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Beijing (pte049/22.05.2003/17:53) - The crisis caused by the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in China has had the effect of loosening restraints on the media in the authoritarian republic, as observed today by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
It is not clear just how much support the changes media control have received from the upper ranks of the Chinese government, but to a noticeable extent censorship has recently loosened and the media have become more commercialised.
"SARS will have a big influence on journalistic practice and education," said Li Xiguang, director of the Center of International Communications Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The Chinese public is demanding thorough, reliable and up-to-date reporting and no more propaganda in relation to the epidemic. This can currently be found in the form of live broadcasts of press conferences or interviews in Chinese television. Recently the governor or the Shanxi Province was interrupted by a CCTV http://www.cctv.com/english reporter at a press conference when he did not answer a question concerning SARS to the journalist's satisfaction - something unseen on Chinese television up to now. Many papers in the country have also begun writing their own reports in addition to those published by the official state news agency. (newsfox-special SARS)
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