journalism vs state

Here's a story I took from Associated Press today.

China orders reporters trained in Marxist theory

BEIJING (AP) — China will toughen requirements for reporters by
launching a new certification system that requires training in
Marxist and communist theories of news, a media official said,
citing problems with the current crop of mainland journalists.
The South China Morning Post reported Thursday that Li Dongdong,
deputy director of the General Administration of Press and
Publication, said some reporters were giving Chinese journalism a
bad name because they hadn’t been properly trained. She didn’t give
any specific examples.
Similar comments by Li were posted on the Web site of the
official Xinhua News Agency. It was not clear how such training
would be administered, but foreign journalists are exempt.
Communist theories of journalism say media should serve the
leadership and not undermine its initiatives — a stark contrast to
the independent government watchdog role many democracies embrace.
Government censors keep a tight grip on news content and
routinely ban reporting on issues deemed too politically sensitive
or destabilizing, and many media outlets in China serve as
mouthpieces for the state.
But recently some have become more freewheeling since newspapers
and broadcasters began relying increasingly on advertising instead
of just Communist Party patronage for their survival. Some have run
afoul of the government for reporting accurately on stories that
officials didn’t want publicized.
There have been also problems with reporters demanding payment
for positive news coverage or to bury a story, and instances of
reporters fabricating news.
“Comrades who are going to be working on journalism’s front
lines must learn theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics
and be taught Marx’s view on news, plus media ethics and Communist
Party discipline on news and propaganda,” Li told Xinhua on Monday.
A senior editor with the Beijing-based Economic Observer said
this week he had been punished for co-authoring an editorial that
urged the government to scrap an unpopular household registration
system, saying it discriminated against the poor.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_MEDIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT