China urged its media-related groups and organizations to monitor their reporters closely and to strictly follow laws and regulations in managing their local offices.
All news organizations were instructed to close down local offices that to do not meet China's standards and to get rid of employees that were illegitimately hired, according to a statement on Wednesday by the State Internet Information Office; State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television; and the Communist Party of China Central Committee's publicity department.
A statement from the meeting of the different state offices said that some local news organizations hold numerous local offices and hire staff via unlawful methods, which results in periodic illegal actions that harm the spirit of journalism, the credibility and authority of news, and lead to unwanted social consequences.
According to the group of state offices, major news websites run by the government must seek approval first before establishing sub-sites for local regions. In addition, illegal news sites and offices are expected to be shut down by the end of March 2015.
China is alarmed by the increasing fraud in journalism. Authorities took in April the license of a local newspaper for its fraudulent application for press cards using counterfeit documents and then selling them to unfit people involved in extortion.
There have been reported cases of journalists blackmailing for money to cover up bad news or to release positive ones that are fabricated.