Fergie's Tech Blog

Chinese Media Faces Fines Over Unsanctioned Disaster Reporting

An AP newswire article by Gillian Wong, via The Boston Globe, reports that:

A Chinese law imposing fines on media that report emergencies such as riots and natural disasters without official approval could go into effect by October, the government said Tuesday, as a rights group urged Beijing to scrap it.

Critics said the proposed law raised concerns over journalists' right to report on matters of public interest.

News organizations that report on emergencies without authorization or issue fraudulent reports would be fined between $6,250 $12,500 under the draft law, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The legislation defines emergencies as industrial accidents, natural disasters, health and public security crisis.

posted by Fergie @ 6/26/2006 07:35:00 PM