July 8, 2024
BEIJING – China is changing a law to “better protect journalists’ legitimate interview rights” when reporting on emergencies such as disasters, while also pledging to provide timely information by holding press conferences and organising interviews.
But the amendments, the first to the Emergency Response Law enacted in 2007, have sparked worries among local reporters that they will translate to tighter restrictions on on-the-scene reporting and interviews in favour of official narratives.
The revision to the law passed on June 28 contained a new clause stating that local governments should “guide news media organisations and support them in reporting and control of discussions”.
News organisations should also report on emergencies in a “timely, accurate, objective and fair manner”. Emergencies include natural disasters, public health crises, accidents and social security incidents, but power ultimately lies in the State Council, China’s Cabinet, to decide on the definition.
The revision will take effect on Nov 1. The changes will affect all journalists, including those from foreign media, but the impact will be greater on local reporters because they cover the country’s happenings and incidents more extensively.
“The real aim is to portray the official narrative and prevent us from speaking with the locals on the ground and those who are most affected by the emergencies,” said Ms Yuan, 28, a reporter for a newspaper in Beijing.
Ms Yuan and other journalists who The Straits Times spoke to declined to be named in full for fear of reprisal, as they are not authorised to speak on record with foreign media.
The space for media reporting has been tightening in recent years for not only foreign correspondents, but also domestic journalists.
In March, a live stream on state broadcasting network China Central Television (CCTV) showed local officials shoving reporters to block them from reporting on a deadly gas explosion in northern Hebei province.
The incident triggered a rare rebuke from the semi-official All China Journalists’ Association (ACJA), which asked the authorities to make it easier for reporters to conduct on-site interviews for emergencies.
City officials who blocked CCTV from the Hebei explosion site later issued a public apology over the confrontation, claiming they had been concerned about the reporters’ safety.
“That incident was very significant because CCTV and People’s Daily are considered top-tier media outlets in China,” Ms Yuan said. People’s Daily is the official newspaper of the central committee of the ruling Communist Party of China.
“Receiving a visit by reporters and broadcasters from these two outlets is similar to receiving a high-ranking political leader. So, it is considered insubordination for the local authorities, whose party ranks are most definitely lower, in this fifth-tiered city to turn them away.”
A journalist, Mr Cai, 30, who works for a business magazine, said police in Suzhou had asked him to leave the city when they found out that he was reporting on a recent stabbing incident in the city in Jiangsu province. A Chinese woman was killed after she tried to intervene during an attack on a Japanese mother and her child.
“They ‘politely requested’ that I leave Suzhou,” he said. “I was afraid that they would have detained me if I didn’t.”
He added: “I expect practices like these to continue even with the new law, because the authorities may argue that such incidents are not considered emergencies.”
Journalists interviewed say victims of natural disasters and their families are often prevented from speaking to the media by the local authorities. Some family members may also receive monetary compensation from the authorities to further deter them from speaking with reporters.
Local officials are inclined to keep any incidents under wraps to ensure they are not penalised. The unpredictability of how a piece of news might be interpreted by the public, especially on social media, also deters officials from making public incidents – even if they are positive.
“Local officials just don’t want any news about their city to remain a talking point for too long, if they cannot prevent the news from being reported,” Mr Cai said.
“By preventing reporters from talking to the locals, we can only obtain the official narrative, and then the news dies down because our information flows are restricted,” he added.
The State Council Information Office (SCIO) told ST that those concerned about a tightening reporting space for reporters due to changes to the Emergency Response Law have misunderstood the amendments.
It said the legal provisions are made “precisely to better protect journalists’ legitimate interview rights”, and that the change “specifically stipulates that the state shall establish and improve an emergency information release system and an emergency news interview and reporting system”.
The office also “provides a large amount of authoritative information and fresh materials by holding press conferences, organising interviews, publishing white papers, to help Chinese and foreign journalists carry out comprehensive and accurate reporting”, the SCIO said.
The ACJA told ST that concerns about the tightening media space in China are “unnecessary”, and that the changes “will better protect the rights of the news media to interview and report on emergencies”.
Government agencies will also be required to set up a direct reporting system during emergencies, which is expected to “further accelerate the release of relevant information”, the association said.
A reporter who has worked for state-owned China Media Group for six years agreed that the changes to the law are “ultimately positive for China’s media landscape”.
“The problem with individual voices is that he or she may not be representative of the situation, and the public might make a big fuss over one person’s story, which is unfair to officials and unhelpful to the situation,” he said.
He also pointed out that official press conferences are a way for smaller local papers to get in on reporting during emergencies.
Still, he noted that many media restrictions implemented during the pandemic have become entrenched. “In the past, we had more space to look for our own interviewees, even though a minder might come with us.”
China ranks 172 out of 180 countries and territories in the latest World Press Freedom Index in 2024, up from 179 in 2023. Singapore is ranked 126th, up from 129th in 2023.