25 arrests over business media extortion claims
Print Edition
TWENTY-FIVE people have been arrested in connection with an alleged 21st Century Media extortion scandal, Shanghai prosecutors said yesterday.
Among them are Liu Dong, president of 21cbh.com, Xia Ri, publisher of Money Weekly, Luo Guanghui, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, and Xia Xiaobo, head of the 21st Century Business Herald’s Hunan office.
They are accused of blackmail and accepting and offering bribes, the No. 1 Branch of Shanghai Prosecution Service said.
The business media company is affiliated to the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily Media Group and its flagship products include the 21st Century Business Herald newspaper, its website, and the 21st Century Business Review and Money Weekly magazines.
Early last month, Shanghai police said the website had extorted money from companies in return for favorable coverage and quashing negative news reports.
Its staff are said to have persuaded companies to sign “advertising contracts” costing up to 300,000 yuan (US$49,000), that would guarantee positive coverage. Those who refused would be subject to negative publicity, according to police.
They said that more than 100 companies had fallen victim to the scam, from which the website had made more than 100 million yuan.
Eight website employees, including Liu Dong and editor-in-chief Zhou Bin, were detained when the alleged scam came to light.
On September 26, police announced that Shen Hao, 21st Century Business Herald’s publisher, and its General Manager Chen Dongyang had also been detained.
According to Xinhua news agency, Liu blamed the parent company, saying he was under pressure to secure advertising contracts.
Liu said he and Zhou had urged a change of approach early this year after another news website had been punished for extortion. But he claimed Shen told them not to be afraid but carry on until they reached their targets, Xinhua said.
‘A temporary way’
Xinhua quoted Shen as saying: “Actually, I had known it was illegal very early. But it is so widely applied by media agencies. Sometimes, I thought it was just a temporary way to help us, media, to step out the difficulties.”
But with an eye on the company’s profits, Xinhua said, he sank deeper and deeper into wrongdoing.
Shen described the situation as “a tragedy” that he regretted, Xinhua said.
Chinese authorities have been stepping up a crackdown on extortion in the media and paid-for news.
They have discovered problems such as press cards issued to people who are not journalists and newspaper websites contracted to advertising or PR agencies.
In July, police detained Rui Chenggang, a prominent financial news anchor for China Central Television, for setting up a public relations company said to receive payments in exchange for providing coverage.
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