Am I the only one who thinks this story smacks of a Chinese government cover-up: Reporter held for faking buns report? I don't have any evidence, but it seems awfully convenient that the government now has somebody they can say is making up stories about Chinese product quality.
Beijing Television apologized to the public during an evening news broadcast yesterday and said the creator of the apparently fake news report, identified only by his surname, Zi, had been detained by police, but it did not say when. A copy of the broadcast was obtained by AP Television News.
"He used deceptive means to get the footage on the air," said news anchor Wang Ye, without giving specifics. "The Beijing Public Security Bureau has taken the criminal suspect, Zi, into custody, and he will be severely dealt with according to law."
There is something not right about this. I'm sure journalists in China make up the news like their brethren in the U.S., but there the government runs the news and that's part of the job description. The Chinese government censors the Internet and utterly denies the massacre of protesters at Tiananmen Square. I wouldn't be surprised if Zi ends up the focus of the Chinese media, deflecting any mention of real food quality problems.
If the U.S. government arrested every journalist who made a false report or omitted facts, there would be an uproar from all kinds of journalist support groups. I doubt such groups will make a stink over Zi's arrest. Watch for a stronger journalism crack-down in China. The government is not happy with the product scandal and will continue to counter the truth with strong-arm public relations.
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