MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

To be a good journalist, first you must be a good Marxist, says Beijing

Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post broke the news

Chinese journalist must take tests on Marxist theory and the Chinese Communist Party is the last of Beijing’s drive to improve standards and ensure closer adherence to government media policies, reports said this week.

“A journalist can properly fulfil their duty only by raising the theoretical level of journalism with Chinese characteristics, enhancing education in the Marxist view of journalism, and better cultivating professional ethics in journalism,” Li Dongdong, the deputy director of the General Administration of Press and Publications, told state media.

“The morality and basic quality of journalists is very important” the popular 163.com website quoted Li as saying on Wednesday.
“This year we will introduce a system of professional entry qualification for journalists. This is currently under preparation,” she said.

The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said the new test for journalists would be similar to the examination for prospective civil servants.

“No matter what your field of study, if you are not taught about the history of Chinese Communist Party journalism, the Marxist view of news and media ethics, you cannot pass the tests,” the newspaper quoted Li as saying.

Last month, Li said her department was also drafting regulations designed to prevent the publication of “fake” news and limit the setting up of additional news bureaus.

Most registered Chinese journalists already face strict rules and censorship of their reports by editors of state media.

“Editors often receive written or oral directives forbidding them to cover a national or international story. Sometimes the order instructs them to limit themselves to using the official version of the events,” Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said earlier this week.

But the number of freelance journalists has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly with less strictly controlled websites.

State media have also highlighted several cases of unregistered or bogus journalists allegedly demanding “hush money” from companies for not reporting accidents, environmental problems and other bad news.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it recorded 24 journalists in Chinese prisons at the end of last year, the highest total of any country.