Article,
Unwritten rules at a government press conference? Say it ain't so
danwei.org, (March 20080304)
Abstract
At Sunday's press conference ahead of the opening of the CPPCC session,
a reporter with MASTV asked spokesman Wu Jianmin whether there were
ünwritten rules" governing the press conference, rules that gave
mainstream state media organizations the ability to control the tone
of the proceedings.
Wu responded by saying that all reporters are treated equally.
Liao Weihua, a reporter from the Chengdu Business News who did not
get the opportunity to ask a question at the press conference, nevertheless
agreed with the spokesman's explanation.
In an opinion piece for his newspaper, Liao noted that it's entirely
normal for the big state media organizations to be given special
consideration at such functions, and this is something that all journalists
are aware of. Here's his assessment of the way the slots were handed
out:
At yesterday's press conference, twelve reporters had the opportunity
to ask questions. These reporters were from Xinhua, China News, CNN,
MASTV, China Daily, People's Daily Overseas Edition, China County
Times, CCTV, Ta Kung Pao, Chongqing CPPCC Report, Beijing Youth Daily,
and China Radio International. We can see from this list that apart
from Xinhua, CCTV, CRI, and China Daily, which belong to the "mainstream
media" that the Macao reporter mentioned, the other eight organizations
were chosen at the scene. After the conference, the reporter from
China County Times told me that she had raised her hand a number
of times before she was finally called on, and at that time her original
questions, about the snow-related catastrophe in the south and the
appointment of non-party members to official positions, had already
been asked, so she hastily threw together a question about economic
development in northern Guangxi. But according to her experience,
"there'll be opportunities to ask questions, but it depends on luck
and your own persistence."
China County Times (中国县域经济报) is published by the Economic Daily, a
national paper under the joint supervision of the State Council and
the party's Publicity Department, and was that paper's rural edition
until January 2007.
One could quibble with Liao's short list of just four agencies that
receive special attention—media blogger aside had a slightly different
impression of the proceedings:
Unwritten Rules
This afternoon at the Great Hall of the People, was the first press
conference of the First Session of the 11th National Committee of
the CPPCC.
Around 5:00pm. The fourth question, from a reporter with MASTV: This
year's Two Sessions are the most open they've ever been to the media.
My question is, with the way that you call on questioners, are there
unwritten rules governing which media organizations you call on in
any given situation? Is it a case where a minority of mainstream
media organizations gets to call the shots?
Spokesman Wu Jianmin: I don't know what you mean by ünwritten rules."
From the perspective of the press center, there are indeed rules
for conducting a press conference, and under these rules all reporters
are equal. The Session's press center will provide as much information
as possible to each reporter.
About fifty minutes later, the last opportunity to ask a question.
Before she asked her question, the woman who was called on said emotionally:
for me to be picked is full proof that the press conference has no
unwritten rules. I've been raising my hand the last ten times!
The spokesman asked her which media organization she belonged to.
She said, People's Daily, Overseas Edition.
Links and Sources
Chengdu Business News (Chinese): Unwritten rules for picking questions?
Wu Jianmin's clever response
http://www.newssc.org/gb/Newssc/meiti/cdsb/jryw/userobject10ai1382439.html
aside's blog (Chinese): Unwritten rules
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_483edf3d01008uun.html
2008-03-02 18:25:05
标签：杂谈
潜规则
今天下午，人民大会堂，全国政协十一届一次会议首场新闻发布会。
17时许，第四个提问的澳门澳亚卫视记者：今年“两会”对媒体算是最开放的一年，请问像这样的钦点提问，每个场合对于点什么样的媒体会不会有潜规则呢？是不是会发生少数主流媒体“一言堂”的状况？
发言人吴建民：我不知道你讲的“潜规则”是指什么。从大会新闻组的角度来看，举行新闻发布会是有它的规则的，所有的记者，规则面前一律平等。大会新闻组将向各位记者尽可能的提供信息。
约五十分钟后，最后一个提问机会。被点到的女记者发问前激动地说：能点到我充分说明发布会没有潜规则，我举了十遍手！
发言人提醒她自报所属媒体。
她说：人民日报海外版。
外一则 炮轰
14时许，表弟发来短信：台湾被打了。
我回：啊？被谁打
他：拒绝奥运圣火，被蓝营炮轰
Image from Eastday
