Reporter's suit challenges China's media controls

By HENRY SANDERSON – Nov 4, 2008

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese reporter whose newspaper was closed for three months after she wrote an article that criticized one of China's largest banks has sued the government, her lawyer said Tuesday.

In a rare challenge to Communist Party control over Chinese media, journalist Cui Fan filed a lawsuit last Wednesday charging that authorities did not have the right to shut down the China Business Post for publishing her article that alleged the Agricultural Bank of China had committed forgery.

Cui's article said a branch of the bank in Hunan province had forged official seals in order to dispose of 4.6 billion yuan ($672 million) in bad assets.

"I brought the lawsuit because what happened is unfair both to me and my colleagues," Cui, 31, said in a telephone interview Monday from her home in Beijing.

The China Business Post was ordered closed on Sept. 8 for three months by the Bureau of Press and Publications in Inner Mongolia where it is registered. The newspaper, which is state-owned but managed by a private company, sells about 400,000 copies nationwide.

Cui was suing on grounds that under China's press regulations, the government can legally stop distribution of a particular issue of a newspaper but that authority does not extend to suspending a publication for three months, according to Cui's attorney, Zhou Ze.

"This goes to show that people in the media are increasingly intolerant of management of press and publications that does not follow the existing laws," Zhou said in an e-mail. He said he was not comfortable talking about the case over the phone.

"No one before has questioned the administrative legality of the press and publications management," Zhou said.

Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based media watchdog, said it had not heard of a similar lawsuit by a Chinese newspaper before, spokesman Vincent Brossel said in an e-mail.

Zhou said the lawsuit filed in the local court of the Inner Mongolian capital of Hohhot seeks the reopening of the newspaper, an apology from the press bureau, compensation and legal fees.

"It is part of this trend of individual writers and editors pushing against the system," said David Bandurski, who studies the Chinese press for the Hong Kong-based China Media Project.

A woman surnamed Li, head of the department that places cases on file at the Hohhot court, said the court would likely reject the case.

"Right now, it is roughly decided that the case will not be placed on file," she said. She did not give her full name, as is common with officials in China.

Zhou said he was not optimistic about winning the case in China's state-controlled court system.

"We never thought about winning this case, we know perfectly well about the current legal environment," he said. "We just want to express our stance that we can't tolerate illegal, inappropriate management on present publications."

Associated Press researcher Zhao Liang contributed to this report.

现在的我，忙碌充实并乐在其中。

现在的我，很久不更新blog，让大家误以为我人间蒸发了。朋友们别担心，我很好，还在米国IUB继续学业。

现在的我，总是追赶不上时间老人的脚步，满脑子计划，却苦于没时间一一实现。我讨厌这种时滞，但是又很无奈。是我的过，应该好好反省下如何更好的time management，如何提高效率。

现在的我，对未来和人生有了新的认识，当初的理想还在，可在这个节骨眼上，明天充满了更多的未知数。

现在的我，又长大点儿吧，我知道应该更多的关心父母，不让他们在遥远的那头为我牵挂。当他们一天天老去的时候，我希望自己能陪伴左右。

现在的我，越来越留恋这个地方，不想说再见。这所大学的氛围，这座小城的美丽、包容和人情味，在这认识的朋友们......还有我的这段游学经历，都会成为我一生受用不尽的美好回忆。人就是犯贱，还记得上学期有段时间，我无比厌烦这个环境，甚至想马上结束学业，滚回家去。

现在的我，有很多奇思妙想，希望老天爷爷能保佑我一切天遂人意。看在我平常不求他老人家的份上。

 

