SCMP: Sars cover-up emboldens mainland journalists to seek out the truth

SCMP (South China Morning Post) is a prominent Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper.

06/09/2003
South China Morning Post
Page 4

It is no longer just liberal-minded newspapers that are reporting more aggressively on the mainland. In the aftermath of Sars, even journalists at Shanghai's conservative Liberation Daily are complaining about a lack of transparency.

"It makes me angry how [Sars] was handled," a reporter for the newspaper said, adding that if it was not for the western media, the true extent of the outbreak might never have been known.

Now the question is just how far the new open-mindedness in the media will go? What is clear is that there is pressure for change.

One journalism professor said the media "failed in its public duty" to provide timely information in the early stages of the outbreak, muzzled by government controls and self-censorship. "Maybe after this, the media will think about its responsibility. I think the media will use this incident to report more aggressively on disasters," said the professor. The media may not have the authorities on their side in this endeavour, but they have at
least one ally they can count on: technology.

In Guangdong, where the virus originated, initial reports that leaked out in December about a "mystery virus" were quickly stifled by a zealous propaganda machine. By January, officials believed the leaks were under control, but they had not reckoned on the ubiquitous spread of mobile phone text messages and internet postings.

On February 10, local media made what appeared to be the first mention of the virus after a month-long blackout, with a brief statement in the Yangcheng Evening News warning people to take precautions against the flu.

The next day, Guangdong health officials announced more than 300 cases of what they called atypical pneumonia. For a period of about two weeks, the province's propaganda tsars gave the media a free rein before clamping down again. Coverage included television images of panic-buying, as residents rushed to stock up on food.

Once attention switched to Beijing, a similar pattern followed. During the annual session of the National People's Congress in March, authorities discouraged reporting on sensitive topics like Sars.

But then army doctor Jiang Yanyong wrote a letter to media outlets on April 4, saying he was aware of more cases in Beijing than had been officially acknowledged. Domestic media ignored the doctor, but foreign reporters ran with the story. It caused such a global storm that the World Health Organisation (WHO) sent a team to investigate the situation, which led to the sacking of the health minister and the mayor of Beijing.

Seizing the moment, some state-run newspapers began publishing articles praising the doctor. By classifying Sars as a disaster, reporters have been able to write stories that push official boundaries. Leading from the front has been the investigative magazine, Caijing, which criticised officials at the Beijing People's Hospital for not isolating a suspected patient.

But newspapers have stopped short of blaming the central government, instead criticising local officials for shirking their duties.

At the same time, authorities have cracked down on unofficial sources of information, making more than 100 arrests.

The Supreme Court has threatened prison terms of up to five years for people who spread false information about Sars. Highlighting continuing sensitivity towards the issue, Shanghai's main English-language paper, the Shanghai Daily, sacked a foreign copy editor for giving an interview to a US radio station in which he suggested the city was understating Sars cases.

Academics said an article about the role of the media, which caused a stir when it appeared in the groundbreaking Southern Weekend on February 27, could chart the way for the future.

The lengthy article, which appeared a few days after Guangdong clamped down on Sars reporting, quoted a panel of eight scholars calling for changes in the industry.

Zhou Ruijin, a former deputy editor of the People's Daily, said: "Currently, there are still many limits on reports about major breaking events. The reports aren't timely and there are many difficulties. This must be improved."