When significant events happen, local media are usually the first to arrive at the scene. But often, their reporting can be killed by a text message from the publicity department. Editors often joke about the 11 p.m. text, just before they go to print, as “the rooster crowing at midnight.”

This used to be done by fax, but officers of the publicity department now send texts or WeChat messages to newsroom leaders. The message usually starts, “Tips for today’s reporting: Do not hype ___. If publishing any content, please follow the press release from the publicity department.” A formal memo the following day will be sent directly to the people who run the publication, not the editorial staff. In the past, this memo used to go to editors, but they were too often leaked to foreign media.

Within newsrooms, it is commonly understood that when reporting involves major topics impacting livelihoods, local media will follow the lead of state media, such as Xinhua Agency, People’s Daily, and CCTV. If Xinhua doesn’t release an update, the local media would be taking risks to publish or stay silent. That is to say, if there are mistakes — or if it violates the less-defined “news code” — the publication will may be punished.

Violations can be of the political, factual, or technical nature. Or all of the above — it can be hard to define.

Political incidents include misrepresenting the party’s and state’s policies, harming national and public interests, violating ethnic and religious policies, and even misspelling party leaders’ names and titles.

Incidents result in various punishments to the publication and removal or suspension of responsible personnel, usually the editor-in-chief, the editor on duty, or section editor. In worst-case scenarios, we’ve seen the cancellation of the ISSN and shutdown of the publication. For example, Shenzhen Youth Daily was shut down after publishing an article titled “I agree that Deng Xiaoping retire.” Jiangsu Education TV was shut down after a leaked video showing actress Lulu Gan cursing during the recording of a program, even though the program didn’t air. Suspensions are more commonly seen. In 2006, China Youth Daily’s Freezing Point (冰点周刊 bīngdiǎn zhōukān) was suspended for two months after publishing Professor Yuan Weishi’s article, “Modernization and History Textbooks,” which challenged the historical narrative in CCP-approved school textbooks.

To avoid “factual” mistakes, Chinese media will often tailor their news coverage according to what the leadership wants. For example, on February 23, President Xi gave clear guidelines on how to report on the coronavirus: “Provide in-depth reports on good experiences and practices in coordinating and advancing epidemic prevention and control” as well as “widely publicize the touching stories of frontline medical workers, PLA demanders, public security officers, grassroots cadres, volunteers…” That significantly influenced how Chinese media are covering the outbreak — possibly to the ongoing detriment of truth.

“Technical” violations include how newspapers and magazines and laid out. Southern Weekly once left one-third of its front page blank — with only two lines of text that functioned as an ad for its own paper — when its exclusive interview with President Barack Obama was censored.

The practice of leaving a blank space has an interesting history. It was originally used by the CCP during the Chinese Civil War when the Nationalist Party censored information from Xinhua Daily, and was called “opening a window.”