In a live broadcast, the police tried to prevent a reporter from China’s state broadcaster CCTV from reporting from the scene of the accident.
Authorities in the Chinese city of Sanhe have issued a rare public apology after police harassed journalists reporting from the scene of the accident on Wednesday.
Harassment of journalists is common in China, but this time the situation ended up being broadcast live by the state broadcaster CCTV.
A CCTV television reporter reported on Wednesday from Sanhe in Hebei province, where a gas leak is suspected to have caused a huge explosion. The accident killed at least seven people and caused widespread destruction in the surrounding area.
The live broadcast showed how the policemen pushed the journalist and tried to prevent him from appearing in front of the camera. Another journalist of a state-owned media company was also pushed and harassed at the scene of the accident.
The city authorities published a press release about the incident, which apologized for the police’s “poor communication skills” and “rough methods” that caused “misunderstandings among journalists”. According to the release, the authorities wanted to relocate the journalists for their own safety.
The subject stirred up Chinese social media
The statement was released after the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated journalist organization criticized the incident. The organization’s statement stated that the authorities should not prevent journalists from doing their work just to control public opinion. The organization reminded that when a major accident occurs, people need more information and that the work of journalists is necessary to combat misinformation online.
The Chinese media is tightly controlled by the country’s government. However, the Chinese social media service Weibo was surprised that even journalists from state-run news agencies are treated this way. of The Guardian according to some discussants on Weibo, on the other hand, asked why the Chinese Journalists’ Association has not defended other ill-treated journalists, but only comes to the public when the work of CCTV’s journalists is blocked.
In the classification of the organization Reporters Without Borders, China’s press freedom is the second worst in the world. Only North Korea ranks ahead of China.
Sources: Reuters, AP