Fake Reporter Sentenced to Life

In America, fake reporters normally find work doing comedic interviews and off-color special interest pieces for shows like "The Daily Show" or print publications like "The Onion." In China, where bribery is all too common in journalism (and most other venues of life), impersonating a reporter or editor can be quite lucrative. Whereas a real reporter could only dream of earning 490,000 USD for a decade of news journalism, Liu did it simply by lying, stealing and taking advantage of China's rich tradition of bribing reporters.

When the Second Intermediate People's Court in Beijing sentenced Liu to life in prison the Chinese government sent a message to corrupt officials and all those who extort them that in today's China, to put it plainly, Hu don't play that.

According to a People's Daily story Thursday (written by an actual employee of the paper), Liu and two accomplices, Liu Haiqian and Zhu Di, extorted $460,000USD from an official, surname Zhu, between March 2002 and September 2003 by promising the small-time official that they would use the money to bribe senior leaders in Beijing for favors. The remaining 30,000 USD came from extortion schemes involving various officials beginning in 1998.

There is no report yet on Liu's accomplices.

The People's Daily commented it had "repeatedly asked each and every employee to strictly observe the law and always safeguard the reputation of the Party's key newspaper." The publication also asserted that the acceptance money for reporting or suppression of news "had always been banned."

An employee of the People's Daily, who refused to give his name, told the media that Liu lived in the newspaper's housing complex. This individual declined to elaborate on what position Liu held but confirmed that he has never been a reporter.

The issue of journalistic extortion became widely exposed in the mainland earlier this year when a coal mine owner in Shanxi province hired thugs to beat a reporter to death who was allegedly blackmailing the mine owner in exchange for the suppression of a damaging news report. Currently, 7 people involved in the reporter's death are awaiting a court's judgment.

While extortion outside of China does not carry such harsh penalties, in the context of the Hu Jintao hard line approach to corruption, life sentences for racketeering will become increasingly common in China. As for many convicted criminals here, Liu's sentence serves as both a punitive measure and a deterrent for those who would consider engaging in a similar scam.