Anatomy of a Media Murder: How Beijing Killed

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 GUANGZHOU 000654

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM, EAP/PD, PA, R, INR/EAP, DRL

E.O. 12958: 12/02/2034
TAGS: KPAO KMDR PREL EINT SOCI CH
SUBJECT: Anatomy of a Media Murder: How Beijing Killed
the President's Southern Weekend Interview

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(U) Classified by Consul General Brian L. Goldbeck for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: President Obama gave only one interview
during his visit to China, and he chose Guangzhou's
Southern Weekend (Nanfang Zhoumo),a paper the New York
Times called "China's most influential liberal
newspaper." Reporters in Guangzhou, working for the
Southern Daily Group or closely associated with the
Southern Weekend (strictly protect all),have confirmed
that the paper was the victim of centrally-directed,
extensive interference and ongoing censorship. End
summary.


2. (C) After learning that Embassy Beijing had contacted
Southern Weekend to arrange an interview with the
President, close media contacts confirmed to ConGenOffs
that the Communist Party Central Propaganda Department
(Zhong Xuan Bu) was not happy. On Tuesday, November 17,
the Central Propaganda Department provided the Southern
Weekend a list of the government's questions and
instructed the paper to use questions from the list.


3. (C) By the time of the interview on Wednesday morning,
November 18, and, media contacts confirm, after
significant back and forth between the paper and Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) propaganda officials in Beijing,
Southern Weekend was permitted to ask two (out of seven)
of its own questions, albeit with Central Propaganda
Department modifications.


4. (C) For its third question, Southern Weekend wanted to
ask: "Regarding international cooperation, in what areas
do you expect China to play a more important role?" The
Central Propaganda Department insisted that the question
be: "What is your opinion about U.S.-China cooperation in
the Asia-Pacific region?"


5. (C) For its fourth question, Southern Weekend wanted
to ask: "Regarding China-U.S. trade, one important but
pending, long-term problem concerns when America will
give China 'market economy status.' What is your attitude
toward this issue?" The Central Propaganda Department
changed the question to: "The U.S. has not given China
'market economy status." What difficulties exist in
doing so?"

Newspaper Not Available at Newsstands in Guangzhou
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) The President's interview took place on
Wednesday, November 18, and should have been published on
Thursday, November 19. Although the paper was available
at kiosks in Beijing, Post visited three separate kiosks
in Guangzhou and was told the paper's release would be
delayed until Friday. (Comment: Post's media-watchers
are unaware of the paper's publication ever being delayed
by a day. The delayed release at newsstands in Guangzhou
was suspicious considering that home delivery on
Thursday, November 19 occurred on time. Most of Southern
Weekend's papers are sold at newspaper kiosks, not by
subscription. End comment.)

The Paperboy Vandal
--------------


7. (C) Embassy Beijing notified Post that Thursday home
deliveries in Beijing and Shanghai were anything but
normal -- the interview, which was published on page 2 of
the paper, had been torn out of some copies, resulting in
a sizable hole on the paper's front page. In response to
these reports of vandalism in Beijing and Shanghai, Post
contacted universities, media and libraries in Guangzhou
to determine if the interview had been ripped out in
Guangzhou, but received no reports suggesting censored
home deliveries.

Bury the Body
--------------

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8. (C) Close media contacts confirm that the Central
Propaganda Department ordered Southern Weekend to bury
the interview. Southern Weekend planned to devote its
front page to the interview and to publish a whole page
of stories about the President's visit. The Central
Propaganda Department ordered the paper to reduce
coverage to a half page and not put it on the cover.
Media contacts confirm that positive stories discussing
the President's visit -- including the President's
handwritten note offering his best wishes to Southern
Weekend and photo of the President holding the paper --
were banned.


9. (SBU) The President's handwritten note stated: "To the
Southern Weekly and its readers -- I look forward to
continuing the ties between our two countries, and
congratulate you for contributing to the analysis and
flow of vital policy information. An educated citizenry
is the key to an effective government, and a free press
contributes to that well-informed citizenry. /s/ Barack
Obama"

Southern Weekend Complies, but "Salutes" Beijing with
White Space Protest
-------------- --------------
--


10. (C) Because Southern Weekend abruptly was ordered to
limit coverage to a half page and move the interview off
the cover, the paper was forced to change its layout.
Rather than move other news into the gaps appearing on
the first and second pages, the paper created two large
in-house advertisements to fill the blank spaces.


11. (C) Both advertisements were abnormally Spartan, with
90 percent white space and words in unusually small font,
the cumulative visual effect emphasizing the large white
spaces and lack of news. The text of the cover
advertisement stated: "We don't have exclusive interviews
every week, but read Southern Weekend every week to
understand China." In that day's paper, one who read
Southern Weekend "to understand China" was provided
mostly with white space. The text in the page 2
advertisement read: "Not everyone can become influential,
but everyone can read and understand China here." Again,
the understanding of China that the reader took away from
looking at the paper was that something -- a substantial
amount of something -- was missing, and the cryptic "not
everyone can become influential," a message to those who
actually wield influence in Beijing. Five media contacts
have confirmed the advertisements' double meanings were
deliberate protests to Beijing censors; local media
contacts currently are waiting to see how Beijing
responds.

