Growth in media scrutiny clear in fatal fire
Source: Xinhua |
January 10, 2013, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINESE media have moved to interrogate higher-ranking officials as they scrutinize the aftermath of a deadly accident in an era of reform endorsed by the new top leadership.
The People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, on Tuesday voiced dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Civil Affairs after it repeatedly failed to respond to the paper's requests for an interview about a foster home fire that killed six children and one adult.
"We have tried to contact the related officials 15 times but there has been no response at all," the paper's microblog said.
As of yesterday afternoon, the ministry had still not responded to the newspaper's requests.
The complaint of the People's Daily came after six officials in Lankao County in central China's Henan Province were suspended from work on Tuesday following intense media scrutiny and public pressure over their roles in the deadly blaze last week.
The deadly fire at the unlicensed foster home prompted concerns over abandoned children's safety and anger over the local officials' slack supervision. Other state media also said in opinion pieces that higher-ranking officials should be punished for the fire, questioning how the suspension of the six "petty officials" could answer for seven lives.
Experts have hailed the role of China's media, saying their targets are expanding under the Party's new leadership.
"The supervisory role of the media, especially mainstream ones, has become bigger and more visible," said Fang Yanming, a communications professor at Nanjing University in east China's Jiangsu Province.
"From county-level officials, to department-level officials, and now ministerial ones, the ranks of officials coming under scrutiny are becoming higher," he said.
Fang observed that Chinese media now always launch a blitz against officials at the first sign of corruption or malpractice. The incident involving the ministry comes amid a massive national campaign to implement the requirements on transforming officials' work style that were put forth by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, in December.
Though applauding the media scrutiny, experts say it still falls short of meeting people's expectations.
"The media definitely have a bigger role to play in 'advocating the good and punishing the bad,' " Fang said.
The People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, on Tuesday voiced dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Civil Affairs after it repeatedly failed to respond to the paper's requests for an interview about a foster home fire that killed six children and one adult.
"We have tried to contact the related officials 15 times but there has been no response at all," the paper's microblog said.
As of yesterday afternoon, the ministry had still not responded to the newspaper's requests.
The complaint of the People's Daily came after six officials in Lankao County in central China's Henan Province were suspended from work on Tuesday following intense media scrutiny and public pressure over their roles in the deadly blaze last week.
The deadly fire at the unlicensed foster home prompted concerns over abandoned children's safety and anger over the local officials' slack supervision. Other state media also said in opinion pieces that higher-ranking officials should be punished for the fire, questioning how the suspension of the six "petty officials" could answer for seven lives.
Experts have hailed the role of China's media, saying their targets are expanding under the Party's new leadership.
"The supervisory role of the media, especially mainstream ones, has become bigger and more visible," said Fang Yanming, a communications professor at Nanjing University in east China's Jiangsu Province.
"From county-level officials, to department-level officials, and now ministerial ones, the ranks of officials coming under scrutiny are becoming higher," he said.
Fang observed that Chinese media now always launch a blitz against officials at the first sign of corruption or malpractice. The incident involving the ministry comes amid a massive national campaign to implement the requirements on transforming officials' work style that were put forth by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, in December.
Though applauding the media scrutiny, experts say it still falls short of meeting people's expectations.
"The media definitely have a bigger role to play in 'advocating the good and punishing the bad,' " Fang said.
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