PAPER REPRIMANDED FOR TIANANMEN PHOTOGRAPH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 002915 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2033 TAGS: PHUM PGOV CH SUBJECT: PAPER REPRIMANDED FOR TIANANMEN PHOTOGRAPH REF: A. OSC/FBIS CPP20080725710002 ¶B. OSC/FBIS CPP20080726716006 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson. Reasons 1. 4 (b/d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Beijing's influential daily, The Beijing News, recently violated the Party's taboo against media comment on the Tiananmen massacre of 1989 by publishing a photo of a wounded Tiananmen protestor. The error was the result of ignorance by the paper's young editors, according to Beijing News senior editor Chen Lingshan (protect). The Central Propaganda Department, Chen told POLOFF on July 27, issued a strong reprimand to the editor-in-chief but has taken no further action. Chen said that the incident has prompted both fear and anger among the paper's staff, and he expects propaganda authorities to wait until after the Olympics to punish the paper. However, he and other senior editors are prepared to "stand up" to the Propaganda Department if it tries to purge the editor-in-chief. Chen hopes the case will be a turning point in the taboo against media commentary on the Tiananmen crackdown but conceded this is unlikely. End Summary. Crossing the Tiananmen Red Line -------------- ¶2. (C) On July 24, Beijing's influential mass circulation daily, The Beijing News (Xinjing Bao),published a photo in its Cultural Section of wounded protestors being carried to safety during the military assault on Tiananmen demonstrators in 1989. The photograph, one of several that accompanied an interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning, Chinese-American photo journalist Liu Heung Shing, who was working for the Associated Press at the time, was not identified as a Tiananmen photo. It carried the caption "the wounded" and appeared with three other photographs, none Tiananmen-related, whose captions ("roller skating," "the youth patrol" and "falling in love") were designed to evoke memories of China's transformation during the reform era of the past 30 years. The interview itself, which ran under the headline "I used photographs to record the journey China has taken," touched on changes in Chinese media since reform began and the nature of media freedom in the United States. Hong Kong's Ming Pao (ref A) and the Associated Press reported on the incident the next day, noting that the article and photographs were pulled from the paper's website and claiming that all copies of the newspaper were recalled from news stands. Ignorance is Not Always Bliss -------------- ¶3. (C) The Beijing News senior editor for international issues, Chen Lingshan (protect),told POLOFF on July 27 that the publication of the photo was a mistake committed by editors too young to recognize the photograph depicted the Tiananmen crackdown. He said that Liu provided the paper with a collection of his photos and left it up to the Culture Section editor and the page editor to select the photos they wanted. Liu obviously knew what the photo was, according to Chen, but did not inform the young editors. Chen claimed that he, too, did not recognize the photo for what it was until the paper began receiving calls. (The South China Morning Post, quoting unnamed sources on July 26, reported that Liu had not supplied the offending photo and that someone had inserted it after the editors had approved the page. See Ref B.) ¶4. (C) Chen said that an angry Central Propaganda Department official issued a strong rebuke to the editor-in-chief in a phone call and ordered the offending photo removed from the paper's website. However, contrary to reports in Hong Kong media, the Propaganda Department did not order all copies to be recalled from newsstands. Chen said that The Beijing News chief editor provided a detailed explanation to the Propaganda Department on how the gaffe happened, but that the Department's action had sent a wave of fear and anger through the newsroom. He and other editors are waiting for the next shoe to drop, but the Propaganda Department has issued no further instructions or taken any further action. Chen speculates that the propaganda authorities do not want to create a major media incident in the run-up to the Olympics, but will inflict some kind of punishment once the Games are over. Test Case for Tiananmen Taboo? -------------- BEIJING 00002915 002 OF 002 ¶5. (C) Chen said that the mood among senior editors is defiant. He said that if the Propaganda Department fires The eijing News editor-in-chief over the incident, enior editors will strongly resist. Drawing contrast with 2005, when two editors-in-chief were fired in quick succession for a serie of articles the paper published calling for a review of the death penalty and exposing violent protests in the countryside, he declared that this time he and others are prepared to "stand up to them" and "speak out." Unlike the issues raised in 2005, in which the paper had no direct interest, senior paper staff had direct experience with, and strong feelings about, Tiananmen, and the paper as a whole has an interest in reviewing the Party's taboo on media commentary on 1989. It is time, Chen said, to revisit the issue and change the media policy. Aside from the question of whether the paper violated a Propaganda Department taboo, intentionally or not, there is no reason a Chinese newspaper should be prohibited from publishing such a photo, he asserted. Chen said he and others are hoping the case will become a test case that will lead to a change in the ground rules for covering Tiananmen, but conceded this is unlikely. RANDT