Memory Hole For Foreign News Bureaus

Michael Hedges May 10, 2012 Follow on Twitter

After years of shrinking foreign bureaus to save money, news organizations are finding more and more interest in their work. Maybe dismal economics hasn’t put globalization in reverse. Or maybe there are some trends you just can’t buck.

The Al-Jazeera English news bureau in Beijing will close after the work visa of top correspondent Melissa Chan was permanently revoked. Ms Chan, a US citizen, left Beijing (May 7) after being notified her press credentials, initially cancelled six months ago, would not be renewed by the Foreign Ministry. Chinese authorities have not approved any Al-Jazeera replacements, forcing the network to close the Beijing bureau. A foreign journalist hasn’t actually been thrown out of China for more than a decade.

The move was not entirely unexpected; Ms Chan had accepted a John S. Knight journalism fellowship at Stanford University. Her press credentials were not approved for renewal, normally routine, shortly after Al-Jazeera English broadcast a documentary in November describing forced-labor camps in China. Ms Chan, who speaks Mandarin, had worked for Al-Jazeera since 2007 but was not involved in the documentary’s production. She regularly tangled with authorities, often waving a copy of Chinese law on the rights of journalists.

Ms Chan’s expulsion came on the heels of the escape from house arrest of civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who fled to the US Embassy compound amidst considerable international news coverage. In China news of the episode was limited to complaints that Chen had “become a tool and a pawn for American politicians to blacken China.” The ever-efficient Chinese web censors blocked Chen’s name in search engines as well as “blind activist”.

“We hope China appreciates the integrity of our news coverage and our journalism. We value this journalist integrity in our coverage of all countries in the world,” said Al-Jazeera English news director Salah Negm in a statement (May 7). ”Al-Jazeera Media Network will continue to work with the Chinese authorities in order to reopen our Beijing bureau.” The Al-Jazeera Arabic bureau, co-located with Al-Jazeera English, is not affected.

At the regularly scheduled Foreign Ministry press conference spokesperson was peppered with questions about Ms Chan and her visa issues.  “The media concerned know in their heart what they did wrong,” said Hong Lei without getting more specific. “Our laws and policies are extremely clear. When you came to China, our relevant laws and regulations were explained to you,” he said to the attending reporters.

An English transcript of the press conference, normally supplied on the Foreign Ministry website, was missing. The Chinese language transcript made no mention of questions about Ms Chan.

Western media seized on the story aided by a robust international press corps. The Beijing-based Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) doesn’t publish a membership list, probably a good idea, but every international news organization covers the China beat with one or more people. “Foreign news organizations, not the Chinese government, have the right to choose who works for them in China, in line with international standards,” said the FCCC’s statement (May 8). “This is the most extreme example of a recent pattern of using journalist visas in an attempt to censor and intimidate foreign correspondents in China,” Ms Chan is a member of the FCCC board

Ms Chan has become an “unperson,” said BBC’s Beijing correspondent Damian Grammaticas (May 8), referencing George Orwell’s 1984, in which inconvenient or embarrassing documents are flushed into “memory holes.”

Media watchers continue to note the contentions relationship between Chinese authorities and foreign media and local media not under tight control. “We did see sort of a continuation of the same dynamics where there were serious and considered attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to censor news and information, particularly about the Arab Spring uprisings, and also about domestic events in China,” said Freedom House spokesperson Karin Karekar on the release of the media watcher’s 2012 Press Freedom Survey (May 1).  “We did see push back from new media, from bloggers, from citizen journalists trying to get sort news out of China on alternative platforms.”

Paris-based media freedom watcher Reporters sans Frontiers (RSF) again honored (May 3) Chinese president and secretary general of the Chinese Communist Party Hu Jintao as a “predator of freedom of information” for being “the leading jailer of press freedom defenders.” President Hu steps down at the end of this year, to be succeeded by Vice President Xi Jinping. There’s no expectation of great policy change.

Perhaps it was a small step or, maybe, a mistake but posted to the Weibo page (Chinese Twitter equilivent) of State-run newspaper Xin Jing Bao at midnight Sunday (May 6) was a cryptic message along with a photo: “In the silence of the night we take off the mask of insincerity and say truly that we are sorry.” The message, reported by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) Beijing correspondent Mark Siemons (May 8), disappeared after 22 hours.

See also in ftm Knowledge

China and Media

For the media world China both entices and exasperates. Potentials in this youthful and rapidly developing country are huge. Yet media freedoms are far below world standards. This ftm Knowledge file peers over the Great Wall. Includes Resources 79 pages PDF (May 2012)

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Press/Media Freedom - Challenges and Concerns

Press and media freedom worldwide is facing challenges from many corners. As authoritarian leaders impose strict control over traditional and new media with impunity, media watchers have concerns for democracy. This ftm Knowledge file accounts the troubles of this difficult decade. 88 pages. PDF (December 2011)

Order here