An exclusive, a smartly-handled breaking news, or reporting with an alternative perspective can raise the standing of a news organization and the journalist(s) concerned. That is a generally accepted rule of game in the journalistic field.
The quantity and size of positive coverage on the authorities has appeared to become the or another key factor when a danwei decides whether or not to promote a journalist. It may sound ridiculous but it is what is happening in Anhui province.
Nanfang Zhoumo (南方周末) yesterday reported Anhui's Personnel Office issued on 18 October a set of job promotion criteria for journalists based on positive coverage they generate on national media about the province.
According to the "(Trial) Standards and Conditions for Assessment of Professional and Technical Qualifications of Journalism Sector of Anhui Province"《安徽省新聞系列專業技術資格評審標準條件(試行)》, or the Trial Standards, while the numbers of essays posted and awards received remain as quantifiable criteria, more indicators have been added.
In order to be promoted, senior reporters and editors are required to have no less than three articles, in which the Anhui province is favourably reported, published or broadcast by major central media every year.
A minimum of 30 a year is a must for those whose principal responsibility is to contribute news articles to these media. Chief reporters (主任記者) and chief editors (編輯評定) with the same responsibility have to hit a target of 20 submissions.
The Trial Standards state that each positive-coverage item will be at least 500 characters or 20 seconds (for TV or radio reporters) in length. Major central media are defined as including China Daily, Guangming Ribao (光明日報), China Central People's Radio Station (中央人民廣播電台) and China Central Television (中央電視台).
The appendix of the document also stipulates the penalties. Those who make serious directional mistake (嚴重導向錯誤) in news reports will be disqualified in their applications for a promotion in that year and the following two years.
Some Anhui journalists interviewed are concerned about the possibility to get their submissions published by major central media, "it is easier for provincial media but very difficult for media at district levels".
Some even said local papers should primarily serve local people and the work to upgrade the province's image by placing news articles should be left to the province's promotion department.
The issuance of the Trial Standards has also attracted debate as to what constitutes positive coverage. A journalist, who has long written news commentaries, questioned some reports can hardly be categorized as positive or negative especially when they are covering different arguments of an issue.
An official responsible for this exercise at the Anhui province's Personnel Office said to be "positive" means to conform the nation's correct editorial direction (所謂正面就是符合國家正確的輿論導向) and local major achievements, activities, celebrities will be good subject matter for reporting.
"Don't just criticize on issues. Problems always exist. If [probelms] are reported too often, there would be negative impact," the official said, adding that "overall response towards to Trial Standards has been good".
The personnel office's officials told Nanfang Zhoumo the nation's standards for assessing journalists' professional ranking and qualifications were released in 1986 and those adopted by Anhui have also been issued for many years and are "not able to meet the new strategies and demands stressed by the central government".
It is an open secret that all news articles prepared by mainland media workers have to be subject to filtering by senior staff appointed by the communist party. As the PRC is heading to greater openness amid its integration into the international community, people expect rules and regulations governing the press not to be tightened, if not loosened. Some are optimistic that mainland journalists would enjoy more freedom.
The rise of journalism in the West since Industrial Revolution was indebted to the press' courage to unveil the dark side of society and call for social reform. Journalism also wielded similar influence in China in late Qing period and the early 20th century by voicing the grievances for people suppressed by those in power. This tradition has been suffering a setback amid political movements in the post-49 mainland.
Anhui's move to measure journalists' performance based on the count of positive news and put this practice up explicitly in writing best reflects the typical course of "three steps forward but two steps back" of the media scene in mainland China. This time, it is not just press censorship but also punishment, deprivation of rights to promotion, that would follow.
With memory of the crackdown on editors of Bing Dian and China Youth Daily remaining afresh, it won't be surprising if authorities in the rest of the nation would take Anhui as a model.
Related Nanfang Zhoumo report entitled '為何要在中央級媒體發“正面報道”'
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