Shanghaiist: Foxconn and the fourth estate

nanheyangrouchuan

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:43:50 +0800

Oh, someone wants to wave the "blood flag". "In addition, no reporter of mainland China do not routinely accept bribes so they deserve that punishment." Seems like a contradictory statement. "big corporations will enjoy a better enviroment of no corruption. Then, economy will grow faster and people can get higher income.in a word,everyone are happy." Corporations are a major source of corruption and everyone except corporate officers loses. MNCs must be beaten into humility.

blacklittleskin

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:26:04 +0800

media mind: "Those that are honest and professional are normally rewarded with long prison sentences." As you have said above, so you believe that a brand new punishment should be created to push those reporters, absent of ethics which you have confirmed, into bankruptcy , once any benefit of big corporation was violated bacause of those reporters. In addition, no reporter of mainland China do not routinely accept bribes so they deserve that punishment. At last, without those so called "kings without crowns", big corporations will enjoy a better enviroment of no corruption. Then, economy will grow faster and people can get higher income.in a word,everyone are happy. What? the workers? Who cares, they are born to endure all of that. "Hey, be careful with your words. It's defamaion so you must seek bribery" you must agree with that, media mind.

nanheyangrouchuan

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:12:48 +0800

That Taiwanese boss was in violation of labor laws, but not to the extent of "slave" conditions. The tactic he is using is more in line with the West, where corporations may use an avalanche of lawsuits against a media outlet for force them to recant. The idea is that the media company won't want a prolonged, expensive court fight (or at least the media outlet's investors won't) and the risk of being wrong gives the media outlet a long term black eye. Couple that strategy with the vulnerability of chinese courts to bribery and the probability that this Taiwanese boss and his investors are richer than both reporters and their company combined.

peijin

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 08:34:46 +0800

Media mind: Libeling is unacceptable, though there is a difference between libel and journalists making mistakes. What the truth is should be determined b y a court of a law; the problem is that there has been no hearing yet and no one knows when there will be. It should be in the near future, but no specifics have been released in the media yet. I don't know if this is standard legal process or not, but why can they freeze the assets of these two journalists before anything has been determined? Is this because their bank accounts, cars, and real estate might be part of the "bribe," and therefore count as evidence? If so, then it a court injunction might make sense, otherwise, it seems to go against the innocent until proven guilty thing. Also, i wonder what the point of asking 20 million from one guy and 10 from the other is; they obviously can't pay that much, so perhaps if the allegations are correct they will just have to pay everything that they do own? Everything being done here is legal, but again, regardless of the guilt or innocence of the two reporters, there would seem to be a chilling effect produced by the undue severity of the punishment asked for.

Cedric

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 08:27:16 +0800

Yepp, we should sympathize for these two journalists. But also should figure out what is the true story behind the news.

media mind

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 07:25:47 +0800

while I normally come down on the side of journalists in such cases, the motives of the reports in question seem less than pure. The investigation into the claims of poor working conditions proved groundless, and the company is therefore within in rights to pursue legal recourse. To libel a company or individual is not acceptable. Anyone who has worked in China media knows there is an absence of ethics among reporters. They routinely accept bribes and revel in their role as "kings without crowns." Those that are honest and professional are normally rewarded with long prison sentences.