China - a booming media market. Photo: Jakob Elkjær/IMS

Investigative journalism in China requires political flair, courageous editors and accuracy, writes the Danish journalist Jakob Elkjær following his meeting with investigative journalists in China  

By Jakob Elkjær, journalist 

I’m in a restaurant in Beijing accompanied by six Chinese investigative journalists who are openly sharing their experiences of how to go about producing quality investigative journalism in China.  I’m in Beijing on behalf of International Media Support to make a presentation about online investigative journalism.

Only recently I was still unaware that Chinese journalists carried out in-depth investigative journalism on sensitive topics such as on the behaviour of a police officer’s son, who thinks he is above the law when it comes to murder; about a sudden wave of suicides in a number of foreign-owned  factories; about a poor migrant worker who froze to death underneath a bridge; about corruption and the mafia; and about people ousted from their homes despite court rulings in their favour to make way for the enormous economic development in China.

Taboos

However, this is not a reflection of the level of press freedom in China. Censorship is strong, but the journalists explain to me that some of their critical stories do slip through the iron curtain. The limits as to what you can and cannot  write as a journalist are not clearlt defined and for this reason the publication of investigative stories requires political flair and courageous editors, as well as journalistic accuracy, so as not to provide the authorities with an excuse to forcibly relocate or imprison people. The limits of what is tolerated are constantly changing from region to region, from publication to publication. At the same time, however, the journalists are well aware of which topics are taboos. Topics like the massacre in Tiananmen Square, the Nobel Peace prize and criticism of China’s Communist leadership are not to be touched.

Blogging stories

The number of investigative journalists in China is still limited in a country which is dominated by state-controlled media.  My estimate would be total of around 100 investigative journalists in a country of 1.3 billion people.

After lunch I head to the Centre for International Communications Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University for my presentation about investigative journalism on the Internet. Around 70 students are patiently waiting and luckily the Internet connection works which allows me to show them a number of American and Danish examples of solid, online investigative journalism.

The students do not seem familiar with multimedia presentations combining video, sound and databases, as media in China are not permitted to place updates, video clips, documentation and new versions of existing stories on the web, but instead stick to print versions of the stories to make them more accessible to censorship.

On the other hand the students are well-versed in blogging. In China, individual bloggers are important to the press. They shed light on sensitive issues and are often able to slip through the tight net of censorship as opposed to the press. Some journalists even make the conscious choice to blog their stories if they know their stories won’t make it past the censors into the newspapers.Little by little, the students begin asking questions.

China’s most famous reporter Wang Ke Qin, who works for the magazine China Economic Times, asks me if I would make an additional presentation that evening for some of his students at another of Beijing’s universities where he teaches. Why not? He offers me a bowl of noodles in a drafty shop in the cold and dry winter weather of Beijing. The noodles are so spicy that I have  a coughing fit. As Ke Qin recovers from laughing, all language barriers have been broken.

There is no internet access at the university, but the students listen patiently to my presentation and pose succinct, critical questions for an hour and a half.  Two young, female students tell me about an intriguing investigative project they carried out for Asian Weekly, where they worked undercover to disclose a case about a poor migrant worker who froze to death underneath a bridge.

Guangzhou

In the days leading up to my presentation in Beijing, I visited the Guangzhou, the capital of the southern province of Guangdong,  a city of three million inhabitants. In contrast to the freezing cold of Beijing, the wind in Guangzhou was lukewarm. Travelling, you get a sense of how wealthy China is. Also in this city, illuminated cement skyscrapers reach for the sky as if it were a scene from Blade Runner.

International Media Support's representative in China ensures that my visit goes smoothely. Together with the legendary editor and principal Hu Shuli, International Media Support has organised a course for investigative journalists from Southwestern China at the Sun Yat Sen University. Hu Shuli’s magasine Caixen Weekly is known to push boundaries through its investigative journalism. The cover story on the issue I’m presented with deals with one of the current topics engaging most Chinese in debate: the brutality of the authorities and landowners as they clear large residential areas to make way for new developments. The issue contains an opinion piece which talks about about corruption and suppression of citizens, a state of affairs which "has led some to loose faith in their country all the while it has damaged China’s reputation internationally", the piece states.

"Political reform has many ingredients with democracy at the core. Any reform must include a blueprint for a new political system that covers democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic decision making, democratic administration and public monitoring."

I wonder how Hu Shuli's magasine gets away with printing such stark criticism? There are several explanations. This part of China enjoys greater freedom as one of the first trial areas for market economy in the country. Geographically it lies far from Beijing which provides space for more deviations. Simultaneously, the editor quotes Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s speeches, the leader in China known for his eagerness for democratic reform – at least judging by his words.  Hu Shuli is also known to be well-connected within the Party. And his editorial does not state that the monopoly of the Communist Party should be broken to be replaced by a Western-inspired pluralist democracy. This would be crossing the line.

The 16 journalists from western China are on a five-day course which comes to an end with my presentation. Hu Shuli distributes the diplomas and they  gather around her as if she is a movie star. It is clear that the small community of investigative journalists in China already has its stars.