I wrote about the decision by the state TV station in France not to show pictures of the rioting - to try to calm the situation.
So in fairness, I should comment on the failure of the authorities in China to say anything for ten days about the chemical plant explosion which forced them to close down the entire water supply for 3.8m people.
You can imagine that journalists in France would be reacting badly to the subservience of the Chinese media. And Chinese journalists would say "we're trying!"
My Mandarin-speaking colleagues tell me that they have seen reporters actually 'doorstepping' officials responsible for the environment - that is, lurking outside offices and asking direct questions when they get a chance as party functionaries come out.
This is brave and novel for China. We'll have to wait and see if there is any adverse reaction after the fuss has died down, as there was in the case of SARS.
Then official reticence was broken down by vigorous reporting in some newspapers. Officials responsible for trying to pretend that nothing was happening were brought to account and in many cases sacked.
But later the newspapers were punished, too.
How long this push-and-pull growth of media freedom can go on without a major confrontation is hard to say.
But history shows, thank goodness, that this genie doesn't go back in the bottle.
Check out the Digital Wave asking for your comments on computers in education.
Comments