Yesterday, the recent big news – Cardboard Main Ingredient in Steamed Buns Sold as Beijing Street Food – was reported to be fabricated. The Beijing police detained the reporter from BTV and BTV publicly apologized for the story.

Yet, many netizens thought this ‘apology’ was made under the pressure of the propaganda department, or they said they now do not know what to believe.

For example, this comment is interesting:

* My (journalist) friend was in a meeting this afternoon. They recieved a notice from the Beijing Propaganda Department: it was revealed after investigation that “cardboard-filled dumplings” is a fabricated story. It was directed by a temporary contractor of Beijing Television Station. Every newspaper is barred from reporting this event further, and needs to organize study sessions to discuss how to prevent such an event from happening again.

Blogger Pingke wrote the following satirical comments on his blog:

Let’s do this exercise:

A, Cardboard-filled dumplings is really a fabricated news story. ….. I did not know that the production technology and skills of our television industry are as good as Hollywood.

B, The cardboard-filled dumplings story is for real, and the later news which says the cardboard-filled dumplings story is fake news is really the fake news. What a tongue-twister! But this is even more worth celebrating. because it proves a truth: harmonious society needs everyone’s effort to create. that’s right, to CREATE!

I also have a suggestion to all the media: hire more contractors and interns, you never know when will you need them.

Also, more comments from Netease, one of China’s largest internet portals:

* Who can we believe now? Nobody.

* Better to believe [the cardboard-filled dumplings story] than not.

* It’s not fake dumplings, but the faked news from the TV station! Oh my God, then who can we believe now?

* No comment! [BTV] is probably under pressure, that’s why they claimed it’s fake when the truth is it’s real.

* Another temporary contractor (not an employee) from the TV Station?????

* A temporary contractor is not an excuse to exculpate other’s responsiblity. There should be someone else to stand up to offer an apology. The producer’s manager should take the blame and quit the job.

* Please be clear which news story is true and which one is false next time.

See more comments from 163.com here . And click here to watch the original TV reporting on the cardboard-filled dumplings story.