Guidelines stress national security, social stability, moral standards
Hunan Province's media watchdog and journalists' association have jointly released 10 rules regulating media workers' behavior in an effort to preserve the reputation of the press and to tackle the proliferation of false information and paid news coverage, media reported Monday.
The regulations on media workers' political stance, professional behavior and economic interest was jointly released by the Journalists Association of Hunan Province and the province's Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.
According to the regulations, media workers should not publish information or rumors from the Internet before verifying them, nor should they publish news stories declaring any parties guilty before the courts pass judgment. Analysts say these stipulations could help crack down on rampant Internet rumors.
"The regulations have arisen from the government's need to enhance management of journalism and from the industry's need for better self-discipline. Paid coverage and the publication of online rumors have been long-standing issues, and strengthening related management could reduce such behaviors to some extent," He Hui, an expert from the Public Relations and Public Opinion Institute of the Communication University of China, told the Global Times.
Media workers should not reveal or seek profit from information they obtain by taking advantage of their duties, including national or trade secrets, or information violating an individual's privacy, the regulations read.
The regulations also ban media workers from making personal profit through blackmail, using news coverage as a means of reprisal, writing news stories for payment from non-media parties, receiving compensation from companies for participating in news conferences or interviews and arranging interviews without possessing a journalist certificate.
The regulations also ask that media workers not report on news that jeopardizes national security, affects social stability, goes against common moral standards, goes against the public interest or promotes egoism, the worship of money and hedonism.
He Hui added that media workers should increase their professional sensitivity to protecting national security, while officials from institutions dealing with secrets also have an obligation to notify members of the media of such constraints before accepting interviews.
However, analysts said that the regulations may have a limited effect since there are no national journalism laws in place to inform media workers of their rights and obligations.
"The regulations, although well-intentioned, may have limited effects. Instead of making a law on journalism, which should stipulate both press workers' rights and obligations, the regulations lay one-sided emphasis on press workers' obligations," said Liu Hailong, an associate professor at the Renmin University of China.
The difficulty of implementing the regulations is that they do not give details about the consequences violators will face, nor do they designate specific organizations to enforce them, added Liu.
