Media's integrity now in the spotlight

The country's press watchdog, the All-China Journalists' Association, twice exposed the plagiarism and forgery in some media reports last month. Such scrutiny indicates the watchdog's enhanced supervision over the sector, as well as the necessity of shoring up the ethics of media practitioners.

In the first case, the association revoked an article's candidacy for the 24th China News Awards, the nation's top journalism award, and withdrew a third prize given to a TV news report, citing plagiarism and forgery as the reason. Such open criticism is unprecedented in the 24-year history of the award.

In the second case, as the result of an investigation it carried out after being tipped off by the public, the association revealed that five stories from three media outlets were falsified.