A writers’ conference in the presidential suite

Update (2010.04.11): The Chongqing Times, which was the source of the West China City Daily story detailed below, printed an abject apology on today’s front page for its own more sensationalized reporting (“CWA books presidential suite; Jeff Zhang Xinzhe has to settle for standard suite”).

On March 30, the West China City Daily (华西都市报) printed a short news item in its entertainment section concerning a meeting of the Chinese Writers’ Association then underway in Chongqing.

The single-paragraph article reported that delegates were staying in the Presidential Suite of a five-star hotel, feasting at a cost of 2,000-yuan per table, and shuttling around the city in Audis.

Given the CWA’s image as a stodgy relic of an obsolete system of cultural administration whose members receive stipends but produce little of value, the article found a credulous audience of online critics. Pundits who already thought the CWA irrelevant blasted CWA leadership for leaving the public to foot the bill for its extravagance, and in a drought-stricken earthquake disaster area no less. Novelist Yan Yanwen, who had previously described corruption in the CWA as rivaling that of the Chinese Football Association, was joined by popular TV historian Yi Zhongtian, who called for an investigation of the CWA president, party secretary, accountant, and treasurer.

The CWA fought back: it obtained a document from the hotel certifying that that no one had stayed in the Presidential Suite and that all delegates had eaten at the standard hotel buffet during March 30—April 4, when the meetings were going on (oddly, the certificate itself was dated April 2), and fired off an angry letter to the WCCD.

The paper capitulated: apparently the story about the presidential suite and opulent feasts was a fabrication. The CWA posted the relevant documents on its website on April 6.

Although the story was deleted from the electronic edition (clumsily: it remains in the PDF and image versions), no retraction was printed in the paper itself. Corrections over the next few days were used to address minor oversights in copy-editing. Instead, the WCCD attempted to redress the situation by running a half-page interview with CWA president Tie Ning.

This was explained by the WCCD in a letter of apology dated April 1, which also explained the chain of circumstances that led to the inaccurate report: the Chengdu-based paper did not have a reporter in Chongqing on the 29th, so it acquired a 2,000-character article from the Chongqing Times, chopped it down to a mere 180 characters, and printed it without doing any fact-checking.

The newspaper’s letter of apology was curious in that it seemed less concerned with the fabrication than in the fact that it had failed in its duty to guide public opinion in support of the literary establishment. It concluded by promising,

In the future this newspaper will continue its pattern of attention and support for the work of the CWA and will strive to publicize the work the CWA does to unite authors and other literary workers and to ensure that literary creativity thrives. We will work to create a healthy and harmonious atmosphere of public opinion that is beneficial to the development of a socialist literary profession.

The CWA’s strongly-worded statement listed the patriotic activities the delegates had pursued (traveling by bus, natch) and concluded along the same lines, by reminding the newspaper of its duty to the party and the people.

The relevant documents are translated below:

The Ninth Presidium Meeting and Fifth Plenary Session of the Seventh Congress of the Chinese Writers’ Association commenced in Chongqing yesterday, and presidium members Chen Shixu, Shu Ting, and Zhao Benfu arrived in the city. This reporter learned from reception that the writers who had come to Chongqing for the sessions were staying in the presidential suite at a five-star hotel. The hotel prepared for them a feast that cost more than 2,000 yuan and featured delicate, Cantonese-style cuisine. The schedule was quite full for association members yesterday. No sooner had they picked up their baggage and met two other writers then they were whisked away from the airport in Audis by the Chongqing Writers’ Association.

“The Fifth Plenary Session of the Seventh Congress of the Chinese Writers’ Association” was held in the Hotel Sofitel Forebase Chongqing from March 31 to April 4, 2010.

During the course of the congress, no one lodged in the Presidential Suite and no one ate at a thousands-of-yuan-per-table meal. The whole time they used the standard buffet.

Hotel Sofitel Forebase Chongqing

April 2, 2010

From March 30 to April 2, 2010, the Chinese Writers’ Association held the ninth presidium meeting and fifth plenary session of the seventh congress at the Hotel Sofitel Forebase Chongqing. The media did considerable reporting on the sessions during this time and conducted extensive interviews with writers in attendance, conveying to the world the prosperous development of Chinese literature.

However, the congress was subject to serious interference from a particular media outlet and a number of blogs. On March 30, a metropolitan newspaper published a piece titled “Staying in the Presidential Suite and Driving Audis, Literati are Riding High.” The article claimed that “the writers who had come to Chongqing for the sessions were staying in the presidential suite at a five-star hotel. The hotel prepared for them a feast that cost more than 2,000 yuan.” This information was then sensationalized by a number of people and provoked an intense reaction, bringing groundless criticism onto the Chinese Writers’ Association and the writers in attendance, and seriously harming their reputation.

The Chinese Writers’ Association makes the following statement: during the ninth presidium meeting and fifth plenary session of the seventh congress of the Chinese Writers’ Association held in Chongqing, no member stayed in the Presidential Suite; there was no so-called 2,000 yuan a table feast: all members used the hotel’s standard buffet. During the congress, trips were arranged for members to visit the site of the Zhazidong Concentration Camp, view an exhibition of materials related to the anti-gang campaign, and sweep graves at the Chongqing Martyrs Cemetery, and members travelled together on large and mid-sized buses.

The truth of news is the lifeblood of journalism. The party and the people have granted the right, duty, and responsibility of news reporting to the media and its practitioners; media and journalists ought to provide true information to society rather than cheat the public and mislead public opinion with fake news that is at serious variance with the facts. The media and reporter involved should treasure their pen, treasure the words they write, and treasure the glorious title of Chinese journalist.

Please respect yourself and exercise self-discipline!

Chinese Writers’ Association

April 6, 2010

To Secretary Li Bing and the China Writers’ Association Secretary’s Office:

On March 30, this paper published a false report from the Chongqing Times under the headline “Staying in the Presidential Suite and Driving Audis, Literati are Riding High” which, due to lax standards and slack fact checking, brought a detrimental influence upon your fine organization. For this, our paper sincerely apologizes!

This newspaper paid great attention to the Ninth Presidium Meeting and Fifth Plenary Session of the Seventh Congress of the Chinese Writers’ Association, which was held in Chongqing. To accomplish its reporting on the sessions, the paper sent a report to Chongqing on the evening of March 29. That evening, because the reporter was still en route, this paper then asked Chongqing media to provide reports on the activities surrounding the opening of the CWA congress sessions. Upon receiving the 2,000-character manuscript “Staying in the Presidential Suite and Driving Audis, Literati are Riding High” from the Chongqing Times, it was cut down to a 180 character bulletin and published on page 20. Those in charge of examining the article deviated in their grasp of guidance by neglecting to perform a further verification of the truth of the article, which led to inaccurate content appearing in the paper.

After the piece was printed, this newspaper gave it a high degree of attention. That day an editorial board meeting was called to review the matter in depth and strictly deal with those responsible. The board ordered both the deputy editor in charge of checking the proofs that day and the editor in charge of that page to give written self-examinations, and also issued a criticism notice and levied a financial penalty in accordance with the newspaper’s rules. The newspaper deleted the article from its electronic version.

To redress the negative effects of the article, the newspaper devoted half a page in the March 31 issue to an interview with CWA president Tie Ning. The article reported in detail on the responses Tie Ning gave to a number of issues including the social responsibility of writers, developmental trends in online literature, strengthening the CWA’s service mentality, and using the CWA to provide a better platform for the next generation of young writers.

This newspaper has always attached a high degree of importance to communicating the latest developments in the literary realm. It also holds the CWA in high regard for organizing so many authors to visit the disaster areas of Sichuan following the Wenchuan earthquake and write so many inspiring works about the earthquake relief effort, and gave the situation copious coverage. In the future this newspaper will continue its pattern of attention and support for the work of the CWA and will strive to publicize the work the CWA does to unite authors and other literary workers and to ensure that literary creativity thrives. We will work to create a healthy and harmonious atmosphere of public opinion that is beneficial to the development of a socialist literary profession.

Once again, our sincere apologies!

West China City Daily

April 1, 2010