True objectivity in journalism may be an unachieveable ideal -- the craft is as much about storytelling as reporting, with the requisite narrative structures that confirm or deny bias -- but that doesn't mean a journalist should actively neglect his or her duty to truthful storytelling.
Unless you work in Chinese media.
Hackers have infiltrated the local government website of the city of Shaoxing, Zhejiang province (sx.gov.cn) and replaced four of the five pictures in the "featured images" slider with mooncakes that display unflattering messages against the Chinese government.
For those who have been wronged in China, the last best chance for official redress is at the State Bureau of Letters and Calls in Beijing. When all other options fail, this is where the people go -- and they do, by the thousands, every year, sometimes with little more than a handwritten complaint.
On Saturday, more than 100,000 people marched in Taipei, as citizens remain furious over the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of 24-year-old conscript Hung Chung-chiu on July 4.
And then they gathered on a square and sang Les Miserables.
Deng Zhengjia, a fruit vendor, died suspiciously on Wednesday after scuffling with chengguan, i.e. this country's much-maligned urban management officers. His family claims he was killed after a blow to the head by an officer -- a charge that chengguan denied yesterday. Reports Global Times:
Hundreds of residents staged a not-in-my-backyard protest in Jiangmen, Guangdong province on Friday to oppose plans to build a uranium processing plant. SCMP reports that the protest, a restrained and civil affair, was largely organized via social media. The uranium complex, featuring three 30-hectare plants, would have been the nation's biggest, reports NY Times.
The annual pro-democracy, complain-about-everything rally in Hong Kong drew tens of thousands of people starting at 2:30 pm yesterday in Victoria Park. This happened despite threats of a tropical storm and heavy rain throughout the day. Hong Wrong has basically all the pictures you'll need, including the above, so let's start there.
Today is National Protest Day in Hong Kong, so here's your reminder that people hate the city's chief executive, CY Leung. That's always good, when your leader, a puppet, is hated. Actually, that's not good at all.
Hong Wrong has the latest example:
