Media outlets face closure over false ads: watchdogs

• Source: Global Times
• [01:50 February 21 2010]
• Comments

"Effectively strengthening the management and supervision on the media is the key to effectively curb the illegal advertising," a SAIC official told the paper, adding that some media outlets even provided false approval documents.

Some said the penalty is still not heavy enough to discourage the practice.

"The profit from such false advertisements is usually dozens of times or even more than 100 times the penalty," Wang Xia, secretary of the Kunming Consumers Association, told China Quality Daily.

"Besides, it's impossible for us to make sure all the claims made by the advertisers are real. So it's common that the media reach an agreement with the advertisers that they shoulder all the financial losses if the advertisements were wrong," said Tang, the TV advertisement professional in Fujian.