Journalists don't need to hunt out weird news
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Although I did not take journalism as a major, I understand that reporters should be professional and have an obligation to accurately record what they see and hear. And it is against journalistic integrity to forge news and stories, to wait at the busy shops with their cameras for the "possible event," and to claim that people who were expected to attend the "event" have been arrested or detained.
Yet the vast majority of foreign journalists in Beijing have made unremitting effort, and contributions to promote mutual understanding between China and the rest of the world.
I also heard that quite a number of foreign reporters in China were denounced and accused by the right-wing of their own countries for covering the real China as what they have actually seen and heard in the nation. We should respect and express our heartfelt gratitude to these courageous journalists.
However, we also often come across the following weird phenomenon.
Some foreign journalists may unexpectedly appear at frontier regions or even striding across the national border to cover stories, making unnecessary diplomatic troubles for China. Some may turn up at prohibited military zones, which is not permitted by China's law.
More seriously, there are even foreign journalists who could successfully get first-hand materials of certain "unexpected incidents." When the People's Court in China declares a judgment on a certain Chinese criminal, is it strange if there is a foreign diplomat reading a so-called Protest Letter in front of the court and a crowd of foreign journalists busy taking photos at the scene?
Is it also surprising when someone records a mass group incident in China from the very beginning to the end with a professional camera for broadcast abroad?
I would like to deliver a sincere statement to the foreign journalists: Queer news is generally eye-catching, but it rarely happens. Remember the real identity and the law of the nation where you reside as a foreign journalist.
The author is a Beijing-based commentator.
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