Keep out fake news in age of Covid-19, Chinese propaganda chief urges world media

Media should use ‘rational judgment’ and be ‘responsible disseminators of public information’ as Covid-19 rages, Huang Kunming tells Xinhua-hosted summit

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Media executives attend the World Media Summit in Beijing on November 22.Photo: Xinhua

Published: 9:19pm, 23 Nov 2021

The world’s media must work hard to keep fake news and misinformation at bay as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world, a top Chinese Communist Party leader in charge of propaganda said.

“Objective and factual reporting” has become all the more important as the world battles to defeat rampant “rumours and prejudice” during the pandemic, Huang Kunming, a Politburo member and head of the party’s Propaganda Department, told the Fourth World Media Summit in Beijing on Monday.

Media should stick to “science and rational judgment” in their reporting and become “responsible disseminators of public information”, Huang urged the gathered news executives.

“[We should] promote integrity and credibility, sincerity and mutual trust, seek common ground while respecting our differences … and focus on improving the well-being of people of all countries.”

Huang made no mention of the bitter tit-for-tat accusations between China and Western countries over the origin of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. Several charges and countercharges have flown to and fro since the disease was first reported in Wuhan in central China about two years ago.

Executives from more than 260 media organisations including Reuters, Associated Press, Kyodo, Tass and Agence France-Presse attended the media summit, which was organised by Xinhua.