Xi underscores CPC's leadership in news reporting

BEIJING, Feb. 19, 2016 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping presides over a symposium after touring China's three leading news providers in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 19, 2016. Xi on Friday ordered news media run by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government to strictly follow the Party's leadership. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, Feb. 19 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday ordered news media run by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government to strictly follow the Party's leadership and focus on "positive reporting."

Speaking in a symposium Friday afternoon after touring China's three leading news providers, the People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television, Xi, also General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, called Party- and government-run news outlets the "publicity fronts" of the party and the government.

All news media run by the Party must work to speak for the Party's will and its propositions and protect the Party's authority and unity, Xi said.

They should enhance their awareness to align their ideology, political thinking and deeds to those of the CPC Central Committee and help fashion the Party's theories and policies into conscious action by the general public while providing spiritual enrichment to the people, he said.

Marxist journalistic education must be promoted among journalists, Xi added, to make them "disseminators of the Party's policies and propositions, recorders of the time, promoters of social advancement and watchers of equality and justice."

According to Xi, the mission of the Party's media work is to provide guidance for the public, serve the country's overall interests, unite the general public, instill confidence and pool strength, tell right from wrong and connect China to the world.

To do so, Xi continued, they should also stick to guiding public opinion on the correct path in every aspect and stage of their work.

According to Xi, managing journalism and publicity is "crucial for the Party's path, the implementation of Party theories and policies, the development of various Party and state causes, the unity of the Party, the country and people of all ethnic groups, as well as the future and fate of the Party and the country."

"Truthfulness is the life of journalism, and the facts must be reported based on the truth," Xi said. "While accurately reporting individual facts, journalists must also grasp and reflect the overall situation of an event from a broad view."

The president noted that public supervision and positive publicity are two compatible functions of media. He urged media outlets to confront problems emerging from their work and social ills head-on, spreading the good and condemning the bad while practicing critical journalism based on accurate facts and objective analysis.

Calling for innovative concepts, content and methods, Xi told media groups to make use of new media's edge in publicity, amplify their voices on the international stage, tell stories about China well and build flagship media groups with strong global influence.

According to Xi, the journalism industry should accelerate its progress in fostering workers with firm political beliefs, outstanding professional skills, moral excellence and whom the Party and people can trust.

"Officials should improve their ability to interact with the media and make good use of it to publicize their policies and ideas, understand grassroots opinions, uncover conflicts and problems, guide public feelings, mobilize the people and push forward work in real life," Xi said.

Friday's symposium was attended by about 180 central media officials, Beijing municipal officials and representatives of central media groups.