Journalist jailed for fabricating news reports
Print Edition
A former Guangzhou-based reporter was yesterday sentenced to 22 months in prison and fined 20,000 yuan (US$3,260) for fabricating scandalous news reports about a leading state-owned machinery maker.
Chen Yongzhou, a former staffer at New Express Daily, was found guilty of defamation and bribery, the Luyue District People’s Court in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan Province, said yesterday.
The court heard that between 2012 and last year, Chen was paid to write a dozen articles about Changsha-based Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co, accusing it of cooking the books, illegally transferring benefits, corruption related to the handling of state-owned assets and excessive spending on advertising.
Prosecutors said the reporter was paid 30,000 yuan in May 2013, after publishing the reports, though the court did not disclose the name of the company or person that bribed him.
Zhuo Zhiqiang, who co-wrote several of the reports, was sentenced to 10 months in prison and fined 10,000 yuan for causing damage to Zoomlion’s commercial reputation.
Shares in the Shenzhen and Hong Kong-listed firm fell more than 40 percent in the year following the publication of the reports and have yet to recover.
Chen was detained last October and later confessed to being paid for publishing material he had not verified, the court heard.
Earlier media reports cited a Zoomlion employee as saying the defamatory stories originated from local rival Sany Group Co, though that company has denied any wrongdoing.
Yesterday’s ruling came amid a crackdown on corruption and blackmail in the media industry. Earlier this month, Shanghai police arrested 25 people in connection with an alleged extortion scandal involving 21st Century Media.
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 21st Century Business Herald’s Hunan office were among those arrested.
They have been accused of extorting money from companies in return for providing favorable news coverage and quashing negative reports.
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