A very serious step comes from the Communist Beijing government led by Mr. Xi Jingping with his statement at his recent tour to the headquarters of the three main Communist Party and state news organizations on Friday. He has made it clear that all the news media run by the party should work to speak for the party’s will and its propositions.
As per the reports on their official media, the party led by Mr. Xi is taking the step in the wake of the necessity for the media to restore people’s trust in the party. The time has been right for the new policy on news media as even if the economy has come to a new normal, suggestions about it declining and dragging the global economy down have emerged.
It is also stated that Mr. Xi has therefore toured the News Media headquarters for inspecting them and seeking assurance from their leaders. They feel that the news media are an essential part of ensuring political stability of the nation.
The Beijing government seems to have no concern about the freedom of press or the privilege of press without borders as there has been a continuous rollout of policies from the government in order to curb the media. The government has announced that the news media should first and fore mostly carry the party propositions or be the party mouthpiece.
In one of these policies, it is said that with effect from March 10, foreign companies, even the ones that have joint ventures with Chinese partners, they would not be allowed to publish and distribute online content in China and Mr. Xi has also directed the journalists and media to “strictly adhere to the news viewpoint of Marxism” and “raise high the banner”: where the phrases mean advancing the interests of the party.
And in real Mr. Xi during his inspection of the News Organizations, he actually sought their loyalty by making the News Media leaders pledge loyalty.
These curbs and restrictions against media from the party applies across all media platforms.
However, this is an attack to the freedom of press which is necessarily required to be kept unbiased and non-political for the interest of the general public of a nation. Compromising this freedom will jeopardise the safety, security and interest of the citizens and serve nothing good for the public.