Media’s future hinges on society’s wisdom

Source:Global Times Published: 2014-9-28 0:03:01

Two opposing points of view have been prevalent since Thursday, when Shanghai police detained the editor-in-chief and general manager of the 21st Century Business Herald.

One holds that behind it all, there is a broad assault on corruption and the newspaper is another target that was nabbed following the China Central Television (CCTV) financial news channel exposé.

The other argues that it's a campaign to tighten the grip on public opinion in the name of cracking down on economic corruption.

They emphasize the status of Shen Hao, the editor-in-chief of the 21st Century Business Herald, who was one of the key figures of the Nanfang Media Group.

Months ago when Guo Zhenxi, CCTV's financial news channel director, and Rui Chenggang, one of CCTV's leading anchors, were detained, some assumed that this crackdown would rattle other financial media outlets. As expected, this has come to pass. 

However, in contrast to the campaign against CCTV, which was hailed on the Internet, Shen's arrest won more public sympathy online. Nanfang Media Group was blamed for not providing protection for its employees as it immediately declared it would remove Shen from his post. 

The whole media industry is facing a tough time.

Media is the driving force of reform and opening up as well as the market economy. It is connected with a myriad of social problems and conflicts.

Media marketization injects impetus to the industry. But over the past more than two decades, hundreds of thousands of media employees are not among those who benefited most from the country's transformation.  Media employees have to deal with many social risks, but they occupy a disadvantageous position in benefiting from reform and opening up.

If media personnel are embroiled in corruption and economic crimes, opaque social rules should also be to blame, excepting personal reasons. Given the current environment in the media industry, violations of journalistic ethics can be found in most media outlets in China.  

Those who breach the law must be punished. But at the same time, society should understand the difficulties of the media industry and objectively evaluate its problems.

We hope the All-China Journalists Association can play a supervisory role when media personnel are investigated, ensuring their legal rights are protected, no matter what their political stances are and which media outlet they have worked for.

Chinese media outlets have to dwell on how to face the market, operate, survive, make breakthroughs in reporting, and play an outspoken role in the process of deepening reform.

They have to deal with many challenges, and whether they will succeed depends on the wisdom of the Chinese media, as well as the approach that society takes to influence them. 



Posted in: Editorial

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