Saturday, December 7, 2002
Chinese journalists to face ideology test: SCMP
Reuters Hong Kong, December 7
Journalists working for Chinese publications on the mainland will be required to take re-assessment tests as of next year and only those who pass will be issued with licences to work, the South China Morning Post reported on Saturday.
The plan for licence system has sparked fears that journalists not toeing the party line will be forced out of the profession, the English newspaper said.
It quoted officials in charge as saying that the system, which is designed to encourage competition among China's half a million journalists, will raise standards in the profession.
But practising journalists fear that the new system might be used to screen out the independent-thinking reporters, it said.
The licence system would enable censors to maintain their grip on journalism at a time when news organisations are gaining greater freedom to recruit new talent under the market mechanism, the newspaper said.
Officials have warned that licensed journalists could have their professional certification confiscated if they "violated news discipline", it said.
"The certification is not a life-long guarantee, violators' certifications would be withdrawn, they might be barred from re-taking the qualification examinations for a couple years or for life," it quoted Lin Jiang of the State Press and Publication Administration as saying.
Lin told the newspaper that the tests would cover publication regulations, news codes, policies relating to press and publications as well as Chinese Communist Party ideologies.
Under the current system, journalists can be laid off or demoted if they publish political or other mistakes, according to the newspaper. They can, however, work for minor or regional publications after dismissal, it said. But after the licence system is in full operation, no news organisation would be allowed to employ journalists without the professional certification, the report said.
The certification system will be implemented and supervised by the State Press and Publication Administration, it said.
Journalists who fail the examinations will be given a three- to five-year transition period to re-take the tests, the newspaper said. Those who fail repeatedly within the deadline will be forced to leave the profession, it said.
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