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Freelancer gets life ban for faking news

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-19 08:28

Authorities have banned a freelancer from reporting for media for life after he was caught fabricating news of a standoff between Chinese warships on an anti-piracy mission and an Indian submarine in the Gulf of Aden in January, a report by a publication under the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) has said.

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Tong Qizhi, a contracted freelancer for the Sichuan province-based West China City Daily, reportedly lied about receiving news of the confrontation from his "friends who served in the army". He then allegedly made up the story using information from various news reports. No other details about Tong's background were made available.

In Tong's fictitious report, he said the submarine "stalked" the Chinese warships, and the vessels were locked in a standoff for at least an hour, after which the submarine was forced to surface.

The freelancer's fake report first appeared in the West China City Daily and Qingdao Morning Press between Jan 18 and 19, and numerous mainland websites picked it up on Feb 3.