Chinese authorities confiscate reporters notebooks and recorders

Wanting to make sure that nothing soils the positive image Beijing wants to put forth on the Olympics, Chinese journalists are now apparently under orders not to mention the Olympics and the murder of an American tourist in the same story.

Kind of hard to do when the victim was the father-in-law of the U.S. men's volleyball team.

No one is claiming the murder was related to the Olympics or part of any conspiracy to throw the Americans off their game.

But following a press conference by the US team, Chinese authorities confiscated the notebook and recorders of the CHINESE reporters leaving the room.

Read the full story here: China's media censored over stabbing

As the article points out, there appears to be a double standard (as usual) for Chinese and Western journalists. Confiscating reporters' notebooks after a politically touchy situation is commonplace in China. It's just a few optimists had hoped that that the relaxed rules for journalists during the Olympics would extend to the local reporters.

Fat chance.

It would be nice to hear more from the US journalism organizations about this double standard. The international groups have regularly commented on this double standard -- way before the Olympics, so there is little to surprise people there. Only the Americans seem surprised at the way the Chinese government is acting.

Wonder why?

Russian attacks on Georgian Internet

The tanks and bombs are getting the news but either buried or ignored in the stories are the attacks on the Georgian Internet infrastructure by the Russians.

Media.ge reports the following:

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[2008-08-11]

www.tbilisiweb.info temporarily accessible at http://tbilisiwebinfo.wordpress.com/

As it is known, the Georgian electronic space is under permanent DDoS attack. On the morning of August 10 at 12 hrs the similar attack was carried out against the USA-based English language www.tbilisiweb.info website, following the Echo of Moscow radio station http://www.echo.msk.ru/news/532949-echo.html broadcast about the information posted on www.tbilisiweb.info. The website is temporarily accessible at http://tbilisiwebinfo.wordpress.com/

Source: media.ge

And Ars Technica has an indepth look at the situation:

Georgian government websites attacked

This is an interesting look at how the new wars will be conducted. Tanks and electrons.

And the mainstream media is reproting this how? (And I do mean outside the Science Tuesday pages of the New York Times.)

Fake and corrupt journalism in China

John Hopkins brought forward a piece in Forbes late last month on Dark Journalism. This is where real and fake journalists demand bribes to prevent bad news from coming out.

Excerpt from the story:

What happened in that brief encounter that could make a fatal mine accident magically disappear? "Black journalism," according to our guide on the scene, a man known only as Old Zhao, a self-described businessman and journalist who arranged our meeting with the pair of reporters. Before going up to Director Li's office, the two younger men had huddled with Old Zhao, who then bluntly explained the reason FORBES couldn't go into the meeting. With a foreigner present, "it would be impossible for Li to pay them."

Now, things have improved in China but did anyone ever think this kind of corruption would end?

When I spoke to journalism classes in Shanghai 15 years ago I wanted to know what drove the students to be journalists. I asked the students to raise their hands if they agreed with any of the statements:

I want to be a journalist because:

1. I like to write and tell stories about real people
2. I want to find out what is going on and let the rest of the Chinese people know.
3. I want to find out what is going on before anyone else so I can profit from it.

I got a couple of hands up on #1 and a couple of hands up on #2 but a vast majority of the classes of 30-40 students came up on #3.

When Chinese companies have press conferences to announce a new product or plant opening the Chinese reporters get red envelopes with cash. Officially the journalists and companies say the money is to provide "transportation" money but the amounts are way more than the cost of a taxi or subway ride. And the money is not given to the Western reporters.

A Shanghai editor told me (15 years ago) that if a company does not give the money, no story or a negative story is done.

Many of the reporters I met in Shanghai had two jobs. They just wrote their stories from press releases and government dictates and then went on to what they considered their real jobs.

Granted things have changed in 15 years. There are more daring journalists in China but no one should be surprised that corruption in journalism in China is rare.

But this is surprising to many because the reporting from China and the rest of the world is so one-dimensional and so US oriented. There is damn little in process stories that help us better understand what is going on in other countries.

