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Letters and Blogs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-19 07:56 'Zero refusal' is a step forward What makes journalists feel most frustrated in news reporting? I believe that being unable to reach the must-ask interviewees after making great effort is the most frustrating situation for newsmen. It is very difficult for Chinese reporters, let alone for foreign correspondents in China, to reach government departments on some occasions. Now the situation will see a U-turn as "government ministries will be pushed to give better access to foreign journalists in a policy called 'zero refusal'", China Daily quoted a senior official of the State Council Information Office as saying recently. Many interview applications used to be put aside by ministries, about which foreign correspondents complained a great deal. The "zero refusal" doesn't mean all applications will be accepted, but at least replied to by relevant ministries and offices. Undoubtedly, the new policy is a step forward for openness and transparency. I read China-related reports in the foreign media a lot and found that besides quoting from Xinhua, China Daily and other Chinese media, they frequently carry analyses and voices from non-official entities and interview "China-issue experts who live outside China". This kind of news reporting resulted in creating a bias, and produced negative images and misunderstanding about China. The introduction of "zero refusal" will make foreign correspondents establish more frequent contacts with China's ministries, and the governmental voices will be better and correctly conveyed to the foreign press. I still remember two years ago, the then New York Times Beijing Bureau correspondent Jim Yardley and his colleagues covered a series of reports entitled "Choking on Growth", which concerned China's environmental problems. One of the reports set the "Three Gorges Project" as their attack target. I could not accept many views in the report. However, it did cause an uproar in the international community as many foreign countries "believed Three Gorges Project was what it described". To clear the wrong impressions, China later held several press conferences by showing definite evidence to correct the foreigners' misunderstanding and to refute the New York Times viewpoints. If relevant departments and ministries could have highlighted the relevant points of this issue and responded adequately to foreign media earlier, the country would not have been so embarrassed when the New York Times' biased report was published. In the aftermath of the Urumqi riots, China arranged a special tour for foreign correspondents, letting them know what had happened in the city and why. And foreign reporters welcomed the decision and, as a result, their reports were more just and fair than their previous stories. I believe that "zero refusal" is the fruit of social development. The new policy signals a more transparent mechanism in China, and in return, foreign journalists should fix the "ills and prejudices" in their reporting missions. Only by doing so, will there be a win-win result. Li Yanqing, Harbin via e-mail (China Daily 08/19/2009 page8) |
