Mainland authorities are tightening control of the media to close loopholes that until now have allowed some fresh air into the stifling official propaganda.
In recent months, the Publicity Department of the Communist Party has issued a series of directives to re-emphasise that trade publications and metropolitan newspapers must keep their news coverage to their mandated area.
The ban on 'extra-territorial' reporting deals a serious blow to investigative reporting and weakens the so-called 'oversight by media', editors and media analysts said.
Until recently, some of the high-profile exposes that shocked the nation or brought changes in government policies were made by reporters from outside the area in question, to circumvent local censorship.
For example, the Nanfang Weekly - which is published by the Southern Newspaper Group in Guangzhou - made a name for itself exposing official corruption in other provinces.
Another paper in the group, Southern Metropolis News, has often run into trouble with local authorities in areas outside Guangzhou city.
The Beijing Youth Daily also made frequent forays to expose corruptions in other cities.
