education and improved training to prepare themselves to function in their duty: to present a faithful picture of our community. A new generation of journalists with not only skill, but also more importantly, like Zhao Yan, a keen sense of civic reponsibility, is emerging. Calling for a more free atmosphere of expression, we have ample reason to expect vibrancy and diversity in our media, and more open discussion of social issues in all areas.
By Lucy Yang
When I first got this topic, I spent quite a lot of time on the net searching for news on the journalist Zhao Yan. But as some of my friends had expected, most of the websites with information on the arrest of Zhao Yan were blocked. Finally, I found some information on foreign websites.
Compared with other media, the Internet offers more space for academic and intellectual discussion. As proved in many cases, discussions on the net do facilitate social protests and people rely more and more on the web to get information.
However the Internet is not an absolutely free place due to the system of Internet censorship. One part of this system is known outside China as the Great Firewall of China, which blocks content by IP addresses. This firewall is largely ineffective at preventing the flow of information and is rather easily circumvented by determined parties using proxy servers outside the firewall.
Although the government does not have the physical resources to monitor all Internet chat rooms and forums, the threat of being shut down has caused Internet content providers to employ internal staff who stop and remove forum comments which may be politically sensitive.
However, censorship has no way to stop truth or discussions of truth from spreading. Political criticism and the pressure of public opinion on the web have become a significant force. This was particularly evident during the SARS epidemic. At the very beginning of the epidemic, news about this disease was first released by net media. It was long after that when traditional media began to cover the story. Technical advances in the field of communications are undercutting efforts to control media content and are likely to play an even greater role in the future.
Zhao Yan has been an outspoken critic for many years. Before joining the New York Times bureau, Zhao was a reporter on farming issues for Zhongguo Gaige (China Reform) magazine. He also worked as an activist and advocate for peasants facing abuse at the hands of corrupt officials. According to a friend who worked with him for a time, Zhao is a person full of courage but sometimes lacks discernment. Based on the information I obtained, Zhao is a journalist with a keen sense of civic responsibility. I pay my respects to him because he served his role well, and he helped those voiceless peasants make their voice heard.
Frankly, I have doubts as to the truth of the details in Joseph Kahn's September 7 article in The New York Times, and that Zhao Yan was the source of its information. But even if he was, the government was unjustified in arresting him on the charge of "providing state secrets to foreigners," for there was nothing in the article that could impact an individual's safety, national security or national defense. Someone wrote something that our government did not want us to discuss; reports of this kind help to keep the public informed about matters of critical public interest, which often relate to governmental misdeeds.
Following the case of Zhao Yan, the Propaganda Department ordered official media outlets to stop publishing articles from six reformist political commentators. They include Jiao Guobiao, a professor of journalism at Beijing University, who called for the abolishment of the Propaganda Department. Under official pressure, the university cancelled his journalism course.
Recently, there's a wave of people calling for the promulgation of press law, including law that provides protection to journalists seeking to maintain the confidentiality of an unnamed source. But some experts worry that press law might have a negative impact on free expression for the law will probably lead to the practice of classifying more information as secret.
While searching for related information, I found that every year Reporters Without Borders establishes a ranking of every country's level of freedom of the press. In 2004, the country with the least degree of press freedom was North Korea, but China was not that far behind.
Yet, the media in China are becoming more autonomous and more diverse. The media's growing autonomy is reflected in its increasingly diversified content. In recent years our media paid special attention to public issues and published debates on such fundamental issues as the rule of law and human rights.
There are many factors behind the emergence of more diverse and autonomous media in China. Intense competition for the media market is among them. Nowadays most state media outlets no longer receive large government subsidies. They have to pay for themselves through commercial advertising. The urge to respond to the demanding market is a major liberating force for the media in China.
What's more, journalists are now receiving more professional education and improved training to prepare themselves to function in their duty: to present a faithful picture of our community. A new generation of journalists with not only skill, but also more importantly, like Zhao Yan, a keen sense of civic reponsibility, is emerging. Calling for a more free atmosphere of expression, we have ample reason to expect vibrancy and diversity in our media, and more open discussion of social issues in all areas.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home