In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central Party authorities to state media at the beginning of that year. These directives were issued on an almost daily basis in early 2020 through the early weeks of what would become the COVID-19 pandemic, and shed light on the propaganda machinery’s efforts to grapple with the outbreak. They were originally published between September and December, 2020 as the Minitrue Diary series, after the censorship and propaganda organs’ Orwellian online nickname 真理部 Zhēnlǐ bù, or "Ministry of Truth." Now, to mark the passage of five years since the outbreak, we are republishing each set of directives on the fifth anniversary of the day they were issued. The following directives were released on February 27, 2020.
Coverage of press conferences of all kinds related to epidemic prevention and control must standardize sourcing and report accurately. Do not quote out of context or distort the meaning; do not engage in “clickbait.” Keep tabs on posts and comments. (February 27, 2020) [Chinese]
Please find and delete false content based on this sample, and do not republish. (February 27, 2020) [Chinese]
1. Regarding China’s provision of aid to relevant countries, take care not to give undue prominence to our material assistance, and do not report details.
2. Many media outlets have published and broadcast images of cured child patients bowing to medical workers with inconsistent explanatory information. Newsgathering and editing workflows must be strictly standardized to ensure that the content of the reports is true. (February 27, 2020) [Chinese]
On the matter of the woman surnamed Huang from Wuhan, Hubei, do not take independent action, and report in strict accordance with regulations. (February 27, 2020) [Chinese]
Directives sent almost daily throughout the first two months of 2020 focused on restricting and controlling coverage of the novel coronavirus and of Wuhan, the outbreak’s epicenter. This directive briefly mentions a woman surnamed Huang, who was released from Wuhan Women’s Prison after serving her time there, and somehow managed to travel from Wuhan to Beijing, despite Wuhan’s strict lockdown. Ms. Huang later tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to hospital. (Wuhan Women’s Prison had 279 confirmed cases of coronavirus; the head of the prison, Zhou Yukun, was fired for negligence due to his handling of the outbreak.) A directive two days earlier ordered media "do not report, do not reprint, and do not comment" on mask donations to Hong Kong. Some general directives do not indicate the specific news or article they are targeting in the version seen by CDT.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. Some instructions are issued by local authorities or to specific sectors, and may not apply universally across China. The date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source. See CDT’s collection of Directives from the Ministry of Truth since 2011.