Journalist killed in Georgian fighting

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[2008-08-10]

Two Journalists Killed in Tskhinvali Region From media.ge

Two journalists Alexander Klimchuk and Grigol Chikhladze have been killed while covering the conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia, the Echo of Moscow radio station informs. The journalists entered breakaway S. Ossetia together with the Georgian armed forces. Alexander Klimchuk ran Caucasus Press Images photo agency. Formerly he cooperated with Komsomolskaya Pravda and Moskovskii Komsomolets, in addition to Itar-Tass News Agency, Photoexpress studio and EPA agency. Klimchuk’s photos were published in the Newsweek magazine, The New York Times and Le Monde. Grigol Chikhladze, according to the information posted on Caucasus Press Images website, actively collaborated with the USA and the European mass media. And earlier it had been reported that the NTV and Vesti TV camera crews faced fire in the breakaway republic of S. Ossetia. The NTV producer Piotr Leonid, Vesti TV military correspondent Alexander Sladkov, cameraman Leonid Losev and video engineer Igor Uklein have been injured. According to the Associated Press Turkish journalists-reporters and a cameraman have been slightly injured during the war activities in the conflict zone. They were taken to hospital. Their lives are out of danger.

Source: media.ge

Journalists hit in fighting in Georgia (not the state)

From Reuters:

Fighting rages in Georgian separatist capital

By Margarita Antidze

MEGVREKISI, Georgia (Reuters) - Fighting raged in and around the capital of Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region on Friday as Georgian troops, backed by tanks and warplanes, pounded separatist forces in a bid to re-take the territory.

Rest of story

Why is this important?

First, this is a volitile area that is getting way too little attention from the American media.

Second, there is a struggling movement of journalists who are trying to break free of the old Soviet mentality of government control. They are supported by a number of groups from the West (sadly no Americans).

Now Georgian journalists are under fire in the battle betweeen the Georgian government and separatists from South Ossetia.

Here is the latest report from the journalism side: 

[2008-08-08 | 13:09:59]
On the Morning of August 8 Fire was Commenced against Georgian Journalists in Tskhinvali Region
On the Morning of August 8 separatist armed units commenced fire against Georgian journalists in the Ergneti village, Rustavi 2 broadcasting company informs. Three shots were made against Rustavi 2, Imedi TV and GPB camera crews, having arrived in Ergneti (close to Tskhinvali) to conduct filming, but the crews were to leave the territory soon, Rustavi 2 informs. Since August 7 the fire against journalists has been observed for the second time now. Luckily no one has been injured. Severe fights are ongoing in Tskhinvali region and on the adjacent territory. The Russian aviation keeps shelling Georgian towns.

All Rights Reserved to Internews Georgia.
When using this information media.ge must be mentioned.

Map of the victims in Tiananmen Square

A friend of mine in Hong Kong passed on a map that shows where 176 of the victims of the brutal crackdown in Tiananmen Square were killed.

The map was made with the help of the Tiananmen Mothers, a group of Chinese who are seeking a full accounting of the events of June 4, 1989 from the Chinese government.

Just something to keep in mind while you watch the Olympics or get ready for the session at the national convention on covering China.

Breeching the Great Firewall of China: Software to the rescue

For reporters visiting China for the first time, getting around the Great Firewall of China might prove daunting.

Even though Beijing has lifted some of the restrictions on the Internet -- notice the word "some" -- a large portion of the Internet remains blocked in the Olympics Media Center.

Chinese computer users have long figured out how to get around the 120,000 or so censors and web monitors employed by the Chinese central government

Now the Global Internet Freedom Consortium is offering anti-censorship tools to get around the blocks.

Here is a stroy from PCWorld about the group and software: Group Offers Tools to Evade China's Web Censorship

Quote to remember and comments on the Great China Firewall

From the New York Times 8/2/08 at the end of an article about how more Internet sites might be opened up for access soon:

Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing organizing committee, had said in an interview in Beijing in March: “The commitment we have obtained from the authorities is that there will be no restrictions for the media. You will have the same Internet access as you’d have at home.”

Of course in my own cynical way I bet Sun added under his breath, "if we were in charge at your home."

There is a long history of Chinese leaders and defenders not understanding that the way they have done business in their country and with their people does not work with the rest of the world. They use phrases such as "press freedom" and "democracy" but they apply their own definitions to those words. Anyone who lives and works in China understands that what Beijing describes as press freedom is not what the rest of the world accepts.

Reporters who are based in China were not surprised about the Internet blocks. It's a daily event and something to work around. There are complaints and criticisms to be sure. And there have been regular stories about how the authorities block the Internet and how the savvy computer users in China get around the Great China Firewall.

It was only after the press center was opened at the Olympic Village and reporters who have never been to China before started flowing in that the issue really came to the forefront.

And I still don't understand how anyone could be surprised this happened. It is a natural as breathing air for the Beijing authorities to attempt to control media access and information in a hamfisted manner.

China moves slightly to opening Internet -- for foreign journalists

It now looks as if some blocks against web sites have been lifted by the Chinese authorities.