这周终于完成了自己Photojournalism （新闻摄影课）的第一个picture story project, so stressful and tired. 每天只睡4、5个小时，泡在新闻系multimedia lab里，在苹果电脑上编辑图片、音频，反复调试，精益求精，周四晚上大功告成。这个故事的主人公是屯里响当当的ice cream hut（冰激凌店） Chocolate Moose的老板Tim，这个家族经营的小店在Bloomington已经有50余年历史，可以称得上是B-town的LANDMARK（标志）。 他祖父最初经营餐馆、汽车旅馆，到他父亲，开始制作、销售冰激凌。Chocolate Moose传到Tim，他依然延续着这个家族古老的传统手工制做冰激凌的方法，并且不断创新，发明新的冰激凌口味。每年从二月情人节到十一月感恩节的营业时间里，Chocolate Moose都会吸引许许多多顾客（绝大多数都是ice cream fans,小店除了主营冰激凌外，也还兼顾奶昔、Spanish Burger, Frenchie Sandwich, Hot Dog等）。顾客中有当地居民、IU师生，还有不少慕名而来的旅游者。特别是在夏天夜晚，小店前面一条长龙队，生意十分火爆。最近天气不好，所以顾客不是很多。在采访拍摄过程中，我采访了很多顾客，有老人、小孩还有年轻人。我印象最深的就是小孩子吃冰激凌时的表情，他们仰起洋溢着灿烂笑容的小脸，跑来跑去，冰激凌自顾自的跑到嘴边、蹭到脸上，他们也毫不在意，始终保持好心情。店里有专门为孩子准备的迷你型蛋筒，火炬冰激凌上面撒满五颜六色的巧克力粒，要么就是摆上m&m豆或是candy eyes, cookie dough之类的东东，总而言之，就是小孩喜欢、大人看了也爱不释手、赏心悦目。

 

正如Tim所说，冰激凌是一种有趣的食物，有一种让人开心的神奇魔力。我本人也超喜欢冰激凌，做这个project的过程中俺也没少吃，哈哈！我超享受的：） 如果屯里的孩子们没听说过这家店，也还没机会尝试的话，我强烈推荐给大家，赶快和朋友们一起去Chocolate Moose体验美味的冰激凌吧。他们还有10几天的营业时间，感恩节就会休业了。冰激凌有两种，手工制作（Home made）和机器搅拌的(Soft Serve),要选Home made哦！口味我推荐尝试：Chocolate Moose, grasshopper (薄荷、巧克力曲奇)，vanilla, pumpkin,lemon,pecan butter 还有酸奶口味的冰激凌超健康，无糖低脂，怕胖的女孩可以尝试下。另外圣代（sundae）奶昔（milkshake）也很不错。

 

周四交了作业后，我就跑到IU World's Fair玩了，IUB 20多个国家、地区的学生会精心展示本国的文化风俗、传统服饰、手工艺品，他们在不同的Booth免费提供各国美食，供大家体验。另外，还有精彩的各国传统歌舞表演，看得我目不暇接，吃得我味蕾开花。当我和日本、韩国、马来西亚、印度尼西亚、新加坡、墨西哥、菲律宾、土耳其、巴基斯坦、沙特阿拉伯、哈萨克斯坦、缅甸等国的学生交流时，我顿时觉得世界都在我脚下。Oh, A small world!  Life is so beautiful!

 

贴几张图 ：）看看大家能不能判断出他们来自哪个国家和地区？　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My dears, Happy Halloween's Day! Wish you enjoy the costumed party or watch some horrible movies with your friends. Thank you for your comments and encouragement. I will keep doing it and I really like to photograph sb or sth. Like my professor said in class, photos are as powerful as actual experience. Photography is absolutely a visual art. Photograph is the representation of time and photojournalist can freeze time. As a photojournalist, you tell a story to your audiences not only using the word, but also using the powerful visual images. However, there is difference between photography and photojournalism, and there is also a line between photographer and photojournalist, which I cannot understand throughly and tell you in my words at this point. Anyway, I believe I can deepen my understanding through trial and error.

 

I really want to show you my first piece of soundslide. But I don't know how to upload the whole folder. Anyway, I will figure it out. Perhaps you can enjoy the images first in the same order as I created the soundslide on Mac. But you cannot hear the emotional and authentic Indian music as the background of my story. You cannot see the captions and texts either.  My subject is my classmate Riya, a pretty Indian girl. See if you like her.

 

photographer: Jingting Zhao

 

 

 

 

 

注意：Riya在做印度传统食物Rito，其实和咱们中国的大饼差不多，是他们日常的主食。只是用得是印度面粉，外加印度香料。不过很多印度人都是vegetarian，Riya也是。在她的盛情邀请之下，拍摄完成后，我和他们一起共进午餐。入乡随俗，我也学着他们，用双手拿着Rito，把菜抓进去，裹着吃，就这样第一次尝试用手直接抓饭食，仿佛回到了远古时代。真是不习惯！可是要让他们用筷子吃，恐怕他们也会觉得不自在。老祖宗的习惯，难改。