White House web site fails to post picture of protester at welcoming ceremony for China's president Hu Jintao
"Beijing's actions to restrict the free flow of information are not limited to jailing. Those who refuse to toe the party line often experience intimidation or risk being fired from their jobs." - Jennifer Chao, RFA Mandarin service director
President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao stand for the playing of the two countries' national anthems during the beginning of the South Lawn Arrival Ceremony Thursday, April 20, 2006. White House photo by Shealah Craighead
FreeMediaOnline.org Arlington, VA, April 20, 2006.The White House web site [http:www.whitehouse.gov], usually a good source for news pictures that can be used free of license fees by independent journalists worldwide, did not post any pictures of a woman protester who had interrupted the welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House for Chinese President Hu Jintao. The failure to post the pictures of the protest was not, however, unexpected.
Most journalists familiar with government public affairs operations are aware that the official White House web site is not likely to show pictures that could embarrass the U.S. administration. None of the previous U.S. administrations posted similarly controversial pictures. Most if not all other governments would also be unlikely to post this type of picture unless for political reasons they wanted to embarrass their official guest.
Large media outlets in the United States generally do not use White House photos and rely instead on their own photographers or other independent news photo services, such as the ones provided by the Associated Press or Reuters. Many American journalists would consider using White House photos as undermining their independence, objectivity, and integrity, and would fear losing the respect of their colleagues.
Despite these concerns, however, some journalists working for smaller media outlets in the United States use news photos provided by the White House and other U.S. government departments, including the State Department [Link] and the Pentagon. [Link] These pictures taken by U.S. government photographers are considered to be in the public domain and can be re-published by media outlets anywhere in the world without paying royalty or license fees..
Easy availability makes U.S. government-released photographs attractive to journalists who have no access to other free sources of news pictures or to those who cannot afford to pay license fees to news photo agencies. No one expects, however, that the U.S. government or any other government will under normal circumstances provide journalists with news photos or any other news material that would be embarrassing or harmful to their public relations interests.
The limitations of relying on government-issued news photos were demonstated during the welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on April 20, 2006 for Chinese President Hu Jintao when a woman-protester interrupted his speech by shouting slogans against religious discrimination in China. The woman, identified in news reports as Dr. Wenyi Wang, 47, of New York and a member of the Falun Gong religious movement, was escorted out by the White House security guards. She apparently gained admission to the White House grounds with a The Epoch Times press pass. The Epoch Times is a Falun Gong newspaper. Shortly after the ceremony, the White House web posted a number of photos from the event. Not surprisingly, however, the White House photos did not include any showing the Dr. Wang and her banner protesting human rights violations in China. As the woman-protestor was being escorted out, President Bush tried to reassure his guest that everything was under control and urged him to continue with his speech. He later apologized to President Hu Jintao for the incident. [Link to White House pictures... ] [Link to The Epoch Times web site...]
Apparently, not only the White House was cought off guard by this protest action. According to a statement issued by The Epoch Times, the newspaper was not aware of Dr. Wang's intention to stage her protest. The paper's editors claimed afterwards that they would have revoked her press pass had they known about her plans. The newspaper apologized to President Bush for Dr. Wang's actions, but in its statement pointed out that "while [The Epoch Times] does not approve of the methods used by Dr. Wang, we think the world does need to understand what might have moved a respected medical professional such as Dr. Wang to take such unconventional actions."
Dr. Wang's protest was connected with a controversial news story that raised accusations of mass murders and other human rights violations in China. A few days before President Hu's arrival in the United States, The Epoch Times published unconfirmed reports that that many Falun Gong members had been executed at a secured facility in Sujiatun in northeastern China. The newspaper also claimed, citing two informers who remained anonymous, that the body organs of the alledged victims had been harvested for transplants.
Major news organizations have not been able to confirm the claims of mass executions of Falun Gong members in China and the use of their body organs for transplants. Such claims are normally viewed by impartial journalists with a great degree of caution unless they can be confirmed by independent sources and backed with solid evidence. Other sale-of-body organs accusations made by various groups in the past had turned out to be propaganda without basis in fact. Many of these accusations were directed against the United States and American doctors. On the other hand, some reports of mass attrocities, which at first seemed incredible and could not be immediately confirmed, turned out later to be true. At this time, it is impossible to determine whether the allegations reported by The Epoch Times are in fact accurate. [Link to The Epoch Times statement...] [Link to the State Department report on how sale-of-body organs propaganda had been used in the past against the U.S....]