The folks inside the Olympics Village bubble can now visit the Amnesty International and BBC Chinese language sites.

Filters on "subversive" words remain in place, however. So reporters in the village should not expect to be able to look for items dealing with the Falun Gong, Taiwan independence or the Dali Lama.

New York Times, 8/1/08
Restrictions on Net Access in China Seem Relaxed

Broadcasting in Germany

Another posting from Butler Cain on broadcasting in Germany.

I was introduced to the German broadcasting industry through the RIAS exchange program. It’s for American and German journalists who are interested in learning how the broadcasting industry works in each country.  RIAS – which stands for Radio in the American Sector – began broadcasting in 1946 to counteract the rise of Communism in Eastern Europe. After the Berlin Wall fell and Germany reunified, the RIAS Berlin Kommission changed its mission to one of exchange. It’s based in Berlin and is online at http://www.riasberlin.de.

In Germany, private agencies are the ones who wield authority over programming decisions. There are 14 licensing agencies there (compared to one – the FCC – in America). The idea has historic ties. After Hitler concentrated governmental power (and we know what happened as a result), Germany is very careful to avoid giving significant authority to any one organization.

All households in Germany (with some exceptions) are required to pay approximately 17 Euro per month to support public broadcasting, which gave public broadcasting a roughly 7 Billion Euro budget during the past fiscal year. This mandatory support is a typical funding model in Europe. But, it’s very different from the American model, where public broadcasting is supported primarily by voluntary contributions.

This has created lots of consternation among members of Germany’s private broadcasting industry, which has only been around since 1984. Commercial broadcasters complain that they have difficulty competing with public broadcasters because of the massive budget disparity. Unlike in America, Germany’s public broadcasting system has the financial advantage over the commercial industry.

And here’s a quick note about the king of Germany’s TV programs. “Tagesschau” is a nightly news program that airs between 8 and 8:15 PM. The public broadcaster is located in Hamburg. It has such a dominant hold on that country’s TV viewers that other channels program their schedules around “Tagesschau.” I’m not kidding.

If you’re interested, here’s a short narrated video of a few of my trip highlights. It’s at http://streams.ua.edu/aprnews/RIAS_Project.mp4.

Next time, I’ll share what I’ve learned about broadcasting during a visit to the Czech and Slovak Republics.

Butler Cain

Follow up on the earlier posting about the IOC, China and censorship.

What I find amazing is that people are surprised this happened. As a friend of mine in Asia said when we were discussing this, "This ought to come as zero surprise to anyone."

Anyone -- and I mean ANYONE -- who has ever dealt with the Chinese government on the issue of press freedom knows that he/she is walking into an "Alice in Wonderland" experience. Words mean what the cadres in Beijing say they mean.

• Access to the Internet means access to what the Beijing authorities determine what is Olympic related.
• Access to the Chinese people is limited to what Beijing decides is Olympic related.

And look at the wording of the original agreement. Beijing said clearly that access would be unfettered for the purpose of covering the Games. In the view of the leadership at Zhnongnanhai there is no reason to see a Falun Gong website or interview a farmer about weather or crop conditions.

And certainly no reason want to question ANYTHING issued by the government.

When China was awarded the Olympics a handful of people, mostly those who understood the Alice In Wonderland/Orwellian way the leaders in Beijing think, predicted that this exact problem would occur. Access means what the leaders says it means. Nothing more. Nothing less.

These folks predicted (and, yes, I was part of that group) that Beijing would look at coverage of the games in the most narrow sense.

The fact that so few media outlets (around the globe) failed to even discuss the possibility that unfettered access might mean something different to the censorship crazed Chinese government than what it means to a free and independent media is appalling.

I can't think what the non-US media were thinking, but with U.S. editors and publishers hooked on "Hyper-local" reporting, I guess the issue is just too foreign and too complicated. And as for our electronic breathern, there just isn't enough airtime to discuss this issue when it is much more important to get that report on about Britney's latest meltdown.

IFEX summary on Olympic/China situation

Here is a summary of the ways China has not lived up to its commitment to guaranteeing free press access during the Olympics from the IFEX. Looks like the IOC rolled over (again) on a vital human rights issue. (Highlights red are done by me, not IFEX.)

Go to the bottom of this posting to get to links to stories and statements about this situation.

CHINA AND THE IOC BACKTRACK ON OLYMPIC INTERNET ACCESS

Beijing's Olympic organisers are reneging on their promises to give journalists full Internet access when covering the Games, blocking websites in the Main Press Centre and other venues where reporters will work, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and news reports.

