Beijing established a media ethics commission on Tuesday, aiming to enhance supervision and self-discipline of Beijing-based media by soliciting reports from the public on media malpractice.

 

The commission is comprised of 19 members including newspaper executives, reporters, editors and media scholars while its advisory board has 14 members mainly comprised of spokespersons of government organs. Mei Ninghua, chairman of the Beijing Journalists Association, will chair the commission.

 

Zhai Huisheng, secretary of the Party Leading Group of the All China Journalists Association, said during the launch meeting that the commission will play an effective role in monitoring media companies and enhancing media reliability by accepting public supervision. 

 

Mei said that media malpractice includes false reporting, paid news and vulgar advertisements. The commission will monitor all Beijing-registered media outlets.

 

After receiving complaints, the commission will start an investigation and offer suggestions for punishment. The measures include ordering corrections and a public apology, noting misbehavior and reporting serious violations to disciplinary watchdogs. 

 

Earlier this month, several senior executives at 21cbh.com, a business news website run by the 21 Century Business Herald newspaper, were put under investigation under suspicion of extorting hundreds of thousands of yuan from companies.

 

Police say the website and two public relations firms collaborated to extort money from companies in return for favorable coverage and withholding negative news reports. 

 

If companies refused, the website would purposely publish negative or malicious information about the company, according to police. 

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