Restrictions on foreign reporters covering the 2008 Olympics would be loosened and extra freedoms be given to the Hong Kong and Macau media according to mainland officials.
A "free and liberal" (放任自由) approach would be taken under in the new rules (北京奧運會及其籌備期間外國記者在華採訪規定) governing coverage in the mainland by foreign reporters before and during the Olympics from 1 January 2007 onwards, the State Council on 1 December announced.
Sources said the move was for the new generation of Chinese leaders to use Olympics as an opportunity to "test the water" that may pave the way for a post-2008 review on press freedom.
One of the major changes is a provision that allows foreign journalists to conduct interviews with any person or organ in the mainland without government permission.
Li Xiguang (李希光), deputy dean of Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and Communications, was quoted as saying that loosening of regulations for news reporting during Olympics has been an international convention. It is a move that must be taken by Beijing which is wise to do it this way at this time, he added.
Noting that the liberal approach may cease after a two-year trial period, Cui Baoguo (崔保國), a professor of the faculty in Tsinghua, was confident that the authorities and society would become more tolerant about the impact of press freedom and the approach may become normal and prevail even after the party's 17th Plenary session.
Meanwhile, quoting an unnamed official of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) (國務院港澳事務辦公室) on 9 December, South China Morning Post reported that HKMAO's liaison department and other related central agencies are finalizing rules that would allow HK and Macau journalists to "travel and report more freely across most of the country during the Games".
Yang Qing (楊青), deputy director of the All-China Journalists' Association (中華全國新聞工作者協會)'s Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs Office – a semi-official body overseeing journalists from the three places to cover in the mainland – did not specify if such rules would apply to the Tibet and Xinjiang regions.
Previous regulations came into effect since the 4 June 1989 crackdown, requiring all reporters to apply to cover any activity in the mainland and that the coverage should not go beyond the scope outlined in the application form. Since 2002, HK and Macau journalists have been able to be mainland-based given prior approval from local government offices to report on issues outside their city of residence.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Source of Pulitzer-winning photo revealed, after 25 years
Firing Squad in Iran
Iranian photographer Jahangir Razmi has been confirmed as the winner of a Pulitzer Prize 25 years ago. His name had been kept secret until a front-page investigative story on Wall Street Journal on 2 December 2006.
Razmi, now 58, took 70 pictures of an execution in Kurdistan on 27 August 1979 and one of them won the Spot News Photograhy award of the Pulitzer Prize in 1980. The award was however "presented" to an unnamed photographer of the United Press International, the only anonymous recipient in the 90-year history of Pulitzer as Razmi's identity had to be kept secret for safety.
Entitled "Firing Squad in Iran", the photo shows a line of 11 blindfolded men executed in 1979 after Islamic radicals overthrew the shah of Iran. It was published by Iran's then second to largest newspaper Ettela'at but the editor decided not to credit the photo for fear about Razmi's safety.
The years long path of Joshua Prager, the WSJ reporter uncovering the story behind the photo which has long been a symbol of brutality of Iran's Islamic government, was in fact an enlightening investigative story itself.
Prager first spoke to all the Associated Press photographers who had put him through UPI photographers who ran the UPI bureau in Brussels at the time of Iranian revolution in 1979. From there, he said, he was able to trace back who had sent the picture from Tehran to Brussels to the rest of the world.
While it was highly risky for Razmi to post the pictures out of Iran at that time, the courage of Ettela'at to run it should be hailed as well.
The Iranians had been struggling for freedom even under the regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , the last shah of Iran. When Ayatollah Khomeini came to power, one of his priority tasks was to crack down on press freedom and censorship had already begun. Following the day it was published in Ettela'at, the photo triggered worldwide outrage through a dispatch by UPI. It was also widely tagged throughout Iran. As a result, Khomeini ordered the appropriation of the newspaper.
Covering totalitarian countries has always been dangerous. Journalists sometimes have to bet their life in exchange of on-site reporting and subsequent publication of the compelling stories. In Razmi's case, his fame had to be buried for a quarter century as well.
In PRC under the communist regime, labour strikes, religious activities, executions of untried or unfairly tried prisoners, corruption cases and other kinds of human rights violations have all been too sensitive for getting to be published. From time to time, anonymous articles and photos are disseminated by agencies or individuals to alert people around the world of the uncomforting side of the country, a real picture other than the one about prosperity.
Heartfelt thanks to these hidden heros. They are very much wanted and wanted to be seen one day.
Razmi, now 58, took 70 pictures of an execution in Kurdistan on 27 August 1979 and one of them won the Spot News Photograhy award of the Pulitzer Prize in 1980. The award was however "presented" to an unnamed photographer of the United Press International, the only anonymous recipient in the 90-year history of Pulitzer as Razmi's identity had to be kept secret for safety.
Entitled "Firing Squad in Iran", the photo shows a line of 11 blindfolded men executed in 1979 after Islamic radicals overthrew the shah of Iran. It was published by Iran's then second to largest newspaper Ettela'at but the editor decided not to credit the photo for fear about Razmi's safety.
The years long path of Joshua Prager, the WSJ reporter uncovering the story behind the photo which has long been a symbol of brutality of Iran's Islamic government, was in fact an enlightening investigative story itself.
Prager first spoke to all the Associated Press photographers who had put him through UPI photographers who ran the UPI bureau in Brussels at the time of Iranian revolution in 1979. From there, he said, he was able to trace back who had sent the picture from Tehran to Brussels to the rest of the world.
While it was highly risky for Razmi to post the pictures out of Iran at that time, the courage of Ettela'at to run it should be hailed as well.
The Iranians had been struggling for freedom even under the regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , the last shah of Iran. When Ayatollah Khomeini came to power, one of his priority tasks was to crack down on press freedom and censorship had already begun. Following the day it was published in Ettela'at, the photo triggered worldwide outrage through a dispatch by UPI. It was also widely tagged throughout Iran. As a result, Khomeini ordered the appropriation of the newspaper.
Covering totalitarian countries has always been dangerous. Journalists sometimes have to bet their life in exchange of on-site reporting and subsequent publication of the compelling stories. In Razmi's case, his fame had to be buried for a quarter century as well.
In PRC under the communist regime, labour strikes, religious activities, executions of untried or unfairly tried prisoners, corruption cases and other kinds of human rights violations have all been too sensitive for getting to be published. From time to time, anonymous articles and photos are disseminated by agencies or individuals to alert people around the world of the uncomforting side of the country, a real picture other than the one about prosperity.
Heartfelt thanks to these hidden heros. They are very much wanted and wanted to be seen one day.
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