Bloomberg News Is Said to Curb Articles That Might Anger China

Bloomberg News Is Said to Curb Articles That Might Anger China

The New York Times has spoken with unnamed employees of Bloomberg News in Hong Kong who say that editors chose not to run a story on ties between a wealthy businessman and China’s top leaders:

The investigative report they had been working on for the better part of a year, which detailed the hidden financial ties between one of the wealthiest men in China and the families of top Chinese leaders, would not be published.

In the call late last month, [editor in chief Matthew] Winkler defended his decision, comparing it to the self-censorship by foreign news bureaus trying to preserve their ability to report inside Nazi-era Germany, according to Bloomberg employees familiar with the discussion.

“He said, ‘If we run the story, we’ll be kicked out of China,’ ” one of the employees said. Less than a week later, a second article, about the children of senior Chinese officials employed by foreign banks, was also declared dead, employees said.

Mr. Winkler said in an email on Friday that the articles in question were not killed. “What you have is untrue,” he said. “The stories are active and not spiked.” [Source]

The story also alleges that Bloomberg has self-censored stories that appear on their news terminals operating in China.

Last year, the Bloomberg website was blocked in China after it ran an investigative piece on the wealth of President Xi Jinping’s family. Since then, some Bloomberg reporters have not been granted new permits to live in China, according to the New York Times article.

A year ago, the New York Times website was blocked, and some of their journalists have since had difficulty acquiring Chinese visas, after the paper ran an exposé on the family wealth of former Premier Wen Jiabao.

Taiwan’s Next Media Animation has already created an animated take on the Bloomberg story:

On Twitter, the story became a hot topic, especially among members of the Beijing press corps:

CDT EBOOKS

Subscribe to CDT

SUPPORT CDT

Browsers Unbounded by Lantern

Now, you can combat internet censorship in a new way: by toggling the switch below while browsing China Digital Times, you can provide a secure "bridge" for people who want to freely access information. This open-source project is powered by Lantern, know more about this project.

Google Ads 1

Giving Assistant

Google Ads 2

Anti-censorship Tools

Life Without Walls

Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention

Open popup
X

Welcome back!

CDT is a non-profit media site, and we need your support. Your contribution will help us provide more translations, breaking news, and other content you love.