Journalist association denounces detained reporter

BEIJING - The All-China Journalists Association (ACJA) Saturday condemned a Chinese reporter who has been detained on suspicion of releasing unverified and untrue stories about a company.

Chen Yongzhou, a journalist with the New Express based in the southern city of Guangzhou, confessed to police that he had released a series of unverified and false reports about the engineering giant Zoomlion at the request of others.

Chen's behavior has seriously violated journalistic professional ethics and harmed the media's credibility, said the ACJA in a statement, adding that the New Express should also be held responsible for dereliction of duty over the past year.

Chen fabricated facts and wrote more than 10 reports from September 29, 2012 to August 8, 2013 based on materials supplied to him about Zoomlion's "financial problems" without verification, bringing huge losses to the company and its share prices, police said early Saturday.

"The association safeguards reporters' legal rights and interests, but also strongly opposes all unethical practices, including the abuse of rights in news gathering, and publishing false stories in exchange for cash," said the statement.

The ACJA also urged media staff across the country to draw lessons from the case, adhere to laws and regulations, and observe journalistic professional ethics.