SinoIndusFriendship
BANNED
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2009
- Messages
- 2,387
- Reaction score
- 0
Australian editor's anti-China rant violates press ethics
A lengthy article by an editor on Australia's biggest-selling national newspaper on Thursday instructing notorious separatist Rebiya Kadeer on how to counter China is an open violation of a journalist's professional ethics.
During Rebiya's visit to Australia, Greg Sheridan, an editor of The Australian, also wrote another report "praising" her "courage" to confront the Chinese government.
In Thursday's article, titled "Uygurs must fight for rights within China," Sheridan said Rebiya should leave aside her campaign for a separate state for a while, as the appeal for the "Xinjiang independence" would not find a foothold in the international community and was likely to be snubbed by the West.
Rebiya should "concentrate instead on human rights, cultural autonomy and democracy," so as to win support and aid from Western nations, Sheridan said.
He also lauded the week-long visit to Australia by the self-appointed leader of the separatist World Uygur Congress, saying it would "change the course of Chinese politics."
It is hard to understand why a journalist, deviating from the professional ethics of objectivity and fairness, openly played the role of an "adviser" for a foreign separatist.
What Sheridan has done is not an individual case. For some time, a number of Western "journalists" have conducted activities that not only violate their professional ethics but even disregard basic moral norms.
Some Western media have abandoned the policy of unbiased and balanced reporting by spreading lies.
After the March 14 riot last year in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, some Western media spared no efforts in spreading lies.
Following the July 5 riot in Urumqi, capital of China's northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Western media, returning to their old habits, launched one-sided reports such as interviews with Rebiya to spread separatists' lies again.
They described the incident with such words as "reportedly" and "allegedly," and never verified the facts.
Furthermore, some Western media distorted the truth and used fabricated evidence to support false stories.
After the March 14 riot, a well-known broadcaster posted a story, titled "Tibetans describe continuing unrest," on its website with a photo depicting Chinese police and paramilitaries who were helping medical workers rescue the injured.
But it provided a caption for the photo that said "There is a heavy military presence in Lhasa," regardless of the eye-catching bold words of "Emergency Treatment" on the ambulances beside the police.
When reporting in Urumqi after the July 5 incident this year, some Western journalists played the role of "news directors" and "actors" to induce people to shout slogans, then shot and recorded "in line with their requirements."
Some foreign media filed irresponsible accusations regardless of history and truth. Some described the peaceful liberalization of Tibet in 1950 as "China's invasion into Tibet." French daily LeMonde called China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region "East Turkistan," which never existed, and accused China of "colonizing" the region.
Some journalists, however, not only compromised their professional ethics, but also violated basic moral principles as human beings.
Last year, after the Tibet riots, the U.S. Cable News Network (CNN) commentator Jack Cafferty referred to the Chinese as "basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years." This year, an editor named Sheridan virtually claimed himself to be a "policy think tank" against China for separatists.
Only a year after the Tibet riots, some Western media and so-called "journalists" have rushed to put on a similar farce once again. The only explanation is that those media and "journalists," so passionate about spreading bias and hatred regardless of the truth, professional ethics and moral standards, have been turned into the tools, knowingly or not, of some forces to demonize China intentionally.
The distorted reports once again shattered the self-styled "just and objective" image of some media. Many readers stood up against Sheridan's article, loaded as it was with apparent paranoia and ill intentions. His on-line version of the anti-China rant has come under fire from netizens around the world.
According to Western journalism, the right to judge the news rests with the readers. As a Chinese saying goes, "the people's eyes are bright and discerning."
In the era of globalization, an increasing number of Westernersare coming to know more about the real China amid expanding exchanges in various sectors. Media and journalists should learn a lesson from Sheridan's actions or risk becoming a laughingstock around the world.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2009)
A lengthy article by an editor on Australia's biggest-selling national newspaper on Thursday instructing notorious separatist Rebiya Kadeer on how to counter China is an open violation of a journalist's professional ethics.
During Rebiya's visit to Australia, Greg Sheridan, an editor of The Australian, also wrote another report "praising" her "courage" to confront the Chinese government.
In Thursday's article, titled "Uygurs must fight for rights within China," Sheridan said Rebiya should leave aside her campaign for a separate state for a while, as the appeal for the "Xinjiang independence" would not find a foothold in the international community and was likely to be snubbed by the West.
Rebiya should "concentrate instead on human rights, cultural autonomy and democracy," so as to win support and aid from Western nations, Sheridan said.
He also lauded the week-long visit to Australia by the self-appointed leader of the separatist World Uygur Congress, saying it would "change the course of Chinese politics."
It is hard to understand why a journalist, deviating from the professional ethics of objectivity and fairness, openly played the role of an "adviser" for a foreign separatist.
What Sheridan has done is not an individual case. For some time, a number of Western "journalists" have conducted activities that not only violate their professional ethics but even disregard basic moral norms.
Some Western media have abandoned the policy of unbiased and balanced reporting by spreading lies.
After the March 14 riot last year in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, some Western media spared no efforts in spreading lies.
Following the July 5 riot in Urumqi, capital of China's northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Western media, returning to their old habits, launched one-sided reports such as interviews with Rebiya to spread separatists' lies again.
They described the incident with such words as "reportedly" and "allegedly," and never verified the facts.
Furthermore, some Western media distorted the truth and used fabricated evidence to support false stories.
After the March 14 riot, a well-known broadcaster posted a story, titled "Tibetans describe continuing unrest," on its website with a photo depicting Chinese police and paramilitaries who were helping medical workers rescue the injured.
But it provided a caption for the photo that said "There is a heavy military presence in Lhasa," regardless of the eye-catching bold words of "Emergency Treatment" on the ambulances beside the police.
When reporting in Urumqi after the July 5 incident this year, some Western journalists played the role of "news directors" and "actors" to induce people to shout slogans, then shot and recorded "in line with their requirements."
Some foreign media filed irresponsible accusations regardless of history and truth. Some described the peaceful liberalization of Tibet in 1950 as "China's invasion into Tibet." French daily LeMonde called China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region "East Turkistan," which never existed, and accused China of "colonizing" the region.
Some journalists, however, not only compromised their professional ethics, but also violated basic moral principles as human beings.
Last year, after the Tibet riots, the U.S. Cable News Network (CNN) commentator Jack Cafferty referred to the Chinese as "basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years." This year, an editor named Sheridan virtually claimed himself to be a "policy think tank" against China for separatists.
Only a year after the Tibet riots, some Western media and so-called "journalists" have rushed to put on a similar farce once again. The only explanation is that those media and "journalists," so passionate about spreading bias and hatred regardless of the truth, professional ethics and moral standards, have been turned into the tools, knowingly or not, of some forces to demonize China intentionally.
The distorted reports once again shattered the self-styled "just and objective" image of some media. Many readers stood up against Sheridan's article, loaded as it was with apparent paranoia and ill intentions. His on-line version of the anti-China rant has come under fire from netizens around the world.
According to Western journalism, the right to judge the news rests with the readers. As a Chinese saying goes, "the people's eyes are bright and discerning."
In the era of globalization, an increasing number of Westernersare coming to know more about the real China amid expanding exchanges in various sectors. Media and journalists should learn a lesson from Sheridan's actions or risk becoming a laughingstock around the world.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2009)
