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Mail Online goes into partnership with The People's Daily of China Mail Online goes into partnership with The People's Daily of China
(35 minutes later)
Updated at 1pm with new material:
Mail Online has gone into partnership with The People’s Daily, the official organ of the Chinese communist party.Mail Online has gone into partnership with The People’s Daily, the official organ of the Chinese communist party.
An article about an embarrassing Chinese hospital mistake was published on the Mail group’s Australian website with the tag, “This story was produced in partnership with The People’s Daily - people.cn.”An article about an embarrassing Chinese hospital mistake was published on the Mail group’s Australian website with the tag, “This story was produced in partnership with The People’s Daily - people.cn.”
The point of the story was obvious from the lengthy headline, “Father-to-be waiting in hospital accidentally undergoes a haemorrhoid operation while his wife gives birth after mix-up by Chinese doctors”.The point of the story was obvious from the lengthy headline, “Father-to-be waiting in hospital accidentally undergoes a haemorrhoid operation while his wife gives birth after mix-up by Chinese doctors”.
It concerned an incident at Shenyang Hunnan Xinqu hospital, which was originally reported on The People’s Daily website, “Man was mistaken for patient and ‘accidentally’ had hemorrhoid surgery while waiting outside for his newborn baby”.It concerned an incident at Shenyang Hunnan Xinqu hospital, which was originally reported on The People’s Daily website, “Man was mistaken for patient and ‘accidentally’ had hemorrhoid surgery while waiting outside for his newborn baby”.
Evidently, it goes back more than a year. A Guardian writer in Australia found stories going back to 2015 with the Chinese tagline, such as this one, about a hidden paradise in a cave, published in May. Evidently, although no-one seems to have previously noticed, the partnership goes back more than a year. Mail Online’s editorial chief, Martin Clarke, explained:
“It’s basically a copy-swap. We take about 40 stories a week from The People’s Daily and they can take a similar number from us. There is no cash involved.”
So how did the partnership between a capitalist media group renowned for its advocacy of press freedom and a newspaper in a communist country renowned for censorship come about?So how did the partnership between a capitalist media group renowned for its advocacy of press freedom and a newspaper in a communist country renowned for censorship come about?
What does Mail Online’s editorial chief, Martin Clarke, have to say about it? And what does the Daily Mail’s editor, Paul Dacre, think? Is the Mail is embarrassed by having forged a link that would seems to be something of a propaganda coup for China? Does it not compromise the Mail’s integrity?
At the time of writing, there has been no response to a series of emailed questions to Clarke. Earlier, a Daily Mail spokesman responded to an inquiry by saying: “This is clearly something you should take up with Martin Clarke.” Clarke said: “As the most populous nation on earth, and one of its most dynamic economies, China is an increasing source of stories for outward-looking global publishers like Mail Online.
Perhaps they are embarrassed by having forged a link that amounts to something of a propaganda coup for China. Look how a major western capitalist media company is now cosying up to us. (And the link with the communist party paper gets no mention on the Daily Mail Australia Facebook page). “We believe this relationship broadens our coverage there and also helps us better understand the country’s social and political structures.”
I also note that the partnership is selective. A Mail Online story about a Chinese swimmer being tested positive for drugs, also using a Daily Mail Australia byline, did not carry the reference to The People’s Daily. I noted that the partnership was selective. A Mail Online story about a Chinese swimmer being tested positive for drugs, also using a Daily Mail Australia byline, did not carry the reference to The People’s Daily. It is just the kind of story that would fall foul of Chinese censors.
Then again, it is just the kind of story that would fall foul of Chinese censors, is it not? And what real benefit is it for Mail Online, because the story was not even a scoop. Clarke said: “We are not limited to using The People’s Daily as a source for Chinese coverage, nor does it compromise Mail Online’s independence (nor that of our papers).
The Telegraph website managed to get the same tale about the hospital’s error, which it attributed to the Bandao City News, without getting into bed with The People’s Daily. “When we do use People’s Daily copy, it is clearly marked. The stories are selected and translated by a Mandarin-speaking MOL staffer working to our foreign desk.
“We have always found The People’s Daily staff to be extremely good partners and look forward to continuing this relationship in the longer term.”
He argues that the partnership should be seen “in the context of the British (and every other western) government’s official policy to foster closer cultural and trade ties with China.”
He said: “This modest arrangement does not seem remotely odd, merely sensible.”