Call for ethics in journalism

BEIJING - China's media industry has launched an educational campaign designed to curb false and distorted news through the twin processes of self-inspection and self-correction, in a bid to promote media ethics and strengthen reporters' sense of social responsibility.

According to a statement jointly released on Sunday by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the All-China Journalists' Association and the General Administration of Press and Publication, a lack of "conscientiousness" and a "superficial work style" on the part of some journalists has led them to resort to the use of online rumor and other unverified information to write reports that have a negative influence on society.

Two fake reports were cited as examples of this phenomenon.