The rotten red envelope

• Source: Global Times
• [22:19 January 05 2010]
• Comments

Supply

Government departments, public relations companies and owners of private business operations all routinely hand out hong bao – red envelopes – to journalists seeking favorable coverage.

So-called "transport fees" can range from a 50-yuan note for a local newspaper reporter to thousands of yuan for a top TV reporter. Hush fees go even higher – even tens of thousands of yuan.

"Handing out red envelopes in the name of 'transport fees' to Chinese journalists is a hidden rule here," said Wang Jingqi from Pegasus Communications, a Daniel J Edelman Company in Beijing.

"Everybody follows it. I would find it really weird if someone refused it."

Occasionally even a government propaganda official can be found offering free meals or directing underlings to offer cash to journalists.

Li Hongxing, former Party secretary of Yuxian county in northern Hebei Province, was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment last month for silencing media coverage of a mine blast on July 14, 2008 that killed 35. Directed by the official, the coalmine owners spent 2.6 million yuan ($382,000) bribing 10 journalists, according to Beijing Youth Daily on December 14 last year.

Although bribes are commonplace, China is not short of stringent media ethics regulations and legal penalties precisely targeted at this behavior. The Chinese Journalists Association on November 27 issued The Professional Ethical Principles for Chinese Journalists, their fourth set since 1991.

The regulations prohibit not just hush money but also the prevalent practice of "paid news", stating that journalists "do not seek unrighteous profits at the convenience of the profession".

"For 20 years, we have not been able to check the problem," Chen said, "because nobody is there to effectively enforce it.

"It's reciprocal – on the one hand, the government officials give out red envelopes for media coverage to their advantage and journalists take cash to boost their income.

"Both parties see the regulations as lacking legal binding force."

Pu Zhiqiang, a defense lawyer based in Beijing working on a number of high-profile cases, does not think the common practice of accepting red envelopes is justified despite the obvious growing financial difficulties faced by young journalists.

"Red envelopes – big or small – have no fundamental difference," Pu said. "Journalists should never touch them. That's the bottom line. Many people taking them does not make it the right thing to do.

"If you cannot stand the financial hardships of the profession, just quit. Nobody is forcing you to continue working."