Bloomberg News has been accused by the New York Times of killing an article by Michael Forsythe that would have exposed connections between one of China’s richest men and top officials—because editors were worried it would get them kicked out of China. Bloomberg denied the claims, but went ahead and fired Michael Forsythe.
Did Bloomberg self-censor to appease Chinese authorities? It wouldn’t be the first Western media outlet that has done so.
China doesn’t like negative reporting. That’s why it has expelled Aljazeera in Beijing and Chinese reporter Melissa Chan for reporting on black jails. That’s why after 18 years of China reporting, Paul Mooney has just been denied a visa. But if our media would just agree not to put up with Beijing’s censorship, there’s nothing the Chinese government could do.
