Southern Weekly posted an announcement on its website Monday morning to publicly apologize to Anbang Insurance Group for making untrue allegations about the company on January 29.

The newspaper in some previous reports analyzed the background of major shareholders in Anbang. Those reports were made around the time when China Minsheng Bank president Mao Xiaofeng was taken in for questioning by China's disciplinary authorities, and the reports also involved some other sensitive figures.

Rumors have abounded regarding the anti-corruption campaign. Information from alleged insiders about some officials and their relatives has been widely circulated on social media site WeChat, some of which was proven to be maliciously cooked up. There is indeed real information. However, as numerous rumors are mixed together, it's hard to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

In such a context, media reports are unlikely to be 100 percent accurate. Some of the media exposure is accurate, while some is misleading.

Public opinion is so obsessed with salacious details, there is not much censure on the media even if it makes false reports. However, the media should remain cautious when reporting on the anti-corruption campaign. Anti-corruption operations are easily disturbed by rumors, distracting public attention from the deployment of the central government. 

A few articles circulated online have tried to distort the purpose of the anti-corruption campaign, reinforcing each other with speculative publicity from abroad. Now we have to be alert to careless interpretation of the anti-graft drive.

Genuine supporters need to stay in step with the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has the final say on who has a problem and for what reasons.

There have been many elaborations over the goal and specific tasks of the anti-corruption campaign by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and by the Central Committee itself. The interpretation must be carried out based on these elaborations. Other interpretations are irresponsible, or they harbor other motivations.

Media power is a strong driving force in the anti-graft endeavor. The role played by the media will be cherished. In the meantime, accuracy is crucial to the coverage of the topic. Otherwise, it will sabotage the influence of the media.

Groundless reporting may disrupt the targeted officials' normal lives, which should be opposed. Nobody should become a rumored target of an anti-corruption probe before an official conclusion is made. This should be a principle in a society pursuing the rule of law. It can't be bent because of public hatred of corrupt officials. The anti-corruption drive is led by the Party and participated in by all Chinese. This is more than an empty slogan.