By Xu Donghuan

The heated discussion almost completely derailed the meeting and tested moderators to the limits.

It was a chilly Saturday morning when journalists, scholars and students gathered for a workshop on media ethics and social responsibilities in a conference hall at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

The whole bribe – "red envelope" – kerfuffle kicked off in response to Liu Yiran, 30-year-old news reporter for Gansu Provincial Television.

Choking back tears, she shared her experiences covering the Sichuan earthquake of May 12, 2008 in southern Gansu Province, 200 kilometers north of the Wenchuan county epicenter.

"I was the only woman among two camera crews sent from our station," she said. "We slept in an army camp for over two months.

"I produced 20 in-depth news reports. I was paid 100 yuan for each one."

When she returned home, Liu was hospitalized for two weeks.

"I had to cover the 6,000- yuan medical bill myself," she said.

Demand

The debate exploded from the floor in the question-and-answer session on the theme of paid news and corruption among journalists.

One after another, participants voiced their concern for the precarious livelihood of the young journalists, especially those working in inland and remote areas.

"I hope the government can intervene and think of a way to help raise the income of journalists,"said Liu Fang, a second-year student at a graduate journalism program of Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Liu Yiran next recalled her seven straight hours covering a poisonous gas leak at a chemical plant. Despite suffering a severe headache and numbness in the mouth, she was asked to stay for live coverage by China Central Television.

"We have no subsidies to pay for these health hazard stories," she said in a telephone interview after the workshop. Liu's salary is 2,000 yuan a month after tax. The average GDP per head of Lanzhou residents is 2,130 yuan per month last year.

"I have to work extremely hard to support myself. I also need to use my own money to maintain good relations with my sources for exclusive stories," she said.

"If a company wants to offer me a red envelope with a couple of hundred yuan in cash for me to write a promotional story, I don't see why I should refuse it."

"It's harmless and hurts nobody."

Most important of all, Liu Yiran argued, a soft red envelope is very different from a "hush fee", implying she would never accept that kind of a bribe.

Liu's experience, common among journalists from the poorer inland areas of China, is less known in big cities where media outlets earn better revenues from advertising and stronger government financial backing.

"The case of Liu is certainly an isolated and extreme example among journalists across China," claimed Chen Lidan, professor of media studies in the School of Journalism under Renmin University of China in Beijing. "We cannot use it to justify journalists taking bribes."

Paid news, also dubbed "food coupon news", is hardly a new phenomenon in Chinese journalism. Hard evidence is hard to come by, but anecdotes within the industry suggest a rising trend.

Supply

Government departments, public relations companies and owners of private business operations all routinely hand out hong bao – red envelopes – to journalists seeking favorable coverage.

So-called "transport fees" can range from a 50-yuan note for a local newspaper reporter to thousands of yuan for a top TV reporter. Hush fees go even higher – even tens of thousands of yuan.

"Handing out red envelopes in the name of 'transport fees' to Chinese journalists is a hidden rule here," said Wang Jingqi from Pegasus Communications, a Daniel J Edelman Company in Beijing.

"Everybody follows it. I would find it really weird if someone refused it."

Occasionally even a government propaganda official can be found offering free meals or directing underlings to offer cash to journalists.

Li Hongxing, former Party secretary of Yuxian county in northern Hebei Province, was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment last month for silencing media coverage of a mine blast on July 14, 2008 that killed 35. Directed by the official, the coalmine owners spent 2.6 million yuan ($382,000) bribing 10 journalists, according to Beijing Youth Daily on December 14 last year.

Although bribes are commonplace, China is not short of stringent media ethics regulations and legal penalties precisely targeted at this behavior. The Chinese Journalists Association on November 27 issued The Professional Ethical Principles for Chinese Journalists, their fourth set since 1991.

The regulations prohibit not just hush money but also the prevalent practice of "paid news", stating that journalists "do not seek unrighteous profits at the convenience of the profession".

"For 20 years, we have not been able to check the problem," Chen said, "because nobody is there to effectively enforce it.

"It's reciprocal – on the one hand, the government officials give out red envelopes for media coverage to their advantage and journalists take cash to boost their income.

"Both parties see the regulations as lacking legal binding force."

Pu Zhiqiang, a defense lawyer based in Beijing working on a number of high-profile cases, does not think the common practice of accepting red envelopes is justified despite the obvious growing financial difficulties faced by young journalists.

"Red envelopes – big or small – have no fundamental difference," Pu said. "Journalists should never touch them. That's the bottom line. Many people taking them does not make it the right thing to do.

"If you cannot stand the financial hardships of the profession, just quit. Nobody is forcing you to continue working."

Infrastructure

Journalism was among the last of professions to abandon the "iron rice bowl", a system of fixed salaries and permanent job security. But since the 1990s, as economic reforms have deepened, publicity departments have withdrawn most financial support except from key media outlets like the Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television and People's Daily, according to Anne-Marie Brady, an expert on Chinese propaganda and associate professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

Many smaller media organizations were left on their own to rise or fall. New recruits were employed as temporary contract workers – especially at young and small papers.

"Most newspapers in China are now struggling," said Zhan Jiang, a professor at the Department of International Journalism and Communications in Beijing Foreign Studies University. "But some media organizations, in order to cut costs and maximize profits, intentionally offer reporters extremely low salaries.

"In a way, this pushes the journalists to take red envelopes."

Many Chinese media professionals prefer to characterize the problem as less ethical or corrupt, more social or systemic.

"We need to see the problem at a macro level," said Wu Wei, a former journalist in Beijing. "If nothing is there to guarantee journalists a decent living and necessary working conditions, it's unrealistic to place the blame on journalists."

Red envelopes are not unique to the media sector, according to Guo Min, a senior reporter at Yunnan Information News. "Officials take red envelopes by just showing up at conferences."They don't even have to deliver a speech," he wrote to the Global Times.

"Journalists are better than them. At least we write news articles after taking red envelopes."

Qian Gang, a journalist and director of the China Media Project in the University of Hong Kong, depicted corruption as a downhill train.

"Chinese journalists should regain their role of being responsible members of society," he said."The media in China has long played a role in politics and business."

A Chongqing publicity department official who insisted on anonymity believed lack of transparency in government work is to blame for paid news in the Chinese media.

"Publicity departments and journalists are in a subtle relationship," she said. "We become nervous when journalists want to uncover negative news events."