The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today urged the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping to investigate the Chief of the Guangdong Province Tuo Zhen for reportedly interfering with the editorial independence of the Southern Weekly magazine in violation of Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution.
On 1 January 2013 the magazine’s editorial was secretly changed from “China’s Dream, the Dream of Constitutionalism” to “We are now closer to our dream than ever before.” It is suspected that Tuo changed the article to echo the direction of the Central Authority. Journalists have told the IFJ that, although the editor-in-chief of the Southern Weekly had approved the article and prepared it for printing, it had been sent to the Propaganda Department without any explanation being given.
On the night of 6 January it was claimed that an editor made the amendment but a statement co-signed by the editorial board, journalists, and others denied this and accused the authority of exerting pressure on the editorial board. Southern Weekly’s journalists went on strike to express their outrage and demand editorial independence – the first such action since the Beijing News Daily took an indirect form of strike in 2005 to express their anger after senior editors were removed when they reported a murder case.
The Central Propaganda Department has subsequently issued an order that no media are allowed to report, comment or forward any messages related to the article or the strike at Southern Weekly. At the same time, all related online messages have also been deleted.
“The comment function on the Weibo accounts of at least 10 journalists were suspended. In addition, the Sina email account, which collects people’s signatures, was suddenly shut down without prior notice. I expected it would happen, because it is the most commonly used method by the Authority to silence any dissent,” a journalist told the IFJ.
A joint statement signed by hundreds of journalists demanded that Tuo step down and that the case be investigated.
“Editorial independence is a key component of a free media outlet to ensure that the public can be properly informed of issues and events. Whoever tries to intervene or exert pressure on editorial independence is clearly jeopardising press freedom,” IFJ Asia-Pacific office said. “It is disturbing that the article was sent to the Propaganda Department without informing the editor of the reason for the referral. This was a clear violation of section 47 of the Provision on the Administration of Newspaper Publication which states that media content will be evaluated after publication.”
The IFJ stands in solidarity with the courageous journalists who are defending press freedom and the public’s right to know and calls on the General Secretary of the Communist Party Xi Jinping and the Politburo Central Committee to defend journalists’ rights and to investigate this case immediately and make public its findings. In addition, the authority should ensure that no journalists will be punished over this incident. The IFJ also urges the Authority to ensure Tuo Zhen stands aside from his public office until the investigation into his involvement in this case is completed.
For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries
Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific
Find the IFJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/IFJAsiaPacific