Kofi Ampeah Woode
GOVERNMENT COUNTER-MEASURES TOWARDS CREDIBILITY OF NEW MEDIA
i) As the main department of media credibility governance, the government of China sees itself as playing an extremely important role in the collaborative governance of the nation’s media credibility. It therefore, endeavours to do the following:
Change Unilateral Governance Into Collaborative Governance – the government believes that collaborative governance is an inevitable choice to adapt to media credibility governance in the era of big data. It pursues the opening up of the space for multi-subjects to co-govern, and avoid blindness and lag caused by single government governance.
Change Post-Event Governance Into Pre-Event Prevention – the state also strives to eliminate what it terms ‘malignant’ events in the bud, and change post-event governance into process control.
Enrich Governance Means – Besides administrative means, it seeks to establish and enhance a scientific and macro management system through legal and market regulation means.
(II) Improve the laws, regulations and policies on network media:
Adhering to the law-based network governance is the fundamental way for the Communist Party of China to supervise network media. On February 27, 2014, at the first meeting of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs, HE President Xi Jinping stated – “We should pay close attention to formulating legislative plans, improving laws and regulations such as Internet information content management, and key information infrastructure protection, governing cyberspace according to law, and safeguarding citizens’ legitimate rights and interests.”
In the following years, the construction of laws, regulations and policies related to the supervision of network media was accelerated, and a large number of laws, regulations and policies related to the national economy and people’s livelihood were introduced one after another. The state believes that forward-looking, guiding, fair, compulsory and disciplinary policies, and a perfect system of laws, regulations and policies are the legal basis for enhancing the credibility of network media.
Increase The Revision Of Existing Laws And Regulations – Regulations on Protection of the Right of Communication through Information Network has been newly revised by State Council.
Introduce Relevant Laws And Regulations To Fill Regulatory Gaps – Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China has been promulgated. There are also, Regulations on the Administration of Internet Live Broadcasting Services; and Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Internet News Information Service License Management.
(III) Standardize the Governance System and Strengthen Supervision
The Media Management Department (MMD) set up by the government must realize the standardized and institutionalized management of media supervision. As the main organ to punish fake and false news, the MMD regularly analyzes and studies the countermeasures and treatment methods of fake and false news, integrating resources and increasing punishment.
The MMD is also charged with establishing network error correction mechanism, so that once fake news is found, the network media must correct it in time, and release the corrected information to the audience, so as to minimize the adverse effects of fake information. At the same time, the MMD deals with the media that publishes fake news, and ask them to bear legal responsibility.
Establish Punishment Mechanism
The Chinese system strictly punishes reporters and editors who collect and edit fake news and media that publish fake news. The system also greatly increases the cost of dishonesty; improves the supervision mechanism, uses all social forces and various forms to crack down on fake news and rebuild the media credibility.
News Return Visit System
The MMD is charged with paying a return visit to the press releases written by reporters and editors of media houses, visiting interviewees, verifying the authenticity of reports with interviewees, and strengthen supervision.
Establish and Improve News Arbitration Institutions
It also works to improve the arbitration institutions of news media management units at all levels, timely arbitrate disputes related to fake and false news, safeguard public interests, and enhance the credibility of network media.
Improve the Operation Mechanism of Crisis Treatment
It ensures coordination with existing laws and regulations through early warning, authorization, command and coordination, rapid treatment and public opinion analysis mechanisms. The MMD properly grasps the scale in a timely manner and effectively control the reports.
GOVERNMENT EXPECTATIONS OF NETWORK MEDIA
The state believes that the key to the governance of network media credibility lies in the media, hence the network media should establish a formal system and strengthen self-management.
Optimize Resources and Deepen Content
In the era of big data, the concept of “content is king” has been recognized more and more, and that providing timely and useful content for the audience for a long time, can help the audience form the habit of contacting the media house and increase trust.
The media is expected to establish and strengthen a formal system and improve the level of ‘gatekeeper’ control system, and must repeatedly confirm the authenticity of information and strictly control all elements of information; guide the media to put people first and stand in the public position, care for the public interest, and satisfy the public’s right to know and supervise.
The MMD is also expected to guide the media to strictly control the information when collecting, writing and disseminating information. Reporters and editors should verify relevant information in the process of collection, editing and dissemination.
Higher requirements are put forward for media workers, and people in each media post are expected to earnestly fulfill the post requirements and ensure that news is objective, fair and rational. Editors and reviewers should strictly control the issuance of press releases and the review of layout programs. The press is expected to consciously abide by national laws and regulations, and advocate independent, objective and rational media reporting spirit.
Media workers are expected to establish a firm view of the truth of news, put truth in the first place, and report news according to comprehensive, objective and true facts. Authenticity is a basic concept that has been mentioned since the news came into being, and cannot be abandoned at any time. Authenticity is not only the foundation for the survival of journalism, but also the most essential core element of journalism.
Network media with social responsibility has stronger credibility, for which reason, as the watcher of the society, the media is deemed different from the general social organizations, and while seeking its own development, it also plays the role of social organizer, spreading positive energy to the society and serving as the benchmark of social morality.
Media is seen as the link connecting different sectors of society. It also conveys government information to the public, provides a platform and channel for people to understand the society. The network media is therefore expected to have a clear sense of transposition and emotion in the report, and infiltrate the concept of “humanistic care” into the report, to show the glory of human nature.
The network media has to strengthen the education of its employees, guide media practitioners to consciously fulfill laws, regulations and social responsibilities, take honesty and trustworthiness as the primary goal to improve the moral quality of media practitioners, and take news accuracy as the primary task.
It also expected to do a good job in the selection of journalists, strictly screen journalists with comprehensive qualities, strengthen self-discipline awareness, foster journalistic professionalism, and strengthen education and training, for all journalists to take the pursuit of truth as professional pursuit, faithfulness to facts as professional ethics, going deep into the scene as professional habit, objectivity and fairness as reporting principle, and social effect as professional conscience.
In terms of the credibility of network media, the public is not only the service object, but also the supervision object.
Media Expected to Use Complaint, Tip-Off and Reward Mechanism
Once the public pressure can really be transmitted back to the media operators through the value chain, the media operators will be forced to really pay attention to the media credibility, the state perceives. Media is therefore expected to unblock the complaint, tip-off and response mechanism, improve the breadth and depth of public participation, especially making a certain number of public representatives to participate in the formulation of media credibility standards and other aspects, encourage the public to actively make suggestions on the problems existing in the current media credibility supervision.
The MMD has to improve the reward system for informers, set up a reward fund for reporting fake and false news, and encourage people to truthfully report fake and false news; under the public reward system, insiders of relevant media industries provide conclusive evidence and evidence of publishing false information by the media to the regulatory authorities, so that the regulatory authorities can master and control the behavior of media operators, and eliminate potential risks in time.
In 2006, more than 40 network media associations and their member websites in Beijing jointly formulated a Self-Discipline Convention to promote self-discipline and self-regulation of network media industry in Beijing, improve the social credibility of network media, and promote the healthy development of the Internet industry.
Article II of the Convention states: “Adhere to the principles of authenticity, objectivity and public welfare of network dissemination, strictly regulate the source of press releases, abide by professional ethics and discipline of journalism, and put an end to any form of fake news, paid news, infringing news, vulgar news and deceptive advertisements”.
To be continued!
