Realities of reporting in China
On 1 January 2007, new Regulations on Reporting Activities in China by Foreign Journalists During the Beijing Olympic Games and the prepatory period came into force. The rules will apply until October 2008
and promise foreign journalists that they will be able to travel freely in China, and that there are no restrictions on what they can report and who they interview. Journalists are also promised uncensored access to the Internet.
www.playthegameforopenjournalism.org will monitor the implementation of these guidelines and also provide links to monitoring efforts in this area by other organisations.
Human Rights Watch report: China's Forbidden Zones
The 71-page report, "China's Forbidden Zones: Shutting the Media out of Tibet and Other ‘Sensitive' Stories," draws on more than 60 interviews with correspondents in China between December 2007 and June 2008. It documents how foreign correspondents and their sources continue to face intimidation and obstruction by government officials or their proxies when they pursue stories that can embarrass the authorities, expose official wrongdoing, or document social unrest.
Foreign Correspondents Club of China's list of interferences with reporting
Since 1 January 2007, when the Olympic rules for reporting came into force in China, the FCCC has logged more than 230 cases of Chinese authorities interfering with reporting activities. This includes over 40 cases after the unrest in Tibet on 14 March 2008 and more than 12 after the Sichuan earthquake on 12 May 2008.
