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To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (32022)	4/21/2003 7:57:51 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Hi DJ, but there are benefits as well. I hope a more open and free press is one of the benefits that will remain when SARS become old news ... china.scmp.com Tuesday, April 22, 2003 Sections of the media denounce sacked pair JOSEPHINE MA in Beijing After being silenced for months as Sars spread through the nation, the mainland press has finally opened up and started reporting on the developing crisis. Front-page headlines carried reports that Beijing had more than 10 times the number of Sars cases previously admitted to, as well as reports that Health Minister Zhang Wenkang and Beijing Mayor Meng Xuenong had been fired. The China Business Times was more blunt than some, stating in a headline "Zhang Wenkang and Meng Xuenong are sacked for negligence". Some newspapers also carried part of a speech by Beijing Party Secretary Lui Qi at a conference on Sunday when the organisation department conveyed the government's decision about reshuffles to Beijing cadres. "As party secretary, I have the responsibility as a leader. I would like to present my sincere self-criticism here," he said. At the same event, the head of the Communist Party Organisation Department, He Guoqiang, criticised the city of Beijing for being slack in controlling the Sars outbreak. "To strengthen the prevention and control of Sars in Beijing and ensure the stability of the capital, the central leadership decided to adjust the leadership of Beijing municipal government," Mr He said in his speech. The coverage was in stark contrast to the situation until now on the mainland, where the press was under orders to either ignore Sars or publish glowing reports on how well the outbreak was being managed. Everything changed following a two-hour press conference by the new party boss of the health ministry, Gao Qiang. In a major departure from past practice, CCTV's channel 4 aired the press conference live, showing footage of Mr Gao criticising the Ministry of Health for failing to provide up to date Sars figures, and revealing the new totals. How far mainland newspaper editors are willing to go in covering the Sars story will be a telling indication of how wide the division has grown between the government propaganda department and the more market-oriented newspapers. Eager to gain more readers, the more aggressive newspapers are pushing for the freedom to cover controversial stories such as Sars. At the other end of the spectrum are the more conservative papers such as People's Daily and the Guangming Daily that serve as the mouthpiece of the Communist Party. "They use opaque language and they run the story [on the sackings] in a small corner on the front page as if it has nothing to do with Sars," said Li Xiguang, a journalism professor of Tsinghua University. Other newspapers took a more middle-ground approach, staying away from the screaming headlines, but still playing up the story of the outbreak. Some papers ran Mr He's speech and revealed his criticisms. Mainland Web sites were also flooded with reports by local governments updating the number of Sars cases in their provinces yesterday. However, Professor Li said it was too early to conclude that mainland media would be more transparent in the future. "We have to wait and see in the next few weeks to see if the government will continue its policy of transparency," he said.