Correction: Southern Weekend (南方周末) has adopted the English name Southern Weekly. This post has been changed to reflect the official title of the paper.
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by central government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.
Central Propaganda Department: Urgent notice: Upon receipt of this message, controlling departments in all locales must immediately inform all reporters and editors that they may not discuss the Southern Weekly New Year’s greeting on any public platforms. (January 3, 2013)
中宣部：紧急通知，各地主管部门务必于第一时间逐一通知到所有媒体记者、编辑，不得在任何公开平台讨论关于南周新年献辞事件。
Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.
