Ousted Newspaper Editor Calls Chinese Media ‘Backward’
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SHANGHAI — A reformist newspaper editor, dismissed last month for criticizing the ruling Communist Party, said Friday that China’s media are backward and that new controls on his publication show the need for reform.
Qin Benli was ousted last month as editor of the Shanghai-based World Economic Herald after the newspaper ran afoul of authorities for its frequent criticism of the government and Communist Party. Now his paper is under the supervision of a five-member committee.
“The root cause of the World Economic Herald incident is the backwardness of China’s political and media system,” Qin said in an interview. “It is a key case in the reform of China’s media system.”
The Herald was founded in 1980 and was the only newspaper in China not under the direct control of the party or the government.
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