转载《Chinese press controls---Eating their words》

转载者（即Boyan HU）的话：在这里不想讨论任何关于采访环境，新闻道德，记者良知的问题，只想呈现一篇这样的文章在这里，所谓的思考，在每个人的心里。

本文转自：
The Economist《经济学人》中文版
[2008.10.25] 中国媒体管制：自食其言
归类于： 中国 — Eco Team @ 7:03 pm

Chinese press controls
中国媒体管制
Eating their words
自食其言
Oct 23rd 2008 BEIJING
From The Economist print edition

On food safety, the Chinese press applies an odd precautionary principle
中国新闻媒体就食品安全问题所持的”审慎”态度，可谓匪夷所思发人深省

IT IS, declares China’s foreign ministry, a “big step forward” in its handling of foreign journalists in the country. On October 17th a temporary relaxation of rules governing their activities, introduced for the Beijing Olympics in August, was made permanent. The Chinese press, however, has no such good news.
中国外交部宣称，这是在对待中国境内的外国记者的问题上”向前迈进了一大步”。8月北京奥运会期间，中国政府临时放松了对外国记者活动的管制。在10月17日，这一办法被确定为永久实施。然而，中国内地的媒体却没有这样的好消息。

Until the Olympic reporting rules came into force in January last year, foreign journalists based in China needed government approval for any reporting trip outside their city of residence. Officials often insisted on tagging along. Many journalists would travel without permission, but local police often stopped them, seized their notebooks and expelled them from their areas.
奥运会期间新闻报道条例于去年一月正式实行。在此之前，驻中国的外国记者如需离开其所居住城市，前往外地进行任何采访活动,都需要获得政府的许可。而且，政府官员一般会坚持陪同前去。许多记者都在未获允许的情况下出行，但是他们常常会遭到当地警察的拦截，没收他们的记事本并将其驱逐出城。

The new freedoms have their limits. Permits are still needed to report in Tibet. And even since January 2007 the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China has logged 336 cases of official interference in foreign journalists’ work. But their travails are trivial compared with those endured by Chinese journalists, who, unlike them, have to cope with a barrage of directives issued by the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department.
新规定的自由也有限制。在西藏进行报道仍然需要获得许可。甚至从2007年1月以来，外国记者俱乐部还是已纪录了336起地方官员干涉外国记者工作的事件。但是他们的所遭受的不便同中国同行比起来就不值一提了。与他们不同，中国内地的记者必须应对由中宣部下达的一大堆条条框框。

This helps explain why the Chinese media were slow to reveal the dangers of contaminated milk powder sold in China (and to a far lesser extent, exported) in the months leading up to the Olympics. The powder made tens of thousands of children ill and killed at least four. Chinese journalists knew about the problem, if not the full extent of it, weeks before it became public in September. But officials and dairy executives, apparently worried about spoiling the mood at the games (not to mention their reputations), did not want news to spread.
这有助于说明，为何中国内地媒体在奥运会开幕之前的数月里不对在国内销售的（更小的程度上，出口的）受污染奶粉进行披露。这些奶粉导致成千上万的儿童患病，至少有四名儿童死亡。这一事件直到9月份才被公开报道，而在数周之前中国记者就对此或多或少有所知晓。然而，政府官员和乳品公司的管理层显然担心这将影响奥运氛围，更不用说会影响他们的声誉了，因此不希望媒体报道这一事件。

Journalists had to be mindful of long-standing, but mostly secret, orders from the Propaganda Department about reporting food-safety issues. The Economist has seen a directive issued by a provincial propaganda bureau. Circulated in January 2005, it bans the media from naming any suspect food product until a “clear verdict” has been reached by the authorities. There are to be no exposés of safety problems concerning famous Chinese food brands or food products for export without official approval. For imported food, approval must come from Beijing. If it causes poisoning, only Xinhua, the official news agency, may break the news and even its reports must be approved by the Propaganda Department and the foreign ministry.
记者们不得不考虑中宣部关于食品安全问题报道的命令。这些命令虽然长期实施，大部分却秘而不宣。本刊就曾见到中国某省份宣传局下发的一项规定。该规定自2005年1月开始实施，其中禁止媒体在有关部门给出”明确意见”之前点名报道任何可疑食品。未经官方部门允许，不得对涉及到中国知名食品品牌或出口食品的安全问题进行曝光。对于进口食品的曝光需经中央批准。如果出现食品中毒情况，只有新华社–中国官方新闻机构–有权进行报道。但即便是新华社，也要得到中宣部和外交部的许可。

Fu Jianfeng, an editor at Southern Weekend newspaper in Guangdong province, wrote on his blog that one of his reporters heard about the milk story in July. But the newspaper could not investigate, he said, because of demands for “harmony” before the games. The blog entry has since been deleted.
广东省《南方周末》的一名编辑付剑锋（音）在自己的博客上透露，他的一名记者早在7月份就听说了毒奶粉事件。但是，他说，报纸却不能对此进行调查，因为在奥运会开幕前必须要营造”和谐”氛围。该日志当时就已被删除。