Story ripped for lauding officials, ignoring victims
Source: Xinhua |
February 5, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINESE netizens have criticized a news report that was full of flattering descriptions of local officials' rescue efforts after a bridge collapsed but turned a blind eye to the victims.
A truck loaded with fireworks exploded in central China's Henan Province on Friday, causing an expressway viaduct to collapse.
Ten people died and 11 others were injured.
However, an online report on the incident carried by the Dahe Daily, one of the leading local newspapers in Henan, was criticized by Internet users for ignoring the victims.
A Weibo post by user Fan Wei said after a brief mention of the death toll, a total of 1,134 words in the 1,300-word report were complimentary descriptions of local officials' efforts to direct rescue work.
The report named 16 leading officials involved but did not refer to any specific victims or their relatives.
The post was reposted over 20,000 times and drew more than 4,500 comments.
"It seems that the officials are the victims," joked Weibo user Fanrongqiang.
The report comes at a time when the top leaders of China's ruling party have vowed to reduce pomp and bureaucracy.
In a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in December 2012, senior officials agreed to cut bureaucratic "empty words" in both official documents and news reports on the officials' work. Reports on officials' activities should only be released when they are newsworthy, according to a statement at the meeting.
The leaders have also called on news media to pay more attention to the public's voice.
The officials' activities are not entirely insignificant, but media reports on such tragedies should be more objective and comprehensive, said an editorial in The Beijing News yesterday.
The newspaper said flattering reports carried by official media reflect resilient "officialdom" that will make overhauling the officials' work style a difficult task.
Dahe Daily published a report on its website yesterday on the victims.
A truck loaded with fireworks exploded in central China's Henan Province on Friday, causing an expressway viaduct to collapse.
Ten people died and 11 others were injured.
However, an online report on the incident carried by the Dahe Daily, one of the leading local newspapers in Henan, was criticized by Internet users for ignoring the victims.
A Weibo post by user Fan Wei said after a brief mention of the death toll, a total of 1,134 words in the 1,300-word report were complimentary descriptions of local officials' efforts to direct rescue work.
The report named 16 leading officials involved but did not refer to any specific victims or their relatives.
The post was reposted over 20,000 times and drew more than 4,500 comments.
"It seems that the officials are the victims," joked Weibo user Fanrongqiang.
The report comes at a time when the top leaders of China's ruling party have vowed to reduce pomp and bureaucracy.
In a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in December 2012, senior officials agreed to cut bureaucratic "empty words" in both official documents and news reports on the officials' work. Reports on officials' activities should only be released when they are newsworthy, according to a statement at the meeting.
The leaders have also called on news media to pay more attention to the public's voice.
The officials' activities are not entirely insignificant, but media reports on such tragedies should be more objective and comprehensive, said an editorial in The Beijing News yesterday.
The newspaper said flattering reports carried by official media reflect resilient "officialdom" that will make overhauling the officials' work style a difficult task.
Dahe Daily published a report on its website yesterday on the victims.
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