China May Fine News Media to Limit Coverage

By Joseph Kahn | The New York Times
June 27, 2006

BEIJING, June 26 — Chinese media outlets will be fined if they report on "sudden events" without prior authorization from government officials, under a draft law being considered by the Communist Party-controlled legislature.

The law would give government officials a powerful new tool to restrict coverage of mass outbreaks of disease, riots, strikes, accidents and other events that the authorities prefer to keep secret. Officials in charge of propaganda already exercise considerable sway over the Chinese news media, but their power tends to be informal, not codified in law.

More than 100 million Chinese have access to the Internet, and hundreds of commercially driven newspapers, magazines and television stations provide a much wider selection of news and information than was available in the past. But Chinese authorities have sought fresh ways to curtail reporting on topics they consider harmful to social and political stability.

Journalists say they receive a steady stream of bulletins from the Propaganda Department forbidding reporting on an ever-expanding list of taboo topics, including "sudden events." But a few leading newspapers and magazines occasionally defy such informal edicts. They might find it more costly to ignore the rules if they risked financial penalties.

The draft law, under consideration by the Standing Committee of the legislature, the National People's Congress, was described in outline by major state-run newspapers on Monday. It says that newspapers, magazines, news Web sites and television stations should face fines ranging from $6,250 to $12,500 each time they publish information about a sudden event "without authorization."

While the state news media did not offer a definition of "sudden events," in the past the term has included natural disasters, major accidents and events relating to public health and social safety.

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