The credibility of the country's media is becoming a major social issue, a researcher said yesterday.

Wang Hanbin, director of the public opinion research institute of the Guangdong social research and study center, said: "Following a series of scandals involving the media last year, their credibility is once again a primary social concern."

Wang was speaking following the publication of the results of a survey of 286 experts conducted by the institute.

As society undergoes rapid change, social issues are constantly being raised. As far as the media are concerned, they must ensure their reporting is accurate and timely, he said.

"The media have to be credible to ensure the public fully understands and knows what is happening in society."

The survey also asked experts for their views on a number of other social issues, including corruption, public ethics/behavior, rising inflation, food safety, social security and the forthcoming Olympic Games.

Corruption and the behavior of the public topped the list of concerns, followed by media credibility, Wang said.

Almost 36 percent of those surveyed agreed that media credibility must be improved to ensure the public has access to "right and real information".

The media has been hit by two scandals involving fake photographs in recent months.

On Thursday, China Central Television published an apology on its website for giving an award to a photographer in 2006, whose image of rare antelope passing near a bridge on the Qinghai-Tibet railway was recently exposed as a fake.

In October, the Shaanxi forestry department made a similar apology for publishing images of a South China tiger, which turned out to have been doctored on a computer.

(China Daily February 27, 2008)