Chinese journalists' association exposes false stories

The All-China Journalists' Association (ACJA) on Thursday announced that five stories, one by China Business Journal, three by Southern Weekly, and another by China Chan Jing News, were falsified.

On Sept. 29, a story carried by China Business Journal said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)'s evaluation report on building the southern island of Hainan into an international tourist destination had failed to pass a review by a panel of experts.

The ACJA found after an investigation that the NDRC had never organized experts to review the evaluation report, according to a statement by the association.

The statement also said the ACJA examined three Southern Weekly stories about alleged misconduct by Mianyang People's Hospital, including equipping a healthy person with a cardiac pacemaker and purchasing outdated medical devices at high prices. The reports were published in May 2013 and February 2014.

The weekly's stories about the public hospital in Sichuan Province were found to be untrue after an assessment by experts organized by the ACJA, the statement said.

Information in a story published by China Chan Jing News in November was also determined to be false. The ACJA said the story about a housing program in Yixian County, Hebei Province was found to contain fabricated sources and intentionally distorted statements by those interviewed.

The ACJA carried out an investigation into the stories after being tipped off by the public. It urged journalists to guard against false reporting by upholding objectiveness and truth-seeking.