A Chinese reporter who fabricated a TV news saying that Beijing dumpling makers used cardboard as a filling, was Sunday sentenced to one year behind bars with a fine of 1,000 yuan for the crime of "infringing commodity reputation".
The official Xinhua news agency said the journalist, Zi Beijia, was convicted after an open court hearing of "infringing the reputation of commodities". He was also fined 1,000 yuan (£65.44). Zi, a temporary reporter for Beijing television, was arrested after it emerged that he had cooked up a report that local makers of steamed dumplings were softening cardboard by soaking it in caustic soda and then flavouring it with pork juice. Zi, 28, was a temporary employee of the Life Channel of the Beijing Television Station before being arrested.
In June 2007, he visited some steamed stuffed bun stands but failed to find any cardboard-filled buns. Zi, under an assumed name of Hu Yue, went to the a courtyard inside Shizikou Village, Taiyanggong Township of Chaoyang District, and asked four migrant workers who had been preparing breakfast there to make meat buns for him with a lie that he would buy the stuffed buns in a large quantity, Xinhua reported.
Then Zi came to the same venue the second time and brought cameras, pork, flour and cardboard himself. In order to film the process, Zi is alleged to have instructed the villagers to make "baozi" or meat buns by soaking and crushing discarded cardboard he had collected and mixing it with pork. The baozi were said to have been fed to dogs.
Zi used a home DVD camera to film the entire process and turned in his report after he edited it. Zi hid the truth from the Beijing Television Station, enabling his programme to be aired in a slot known as "Transparency" on July 8 at the Live Channel of the station. "The programme caused baneful social effects and severely ruined the reputation of the relevant commodities," the court ruled. It held that Zi deliberately fabricated news and hid truth to get his programme aired.
Meanwhile, 60 Chinese local newspapers have signed a declaration on cracking down on fake news reports and upholding authenticity of journalism. The declaration says that all newsmen should persist in seeking truth from facts, guard against fabricated news stories, and ensure authenticity of news sources. It also calls for a long-term accountability system in this regard, according to the State Press and Publication Administration.
