- 注册
- 2010-11-24
- 消息
- 1,448
- 荣誉分数
- 89
- 声望点数
- 0
Chinese Journalist Who Defied the Censors and Wrote About Corruption Is Fired
RT @mranti: 经确认，长平下午被要求完全离开南方集团。无论体制内外的新闻人，此刻都应该支持长平。他是南方集团的主力之一，”批评不自由、则赞美无意义”，“总有一种力量让我们泪流满面” 等句子都是出自他的笔下。
By DAVID BARBOZA
Published: January 27, 2011
RECOMMEND
TWITTER
SIGN IN TO E-MAIL
PRINT
REPRINTS
SHARE
SHANGHAI — A prominent newspaper columnist who challenged government censors by writing about corruption and political reform was dismissed Thursday by the Southern Daily Group, publisher of some of the country’s best-known newspapers.
The columnist, Chang Ping, said he was forced out because his bosses were “under pressure” from government propaganda authorities.
The executive editor, Zhuang Shenzhi, said that the publisher had decided not to extend Mr. Chang’s contract.
“The paper thought some of his work was inappropriate,” he said in a telephone interview late Thursday.
The authorities in China commonly dismiss reporters and editors who defy censors.
Mr. Chang, 42, has a reputation for writing about politically sensitive topics, including democracy, media censorship, the failures of government policy and Tibet. His commentaries appeared in Southern Weekend and Southern Metropolis Weekly, both of which are published by the Southern Daily Group.
A 2008 commentary that carried the headline “Tibet: Nationalist Sentiment and the Truth” enraged Chinese nationalists who supported a crackdown on what the government called separatist activities in Tibet.
Mr. Chang also wrote and lectured about media censorship and civil society. In a recent lecture at Fudan University in Shanghai he said, “We should transform into a civil society rather than wait for a virtuous leader.”
He also said: “Society is diverse and should have a platform for giving opinions. We don’t necessarily need everyone to support freedom and democracy. What is key is whether these opinions are people’s own voices.”
Mr. Chang was removed in late 2008 from his position as deputy chief editor of Southern Metropolis Weekly and was also dismissed as a commentator. But he retained a research position at the Southern Daily Group and continued to write commentaries for other publications.
The reason he was dismissed, he said, was simple.
“I think it’s because the media censorship has tightened since the Nobel Peace Prize,” Mr. Chang said in the telephone interview, referring to the Chinese government’s anger over the decision to award the prize this year to an imprisoned dissident, Liu Xiaobo.
“I will keep writing,” he said. “I won’t stop.”
Zhang Jing contributed research from Beijing, and Xu Yan from Shanghai.
A version of this article appeared in print on January 28, 2011, on page A5 of the New York edition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/asia/28china.html?_r=1&ref=china
RT @mranti: 经确认，长平下午被要求完全离开南方集团。无论体制内外的新闻人，此刻都应该支持长平。他是南方集团的主力之一，”批评不自由、则赞美无意义”，“总有一种力量让我们泪流满面” 等句子都是出自他的笔下。
By DAVID BARBOZA
Published: January 27, 2011
RECOMMEND
SIGN IN TO E-MAIL
REPRINTS
SHARE
SHANGHAI — A prominent newspaper columnist who challenged government censors by writing about corruption and political reform was dismissed Thursday by the Southern Daily Group, publisher of some of the country’s best-known newspapers.
The columnist, Chang Ping, said he was forced out because his bosses were “under pressure” from government propaganda authorities.
The executive editor, Zhuang Shenzhi, said that the publisher had decided not to extend Mr. Chang’s contract.
“The paper thought some of his work was inappropriate,” he said in a telephone interview late Thursday.
The authorities in China commonly dismiss reporters and editors who defy censors.
Mr. Chang, 42, has a reputation for writing about politically sensitive topics, including democracy, media censorship, the failures of government policy and Tibet. His commentaries appeared in Southern Weekend and Southern Metropolis Weekly, both of which are published by the Southern Daily Group.
A 2008 commentary that carried the headline “Tibet: Nationalist Sentiment and the Truth” enraged Chinese nationalists who supported a crackdown on what the government called separatist activities in Tibet.
Mr. Chang also wrote and lectured about media censorship and civil society. In a recent lecture at Fudan University in Shanghai he said, “We should transform into a civil society rather than wait for a virtuous leader.”
He also said: “Society is diverse and should have a platform for giving opinions. We don’t necessarily need everyone to support freedom and democracy. What is key is whether these opinions are people’s own voices.”
Mr. Chang was removed in late 2008 from his position as deputy chief editor of Southern Metropolis Weekly and was also dismissed as a commentator. But he retained a research position at the Southern Daily Group and continued to write commentaries for other publications.
The reason he was dismissed, he said, was simple.
“I think it’s because the media censorship has tightened since the Nobel Peace Prize,” Mr. Chang said in the telephone interview, referring to the Chinese government’s anger over the decision to award the prize this year to an imprisoned dissident, Liu Xiaobo.
“I will keep writing,” he said. “I won’t stop.”
Zhang Jing contributed research from Beijing, and Xu Yan from Shanghai.
A version of this article appeared in print on January 28, 2011, on page A5 of the New York edition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/asia/28china.html?_r=1&ref=china
