China | Media

Scooped

Crowd-funding is improving journalism

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|BEIJING

LIU JIANFENG began his career as an investigative reporter with noble ideals about serving the public interest. After 20 years in the job, even working for some of China’s more outspoken publications, he felt increasingly manipulated. He also believed the public was hungry for fact-based reporting untainted by the state’s agenda. Casting around for a solution, last summer he announced on his microblog that he was becoming an independent journalist.

Five years ago such a move would have been all but impossible. But now, trading on his reputation as an honest reporter, through his microblog on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, and on Taobao, an e-commerce site, Mr Liu raised 200,000 yuan ($30,000). That helped him produce his first long investigative report about a land dispute between villagers and their local government in Shandong, an eastern province. The report, which is available on Mr Liu’s blog, has not (yet) caused him problems. “Writing at length and in detail is a way to protect myself from accusations of malpractice,” he says.

Since its foundation in 1921, the Communist Party has insisted that the media is its “throat and tongue”. Though media are freer than ever to report on non-political issues and more reporters are trying to break new ground even within state-run outlets, China’s media must still bow to the party’s propaganda department.

But new media are undercutting traditional models. For profit-driven titles this means accepting a fall in advertising revenue. For the party the battle is all about control. As microblogs and other media report news that challenges the party line, official channels appear untruthful, corrupt or both.

A bungled exposé of the sex trade in the southern city of Dongguan by China Central Television (CCTV), the state broadcaster, has caused particular offence. On February 9th CCTV released its report, which included undercover footage of alleged prostitutes in slinky dresses lined up in a brothel for selection. Such scoops are often a mix of a new type of semi-investigative journalism serving a broader party agenda. But the report failed to shock as the city’s reputation was already notorious. Then, as the government unveiled a crackdown on the sex industry, the report seemed a little too timely. Rather than the intended moral outcry, online commentators ridiculed the network for colluding with the state. “People who sell their souls have always looked down on people who sell their bodies,” read one widely retweeted post.

Even though state-run media are not as bland as they once were, principled journalists still struggle to find a home for their work. Since the arrival of the internet the government has engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with emerging media, allowing some new platforms to flourish yet standing ready to pounce on those that become too popular.

Since a crackdown on microblogs last year, many users have gravitated to WeChat, a smartphone-messaging application. It has emerged as a relatively unconstrained platform for free-thinking opinion. But in mid-March there was a sudden shutdown of dozens of prominent accounts. The “WeChat massacre”, as it became known, was a fresh warning to free-thinkers, though it has not yet scared users away.

Like other journalists, Song Zhibiao uses his WeChat feed to create what he calls “self-made media”. He posts news and commentary on controversial subjects, such as the mismanagement of official coverage of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Around 13,000 people subscribe to his WeChat feed; some donate up to 500 yuan. Despite some financial success, Mr Song sees two hurdles. Relying on donations from a public used to consuming free media is not sustainable, he thinks. And muckraking in China can be risky. If you are on your way “to seek truth”, he says, you may in the party’s eyes be on the road to commit crimes.

Since Xi Jinping became party chief in 2012 the media have been even more tightly controlled. New legislation means that web users can be imprisoned for three years if a sensitive tweet proves too popular. Mr Xi himself heads a new internet security group, expected to deal further blows to freedom of expression online. Ren Xianliang, vice-minister of the State Internet Information Office, calls control of the media, like the party’s handle on the military, an unassailable principle for upholding leadership. It is age-old party rhetoric, given a modern touch. Mr Ren suggests fostering a group of “thought leaders” to “occupy” new media.

This suggestion exposes an inherent weakness in all such government strategy. Occupation of anything on the internet is difficult, so technology provides a platform for resistance, albeit a fragile one. For journalists aiming for integrity, the intersection of technology and the market presents new ways to survive. When he resigned from his job at a newspaper, Mr Liu envisaged creating a platform akin to ProPublica, an American non-profit outlet that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. For China, it is a venture that still seems far off. But Mr Liu knows of others who harbour similar ambitions.

This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline "Scooped"

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