Whenever journalists at China's national braodcaster CCTV would log on, the first thing that greets them is a pop up on a screen that tells them what not to report. These notices would often be short but it contains strict instructions on how to develop a story. Censorship in China has been an everyday thing on reporting news there ever since the Chinese Communist Party has been in power. Recently this year journalists were warned a health scandal, how to report the death of Benazir Bhutto and to clear the confusion of a Hollywood film. These are just some issues that in China can be called sensitive and any story like this or any subject can still be foul. As 2007 came to an end, these three stories were given attention from censors that were working at China Central Television (CCTV). First of all, health is a hot topic for an ordinary Chinese person but the report of the death of a Chinese migrant worker was censored. There were no reasons to why it was censored. About two days after that story came out, reports that China had banned some Hollywood films from Chinese cinemas worried the CCTV censors. Censors decided that this particular story couldn't be reported at all but a reason wasn't given. The third story that caused problems was the death of Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Pakistan and China are close allies and the government doesn't want to cause any trouble between the two countries. Journalists received definite intructions on how to report the killing and were said to stick to the facts and not connect the incident of what was going on in Pakistan or the possibility of terrorism. Stories about health, education and inflation are closely monitored because these issues are usually controversial.Article
Labels: Current Event