Black Holes in Cyberspace, or Linkless Posting
-------------- --------------


12. (C) To limit the interview's exposure, the Central
Propaganda Department ordered that the Southern Daily
Group (Southern Weekend's parent company) official online
version not include the interview as a html webpage. This
e-version normally is an exact reproduction of the print
version. (Note: The censorship was still in place as of
December 1;
see http://nf.nfdaily.cn/epaper /nfzm/content/20091119/
PageA01CJ.htm. Page A1 advertises the interview on page
A2, but there is no html page for A2. End note.)


13. (C) The Central Propaganda Department did permit the
Southern Weekend to post the interview on its website
news site but with two caveats: there could be no mention
of the interview on the Southern Weekend homepage, and
there could be no links taking the reader to the
interview. The majority of readers visiting the website,
therefore, would have seen no mention of the interview or
links to the interview. A reader looking for the
interview could find it by searching "Obama" from the

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homepage (http://www.infzm.com/). The interview may
still be viewed here:
http://www.infzm.com/content/20091118.shtml.

Please Pretend That It Never Happened
--------------


14. (C) After the interview, the Central Propaganda
Department issued an internal order to all state-run
media stating that no media were permitted to republish
the Southern Weekend interview or photo of the President
giving the interview. The order stated: "Re: Central
Propaganda Department order, U.S. President Obama
interview with Southern Weekend, this news story may not
be republished by any media including websites."


15. (C) At the bottom of the specific order issued to
Guangzhou, an official from the Central Propaganda
Department (signature illegible) wrote: "Director General
Wan (i.e., Wan Xiaoling, head of Guangzhou's Propaganda
Department),all media in Guangzhou should implement this
order." This internal order that was issued to Guangzhou
media outlets now circulates on the Internet.

40,000 Other Voices on Censorship and Press Freedom
-------------- --------------


16. (SBU) Censorship of the Southern Weekend interview
has attracted substantial attention online, both amongst
China netizens and in overseas Chinese media based in
Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Based upon a Google
search of "Southern Weekend, interview, Obama, and blog
(in Chinese)," Post estimates 40,000 blogs and tweets,
the majority of which are pro-freedom of expression and
voice disappointment with Beijing's censorship.


17. (C) Influential blogger Yao Yijiang acknowledged that
the buried, limited exposure was a necessary compromise,
but applauded the President for choosing a non-pro-
government paper as a powerful message to and victory for
average Chinese people. Lan Enfa asked "Why is Southern
Weekend's interview so short?," and then answered his own
question, stating that it could be "sadly" understood if
one studied the two, half-page and almost-blank
advertisements. Lan Enfa praised Southern Weekend for
sticking to its principles and bravely dealing with
Beijing's censors. Southern Weekend staff, using
pseudonyms, said the paper was not allowed to conduct an
in-depth interview, and even the President's brief
comments on human rights and freedom of the press were
censored. Shi Feike, a leading writer for Southern
Weekend Magazine, tweeted that the interview obviously
upset the Chinese Communist Party and had made Beijing-
based media jealous.


18. (C) Overseas Chinese voices received attention on the
Mainland, too. Popular blogger Jiang Jiaoyong
republished Radio Free Asia's broadcast, which said that
veteran Chinese journalists think the online ban and
limited exposure exemplifies the typical approach taken
by the Chinese government. China's most influential BBS
portal, Tianya.cn, republished an article from the
Singapore-based Lianhe Zaobao, which commented that
Chinese netizens regard the President's choice of
Southern Weekend as the President's way of criticizing
Chinese censorship. Taiwan's Central News Agency
commented that the President's interview with Southern
Weekend left a "Bomb of Freedom" on the Chinese Mainland,
and the article was picked up and republished by Mainland
bloggers.

Postmortem of the Interview's Death in Guangzhou
-------------- --------------


19. (C) Comment: We will never know how many ordinary
Chinese were prevented from reading the President's
interview, but the censorship backlash was substantial.
That said, 40,000 bloggers and tweeters (and their
millions of readers) discussed the significance of the

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President choosing Southern Weekend, Beijing's
censorship, and Southern Weekend's protest
"advertisements." "Internal" orders prohibiting Chinese
media from republishing the interview are now available
online, and the text of the President's note to Southern
Weekend -- stating that "an educated citizenry is the key
to an effective government, and a free press contributes
to that well-informed citizenry" -- is making the rounds.
Beijing may have murdered the President's interview, but
Chinese netizens -- the technologically savvy and young -
- are quite familiar with who wielded the knife. End
Comment.


20. (SBU) This cable was coordinated with Embassy
Beijing.

GOLDBECK