Beijing tightens media grip with penalty points system

China’s Communist Party’s propaganda department has set up a points-based penalty system for the print media in a stepped-up effort to tighten its grip on the sector ahead of a crucial party congress this autumn, according to sources. Media outlets will be allocated 12 points each and subject to closure if all their points are deducted. The party sources said a taskforce - comprising officials from the party’s publicity department and the General Administration of Press and Publication, a government media watchdog - would determine point deductions based on the severity of wrongdoing. It is not known how the severity of a wrongdoing would be determined, but each penalty would attract a 1, 3, 6 or 12-point deduction, sources familiar with the process said. Senior state media executives confirmed they had been briefed on the penalty system but said they had not been given details. (South China Morning Post via Asia Media,February 12, 2007)

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