Regulator cracks down on reporters

Reporters in China are forbidden to publish critical reports without the approval of their employer, one of China's top media regulators said yesterday.

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television published the rule in a circular announcing a crackdown on false news and journalists who take bribes or extort money from their sources.

News agencies must crack down on corruption and journalists who break the law must be handed over to judicial authorities, the regulator said. Journalists who violate the rules will lose their license to report.

Journalists are forbidden from setting up their own websites, video sites or writing internal reports with critical content, it added.

The rules also forbid journalists from conducting interviews or writing reports outside their fields.

The notice listed several cases where newspaper reporters were alleged to have accepted bribes for positive coverage, or forced people to pay them off to avoid a critical story, saying these incidents made the regulation necessary.