What's Wrong with Chinese Journalists? Addressing Journalistic Ethics in China Through a Case Study of the Beijing Youth Daily

Abstract

This paper uses Beijing Youth Daily, the second biggest local newspaper in Beijing, as a case study to examine Chinese news people's perceptions of their professional roles and unethical practices. The author argues that Chinese journalistic professionalism has developed. Journalists see their most fundamental role as that of disseminator. Their concepts of professional roles and virtues are surprisingly similar to those held by journalists in liberal democratic countries. However, Chinese journalists' partial representation of the party/state and their tolerance towards unethical practices such as paid journalism or “red envelopes” suggest they are more likely to be under pressures from both politics and commerce.