Sun Zhigang's father(right) thanked the supporters outside the Guangzhou Intermediate Court on June 5, 2003. Photo: Liang Yin

By Liang Ruoqiao

Both Wang Lao and Chen Hui made their names as investigative reporters at the age of 31. The difference lies in the fact that Wang's story was never published in any newspaper.

In 1977, he shot down a rising political star in Guangdong Province with his pen. But instead of being printed in his newspaper, the Nanfang Daily, Wang's report went straight up the chain of China's official internal reference system.

Conversely, Chen's 2003 story about the beating death of a graphic designer while in police custody hit the front page of Southern Metropolis Daily and within two months had triggered the revocation of the Custody and Repatriation Regulation of Urban Vagrants and Beggars (1982).

Although both are examples that illustrate the role of Chinese journalists in policy-making, neican, the internal reference system remains mysterious to outsiders.

Internal reference is a term referring to a system of communication with a vertical flow of information. It dates back to the days when the Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded. If by writing news stories, journalists are acting as the mouth of the Party, by writing internal reports, they are the ears and eyes.

The writers are mainly reporters from the Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily and newspapers under different levels of the CPC committees, such as Wang. Ranging from exposure of corruption to policy advocacy, the subjects are sometimes considered too "sensitive" for mass publication and instead of being printed as news stories they are sent up the internal information chain, sometimes to the highest seats of power in Beijing.

Sitting at the top spot in terms of influence, both Xinhua and People's Daily have a special department devoted solely to internal reports. Each year Xinhua gives out awards to "advanced individuals for writing internal reports."

Shen Haixiong, 43, prides himself on winning the award 12 years in a row; the only person to do so within the Xinhua system. The Shanghai Bureau Chief of Xinhua wrote that his secrets are "selfless therefore fearless," in an acceptance statement of China's most prestigious journalism honor, the Fan Changjiang Journalism Award in 2002.

"Writing internal reports is the duty and responsibility of Chinese journalists," said Wang. "Whenever journalists see any unfairness or any forces of darkness in action, they should report it upward," he said. "The writing of internal reports and news stories are of equal impor-tance," he continued. "(By writing internal reports) it shows the reporter's political sensitivity and understanding of the existing policies." After 38 years in journalism, Wang retired in 2008 as the deputy chief editor of Yangcheng Evening News, a major daily newspaper based in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

It also has its critics. "Internal reference system is a special phenomenon in China. It continues to play a positive role in the current situation. But it is not a channel for mass communication. In essence, it controls the flow of information," Chen wrote in an e-mail to the Global Times.

A reporter's 'duty'

The late-1970s was still a time of building people's communes (1958- 78). The communes had a collective combination of political, economic and administrative functions.

Bai Junfeng, about whose corrupt commune practices Wang was tipped off to, was the deputy Party chief of Zhanjiang where Wang was based.

At that time Wang already had seven years experience when he was transferred from Guangzhou to the smaller city of Zhanjiang. A journalism major from Renmin University of China in Beijing, Wang said he believed that a journalist should "shoulder morality and justice" and he was determined to becoming "a journalist for the people."

After meeting several whistle-blowers and interviewing local farmers and others who told Wang that Bai had been faking commune harvest statistics and raping women who thought he would help unite them with overseas relatives, Wang filed an internal report with the Nanfang Daily's supervising department, the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee. The report was also copied to Xinhua News Agency and was picked up by People's Daily later.

After realizing the seriousness of Wang's report, the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee canceled an appearance and speech by Bai at a national conference in Beijing. The judiciary process was initiated and a special investigation group was dispatched to Zhanjiang. Wang was also invited to join the group.

The result of the investigation confirmed Wang's findings. Bai was sentenced to five years in prison for willful misconduct, rape and corruption.

While his story never saw print, it certainly factored in Wang's promotion and transfer back to the paper's headquarters in 1979.

Looking back on his career as a reporter, Wang thinks internal reference is essential for letting senior leaders know about real situations in local areas.

And it is still applicable today. Wang said, "There is news that is not fit for publishing in China. It includes events that are still in progress and events of grave political sensitivity. The role of Chinese journalists is different from that in Western countries, we operate under the leadership of the CPC."

'Nobody's secretary'

Before Chen Hui headed to a new position with Southern Metropolis Daily from a CPC newspaper in Henan Province in 2003, he knew his status had changed. According to an official document he read when he was still "inside the system" he was no longer authorized to write internal references at his new paper. "It (writing internal reports) is a symbol of status for some reporters", Chen said during a telephone interview.

Nonetheless he excluded the possibility even if he had been able to. "I'm a journalist, I'm nobody's secretary."

Philip Pan, Beijing bureau chief of the Washington Post from 2001-07, described the story Chen co-wrote as "impressive with vivid description," and written with "reserved emotions" in his book Out of Mao's Shadow, the Struggle for the Soul of a New China.

Chen's story "The death of detainee Sun Zhigang" told how Sun, a 27-year-old graphic designer, was detained by Guangzhou police because he couldn't produce any identification. Three days later, he died due to heavy beatings.

