China's Ministry of Truth

[Jan Klimkowski]

China spells out the rules of journalism.

Western MSM often delivers the same scripted propaganda without explicit instructions.

I particularly enjoyed "Do not investigate the causes of the accident; use information released from authorities as standard".

Directives from the Ministry of Truth: Wenzhou High-speed Train Crash

The following examples of censorship instructions, issued to the media and/or Internet companies by various central (and sometimes local) government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions as "Directives from the Ministry of Truth." CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

The following orders were sent out after the high-speed train crash in Wenzhou, Zhejiang. As reported by Reuters, the directives issued by the central government this time did not seem to work very well to contain public outrage. Heated discussions are still active on micro-blogs, social networking sites, discussion forums and many other online communities.

Central Propaganda Department: In regard to the Wenzhou high-speed train crash, all media outlets are to promptly report information released from the Ministry of Railways. No journalists should conduct independent interviews. All subsidiaries including newspaper, magazines and websites are to be well controlled. Do not link reports with articles regarding the development of high-speed trains. Do not conduct reflective reports.

Additional directives for all central media: The latest directives on reporting the Wenzhou high-speed train crash:

1. Release death toll only according to figures from authorities.
2. Do not report on a frequent basis.
3. More touching stories are to reported instead, i.e. blood donation, free taxi services, etc.
4. Do not investigate the causes of the accident; use information released from authorities as standard.
5. Do not reflect or comment.

Reminder on reporting matters: All reports regarding the Wenzhou high-speed train accident are to be titled "7.23 Yong-Wen line major transportation accident." Reporting of the accident is to use " in the face of great tragedy, there's great love'" as the major theme. Do not question. Do not elaborate. Do not associate. No re-posting on micro-blogs will be allowed! Related service information may be provided during news reporting. Music is to be carefully selected!

Source.