Media: Guangdong and Open Letter Essay

Submitted By Maoyuewen1
Words: 506
Pages: 3

(Before It's News)
There seem to be constant new developments what is now being referred to as the “New Year’s Greeting incident” at Guangdong’s Southern Weekly. Those new to the story can catch up here andhere, and read the wrap-up at the Wall Street Journal.
Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao yesterday cited an unnamed “official source” as saying that Guangdong’s propaganda chief, Tuo Zhen (庹震), singled out over the past three days as responsible for the interference at Southern Weekly, was not in Guangdong when the incident occurred. According to the newspaper, the source said the action “had nothing to do with Guangdong’s provincial propaganda department.”
If this is true it leaves behind a great bit question: Whose decision was it?
A January 4 open letter protesting interference at Southern Weekly, the second following a letter from a group of former Southern Weekly journalists, continues to gather signatures. A confirmed list of the first batch of signers, obtained by the China Media Project yesterday, included 98 signatures made before 10 p.m. on January 4. Signers included Ai Xiaoming (艾晓明), a popular professor at Guangzhou’s Sun Yat-sen University, and Southern Metropolis Daily founder and former editor-in-chief Cheng Yizhong (程益中).
The second confirmed list of signers, those signing before 10 a.m. on January 5, included 458 names. Among them were well-known Chinese blogger Bei Feng (北风) and Cui Weiping (崔卫平), a professor at Beijing Film Academy and a frequent contributor to Southern Weekly.
Signers of the letter represented a wide range of fields and backgrounds — journalists, academics, writers, students, lawyers, migrant workers, and even one name identified as “a citizen seeking freedom.”
Below is the full Chinese-language version of the open letter.
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就南方周末献词事件告天下书
末世未亡,现世再传劣迹。二零一三年初,《南方周末》刊发新年纪念特刊,全部付型版样已经审定,记者编辑休假。在编辑部不知情的情况下,广东省委宣传部部长庹震妄动私念,狠删既定版面,篡改新年献词,并指令私添错误百出之特刊按语,铸成南周献词事件。
南周苦审查久矣。然而特刊选题经庹震审核批准,成稿按指令或删减或抽掉,付印大样也历经内外查验。概言之,庹震篡改之前,南周特刊无一字不经审验,审查意志贯彻始终。究庹震所为,假借审查官之外衣做掩护,但僭越办报流程之实不能欺瞒。
南周新年献词本有传统,用词立意皆成新篇,每每为时人传诵与钦佩。而庹震侵犯审查与新闻边界,不惮涂抹献词,格式化中国梦想,染指南周珍宝而谄媚上意,令人憎恶。其大禹治水之按语,用典、历史皆错,更有错别字贻笑坊间,颟顸之态徒增笑料。