|
Editor sacked for report on death at Internet rehab camp
By Lan Tian (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-27 07:48 Local officials in the region where a boy was beaten to death at an Internet addiction camp have taken swift action - and fired the editor who ran the story. "As far as the story's coverage is concerned, I followed my conscience and did what I thought was right," Liu Yuan wrote in his blog at Blog.sohu.com. Liu first broke the story about the beating death of 15-year-old Deng Senshan at a rehab camp in the local Nanguo Morning Post (NMP) on Aug 4, attracting nationwide media coverage. "I hope my former colleagues at NMP will continue their efforts to successfully run the newspaper, while trying to avoid risks," he wrote. Deng was allegedly beaten to death by counselors at the Qihang Salvation Training Camp in Nanning, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Aug 2. "All Senshan's family members are very sad about the authorities' decision to fire the editor, while wondering if the reason behind it was that NMP reported the truth of my son's death openly and justly," said Deng Fei, the boy's father. "I don't think there was anything wrong with NMP's stories about my nephew's death," said Li Jian, the boy's uncle.
Instead of sacking the editor, the local government should praise and encourage the newspaper to do more timely and accurate reports on citizens' interests, he said. "Liu was sacked because he made mistakes when he was in charge of the coverage on the Net-addicted boy's death," an officer with NMP told China Daily on condition of anonymity. The autonomous region's press authorities had not banned reporting on the boy's death, but had issued clear instructions on the coverage of the incident, said a journalist who refused to be named. Regional leaders were not pleased because NMP's report harmed Guangxi's image, she said. With a daily circulation of about 400,000, NMP is a tabloid under the Guangxi Daily. Liu, 35, is an experienced journalist who came to NMP last year. He formerly worked for Sohu.com in Beijing and Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis News, said a journalist with Guangxi Daily. Another journalist with Guangxi Daily said an editor of Modern Life Daily newspaper, which is part of the same newspaper group, was also suspended. Autonomous government officials did not make any comments on the issue. "The media's supervision of government has met many difficulties because the government that oversees them still has many institutional problems," said Chi Fulin, a political advisor and president of the China Institute for Reform and Development. "There's still a long way to go to improve the government's disclosure of information and social supervision," he said. Zhu Yanting contributed to the story (China Daily 08/27/2009 page5) |
