Last week, MNB reported on a story that was carried by news outlets all over the world – that a Beijing retailer specializing in selling pork buns was saving money by substituting cardboard for pork. Not only that, but he reportedly was making the cardboard taste like the other white meat by soaking it in toxic chemicals and mixing it with lard, among other things.
But now, the Associated Press reports that the Chinese government has arrested a local reporter, Zi Beijia, for perpetuating a hoax. According to the story, Zi Beijia was having trouble finding a story…so he just invented one. Local news reports in China say that the man will be “severely dealt with according to the law.”
But now, the Associated Press reports that the Chinese government has arrested a local reporter, Zi Beijia, for perpetuating a hoax. According to the story, Zi Beijia was having trouble finding a story…so he just invented one. Local news reports in China say that the man will be “severely dealt with according to the law.”
- KC's View:
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: Uh-oh. I think that “severely dealt with” means that the Chinese are warming up the gallows, or the guillotine, or whatever it is they use over there to enforce discipline among the masses.
James Frey. Clifford Irving. Janet Cooke. Stephen Glass. And now, Zi Beijia.
Though it occurs to me that maybe Zi Beijia is getting a bad rap. After all, it would be far less embarrassing for the Chinese to play the “blame the media” game than to admit that its food safety procedures are so minimal that one can sell cardboard and pass it off as pork on the streets of Beijing.
I smell a conspiracy here.
