From the China Media Project of the University of Hong Kong (link):
Western press coverage of yesterday’s fortieth anniversary of China’s Cultural Revolution talked about the “silence” of Chinese media on this sensitive political issue. But exactly how silent were Chinese media? A widely-circulated Reuters report said there had been a “blanket ban on the subject”. AFP said “all mainstream media – newspapers, television and radio stations – stayed mum on the subject”. These are very different statements, however, and it must be pointed out that an outright ban on coverage directly commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the Cultural Revolution does not mean the subject was not broached. How Chinese media did mark the event is a much more complicated story. Here is a quick run down of coverage over the last week.
See also “What China’s media minders had to say about the anniversary of the Cultural Revolution,” an update from the China Media Project (link) and “Cultural Revolution? What revolution?” from Asia Times (link).