According to Reuters and The Associated Press, International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials have cut a deal with China to allow the blocking of sensitive websites from the media during the Games, senior IOC official Kevan Gosper said on 30 July.

A day earlier, Amnesty International's website and any search for a site with "Tibet" in the address could not be opened at the press centre, which will house about 5,000 print journalists when the Games open next week.

Amnesty had just released a report slamming China for failing to honour its Olympic human rights pledges.

Gosper, chairman of the IOC's press commission, had previously said that Internet access for the more than 20,000 journalists accredited for the Games would be "free and open."

 Hearing that certain websites were being blocked inside the press centre, Gosper told Reuters, "I ... now understand that some IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered Games-related."

Gosper said that he regrets that there will be limitations, and believes the Chinese organisers and the IOC "should have conveyed a clear message to the international media, insofar as this affects Internet access, at an earlier stage."

Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing organizers, confirmed the authorities would only guarantee "sufficient" Internet access for accredited media.

Access to the BBC and other foreign news sites, such as the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle and the Hong Kong tabloid "Apple Daily" have also been blocked in recent days, says RSF. RSF's website was also inaccessible. The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that sites relating to the Falun Gong movement, which the government calls a dangerous cult, will also be blocked to journalists.

"I am disheartened by reports today that China not only never intended to provide unfettered access to the Internet, but that senior IOC officials were complicit in this arrangement," said CPJ chair Paul Steiger. "These reports reflect a major setback. The IOC must address this very disturbing issue promptly and publicly."

The censored Internet is the latest broken promise on press freedoms. When China made its bid for the Olympics seven years ago, it promised that the foreign media would have "complete freedom to report."

Last Friday, local police roughed up Hong Kong reporters and camera crews and confiscated their footage when they were covering a dispute among people queuing to buy tickets for Olympic events, report the Hong Kong Journalists' Association and IFJ.

Though some travel restrictions were eased on foreign journalists in January 2007, the relaxed rules were largely ignored during the Tibet protests in March.

In the run up to the Games, IFEX members have been documenting the numerous ways China has not been living up to its pledges, and have been campaigning for change. See IFEX's special sections on the Beijing Games:

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/95159/ and http://campaigns.ifex.org/en/index.html

RSF has also released a guide on how to evade Internet censorship for foreign journalists heading to Beijing. Read it here:

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27991

Also visit these links:

- CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/5ajf36

- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27988

- IFJ: http://tinyurl.com/55rkkd

- Reuters: http://tinyurl.com/6n5oyv

- The Associated Press: http://tinyurl.com/6kwfe3

Since this report came out more stories have appeared:
International Herald Tribune
ABC (Australia)

FOI Celebrations in Georgia (not the state)

The growing free press movement in the former soviet republic of Georgia has put lawyers and journalists together.

Next week the group will celebrate Freedom of Information Week.

Here is a link to the Media Project in Georgia: http://www.media.ge/eng/page.php?m=news_detailed&id_numb=3372

Internet sites blocked at Olympics' Press Center

Read what journalists covering the Olympics are complaining about: China Blocks Internet Sites

China continues to block Internet sites despite promise -- IFJ issues statement

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IFJ News Release

30 July 2008 

IFJ Calls on China to Grant Journalists Free Internet Access: "Censorship Has No Place at the Olympics"

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on the Chinese authorities to unblock certain Internet sites that have become unavailable for foreign journalists arriving in Beijing to cover the Olympic Games which begin in nine days.

"We learn with dismay from the Chinese government that some Internet sites are blocked", said Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ. "This is a serious breach of the promise given that all journalists, particularly those in the Main Press Centre for the Games, would have unfettered access to the Internet. We demand that all restrictions are lifted so that our colleagues can work freely and search access to the information they need."

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman who admitted the Internet restrictions said they concerned the Falun Gong spiritual movement, but reporters working already in that country are also unable to seek information from sites such as those related to Tibet or Amnesty International.

 Several  thousand  journalists are already in Beijing and they are complaining about the way certain sites are censored, either because they are unavailable or they prompt suspiciously slow download rates when attempting access.  

"This is a bad start for journalism," said White. "We call on the All China Journalists Association and the Chinese authorities to keep their promise and open the Internet to access by all journalists. Censorship has no place at the Olympic Games."

 At the same time, the IFJ has called on the International Olympic Committee to put pressure on China to ensure that it keeps the Internet open to all by reminding the Chinese government about their undertakings to grant unrestricted access for the period of the Games.

For more information contact the IFJ at +32 2 235 2200/07

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide.