Is China Getting Away with Journalistic Murder?
If found to be true, these reports of Olympic censorship contravene the agreement China has made with the International Olympic Committee regarding freedom of the press to report on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The complaint states that Chinese reporters attending a press conference with the US men’s volleyball team were confronted by Chinese Olympic staff members after the reporters had asked the team some pointed questions about last week’s murder of the volleyball team’s coach’s father-in-law and the subsequent suicide of the murderer. The reporters’ notes and tapes were confiscated, allegedly so that the officials could get a better understanding of the nature of the conversation, but the materials were never returned. Freedom of the press is so ingrained in American law and culture, we can sometimes forget that we didn’t always have it, and there are places in the world that still do not. As a journalist, I take for granted that I will be able to interview whom I wish and write abou