Drawing his past journalistic experience in Henan Province, Chen was "used to judging news story by the political risks of publishing it rather than its news value" he wrote in an article "Recalling the Memories of the Sun Zhigang Event" in 2009.

Therefore, when he contacted Sun's sorrow-stricken brother and father, he asked his superiors whether to go ahead. In addition to getting the green light, the editor on-duty Yang Bing also urged Chen to write and publish the story as quickly as possible.

Chen Hui. Photo: Courtesy of Chen Hui

Sudden change

Six years later, Chen still remembers the "revolting smell" and "random shouts from the inmates" when he visited the detention center and clinic where Sun died.

Identified incorrectly as one of the "three withouts" - a person without identification papers, a normal residence permit and a source of income - Sun's death was caused due to an outdated regulation passed in 1982, the Custody and Repatriation Regulation.

Chen's story was the first to expose the tragic incident. However Sun was not the first victim of the old custody and repatriation system. China Youth Daily based in Beijing, had also written a similar story three years ago.

"We didn't write any internal reference (about Sun), but I heard that a reporter from Xinhua wrote an internal reference on the story and it played a crucial role - I can't confirm it, but it is quite likely," said Chen.

"If the case of Sun Zhigang wasn't exposed by the media, the repatriation system wouldn't have been abandoned," Wu Heping, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security said during a talk titled "Human rights protection in China : some key cases" in mid-July in Beijing.

Two months after the story was published, the Guangdong People's Higher Court delivered final judgment on Sun's case: 18 people were convicted, one sentenced to death and six civil servants got jail terms from two to three years because of misconduct.

"I never thought the senior leaders would be that quick and decisive," said a stunned Cheng Yizhong, then editor-in-chief of Southern Metropolis Daily when a colleague handed him the Xinhua announcement that the regulation was abolished and that a new one would take effect the next day. Without knowing the outcome, the editor-in-chief and the reporter had sparked a dramatic media campaign to influence policy-making on a state level, "We ended the system of detaining," said Cheng.

It was a first for a Chinese newspaper, observed Pan.

Further consequences

But less than one year after the story was published, Cheng himself was arrested on suspicion of committing economic crimes. "The reason for the arrest was void on the warrant, " Cheng said.

Cheng was imprisoned without trial for 160 days. The day he left the prison, he was notified that "all charges were dropped." He is now the editor-in-chief of a monthly magazine in Beijing.

"If we had only written an internal reference, things could have been different for Cheng," said Chen.

Although Chen denied there is any "direct linkage" between his story and the abolition of the regulation, Sun's name was forever linked to the policy change.

On Sun's tombstone, the first line is his birth date, July 26, 1976, but his epitaph doesn't end with his date of death, March 20, 2003.

Instead, two lines below it says, "April 25, 2003, Southern Metropolis Daily published The death of the Detainee Sun Zhigang." The text ends with "August 1, 2003, Custody and Repatriation Regulation of Urban Vagrants and Beggars (1982) was put to an end".

Think tank

In practice, there is no contradiction of writing both news stories and internal reports to push things forward.

For example, a news story appearing on people.com in 2001 was the first to expose a Nandan tin mine accident which cost over 80 lives. Subsequently these two Guangxi bureau correspondents of People's Daily wrote internal reports and a series of over 150 stories published on people.com and People's Daily. As a direct result of this media campaign, Production Safety Law passed six months later was strengthened.

"On the 100th day of the World Expo in Shanghai, our reporters have filed 101 reference reports," said Shen the veteran Xinhua reporter. "We are like a think tank for the government".

 'Not a cure-all'

Q: Global Times (GT)

A: Professor Zhan Jiang(Zhan), Department of Journalism and Communication, Beijing Foreign Studies University

GT: What do you think is the origin of the system of internal reference?

Zhan: It is the product of a closed and traditional society. Officials of different levels receive either the individual report or a collection of them in publication depending on their ranks, and the publications have different levels of confidentiality. This should not be confused with a newspaper, which is a form of mass communication, even though it features some of the same domestic or international incidents.

GT: What is the present status of internal reference system?

Zhan: This is still an important source of information for senior officials, especially if they are not familiar with the Internet. But in today's China, where the mass media is making rapid progress combining information disclosure and the transparency of the government, the internal reference system will be phased out by and by.

GT: Who writes internal references?

Zhan: Nominally they are reporters from official media organizations. They are reporters by profession, but in essence, they are like special agents. There are times internal reference writers receive promotions and benefits from the senior leadership because of their work. There are also times when the local publicity departments try to cover up incidents and a reporter with a conscience discloses it, hoping it will catch the attention of someone such as Premier Wen Jiabao to help find a solution.

By all means, this is not a cure-all for a modern society. Solving social issues should depend on a free flow of information.

GT: What are the different views on the system?

Zhan: There are reporters I know of who would never pen a word for internal reference, thinking it's work for special investigators.

On the other hand, there are also supporters for the system thinking that because of the limitations of China's actual conditions that there are many social prob-lems where the ends justify the means. My take is on the middle ground. I do not support reporters doing this all the time. But in certain situations and judging by the results, it is effective.