From South China Morning Post, via Asia Media:
Beijing has tightened control of mainland media during the annual sessions of the top legislature and advisory body in a bid to silence dissent amid intensified efforts to woo foreign media ahead of next year’s Olympic Games.
Propaganda authorities have urged mainland media to strictly toe the official line and have expanded a notorious non-coverage list, which already consisted of hundreds of “politically sensitive” topics or keywords considered reporting taboos, municipal government sources said.
According to directives issued in the past two days by the city government’s information office, news portals and other websites have been ordered not to publish anything critical of the controversial Property Law, which was presented to NPC delegates yesterday.
It said media outlets’ coverage of the mainland’s first property legislation, which has been hotly debated for years, must be restricted to stories by Xinhua and People’s Daily. [Full Text]
