AN OFF-THE-CUFF critical comment by a newspaper sub-editor about a fawning propaganda article made its way into one of China’s leading newspapers this week, causing red faces among state controllers of the media and highlighting the frustrations faced by journalists working within strict censorship rules.
The report was a standard propaganda piece about a Communist Party leader in the southern city of Shenzhen making dumplings to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a group of migrant workers.
It was being edited to appear in the Southern Metropolis Daily, one of China's most outspoken newspapers.
“Since they have never dined with such a senior level leader before, all the migrant workers were all very excited to see such a great leader,” ran the copy filed by an enthusiastic young reporter on the newspaper, which has regularly been in the firing line for its critical stance.
The story ran alongside a picture of a happy migrant worker, who appeared suitably delighted at the prospect of making dumplings with a top cadre.
This was all a bit much for one sub-editor reading the article, who wrote in the comment: “Such arse-licking!” – not for publication, but as a private expression of disgust.
However, subsequent editing led to the phrase being incorporated into the final print edition. The words that finally appeared read: “Such arse-licking makes me excited”, a phrase that is now doing the rounds in cyberspace.
Subsequent reports in Chinese media show that the next person in the production process noticed the offending remarks, but was not given enough guidance on how to deal with them, so they appeared in print.
China's news media is tightly controlled by the government, which owns all newspapers, and outright criticism in newsprint is rare, although some papers, such as Southern Metropolis Daily, do push the envelope on occasion.
In this case, it looks like a genuine subbing error. Probably.
Hundreds of thousands of print editions of the newspaper had hit the streets before the editors managed to stop production.
There was an initial blanket ban on web comment, but webizens found a way around the net nannies to file comments which were both supportive and hostile.
"Only Southern Metropolis Dailytells the truth, even if it's by accident," ran one comment, while another said that only this newspaper dared to tell the truth.
Other comments said the sub-editors should lose their jobs. And one simply said; “I love Southern Metropolis Daily.”
As far as the journalists in question are concerned, the repercussions so far appear to have been relatively mild. One, Yuan Fang, was fined around €100 for adding the words, while another, Shen Huawei, was fined €50 for not noticing them.