In response to a question at the daily State Department press briefing, deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said on March 31 that the State Department treats the reports of executions and harvesting of body parts of the Falun Gong practitioners at Sujiatun "very seriously," but pointed out that these reports remain unconfirmed and that the Chinese authorities have publicly denied the allegations. The spokesman said that U.S. diplomats have contacted the Chinese government about the allegations and urged a full investigation. [Link to transcript of U.S. State Department briefing...] [Link to U.S. State Department Fact Sheet: China and Human Rights...]
For a newspaper and and its web site actively promoting religious and political causes, The Epoch Times has a relatively restrictive re-publication policy, but journalists may be able to obtain a written permission to republish articles and photos by requesting it directly from the newspaper. [Link to The Epoch Times Rights and Permissions page...]
The Voice of America (VOA) report on the same event included a detailed description of the protest at the South Lawn of the White House as well as protests by human rights activists elsewhere in Washington in connection with President Hu Jintao's visit. Unlike the public relations-oriented web sites at other U.S. government agencies, including the White House web site, all of which try to stay clear of any controversies that could be embarrassing to the government, the VOA web site is run by professional journalists who are protected from political interference by their Congressionally-approved Charter. [Link to VOA Charter...]
A VOA White House correspondent filing in English reported that "President Bush was visibly annoyed by the heckler and told President Hu to go on with his remarks." The woman was demanding that "President Bush stop the Chinese leader from prosecuting members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement." The VOA correspondent reported that President Bush intended to raise the human rights issue in his talks with President Hu Jintao. [Link to VOA English story...] The VOA English web site did not post the picture of the protester in the story from its correspondent at the White House. The VOA Chinese service web site did have an AP picture of the woman and a full story about pro-human rights protests in Washington, D.C. [Link to VOA Chinese story...]
VOA radio correspondents rarely take their own pictures at news events. For most of their stories posted on the VOA web site, the VOA web team relies instead on AP photos. VOA news reports are in the public domain and can be used freely by independent journalists abroad subject to conditions posted on the VOA's web site, [Link to VOA's Terms of Use for affiliates... ] but AP photos in VOA stories may be subject to restrictions on use from AP. In such cases, a VOA story can be used without a picture from an outside source. If a photo had been taken by a VOA reporter and is marked as such on the VOA's web site, it can be assumed to be in the public domain and can be used by journalists abroad subject only to VOA's terms of use.
The Radio Free Asia (RFA) English-language web site [http://www.rfa.org/english/] was not updated on the day of President Hu Jintao's arrival in Washington, D.C. It also did not have any stories or pictures from the arrival ceremony the following day, April 21. The RFA main web page in English included a story titled "Who's in China's Prisons? Let's Ask Hu" by Jennifer Chou, RFA Mandarin service director. The story was posted April 18, two days before President Hu Jintao's arrival in Washington. Ms. Chou reported that "Beijing's actions to restrict the free flow of information are not limited to jailing. Those who refuse to toe the party line often experience intimidation or risk being fired from their jobs." [Link to Jennifer Chou's report...] RFA Mandarin service's web site had extensive coverage of anti-Hu Jintao protests in Washington, D.C. [Link to RFA Mandarin service web site]
Like most other international broadcasters, RFA welcomes re-use and re-publication of its web site material subject to certain conditions. [Link to RFA's Terms of Use] RFA's terms of use, while encouraging re-publishing of RFA's news material, are somewhat more restrictive than VOA's conditions. Unlike VOA, RFA is a so-called "grantee" organization. Its staff is not paid directly by the U.S. government, and the work of their reporters and photographers does not automatically enter the public domain for unrestricted use by any media outlet or individual journalist.
The BBC Chinese service web site also had a story with an AP picture of the woman-protester. [Link to BBC Chinese service story...] BBC does not allow re-use or re-publishing of content from its web site without the prior written permission from the BBC. [Link to BBC Copyright Notice/Terms of Use...]
The Voice of Russia [http://www.vor.ru/index_eng.phtml] had only a short news item on the visit of President Hu Jintao to Washington with no mention of the protest during the White House arrival ceremony. The Voice of Russia web site does not normally post any news pictures. Its web site does not include much information on how the Voice of Russia broadcasts could be used by other media outlets except for a price list for its most popular news programs. [Link to the Voice of Russia Commercial Department...]
Beijing's China Radio International (CRI) did not post on its web site any reports or pictures of the protest at the White House ceremony. [Link to CRI web site...] CRI welcomes re-publishing of its web site content for non-commercial purposes under certain conditions. [Link to CRI "Reproduction & Information Exchange" page.]
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