Breaking news always attracts attention. Faster coverage wins a newspaper or television company more fame.

But cutthroat competition for this fame between some Chinese media companies has gone so far that they have become cold-blooded about tragedy.

One Chinese TV channel used the school siege in Beslan, Russia, in an award-winning quiz, posing the question: How many people have died in the Russian hostage crisis so far?

Four choices were offered: 402, 338, 322, 302.

Audiences were angered by this explicit demonstration of lack of sympathy for the dead and wounded.

Similar quizzes appear in other TV programmes, and in their bid to win audiences and readers, some TV programmes and newspapers have compromised news content to become simply sensational.

It is now time to reflect on improper media behaviour that could influence social morals or mislead public opinion.

The media have been instrumental in fanning the flames of a new Beijing traffic law. But this eagerness to present the new law in a bad and sensational light has misled its public.

The second item of Article 69 in the traffic regulation says the motor vehicle driver will always be held responsible for road accidents with pedestrians or non-motorized vehicle drivers -- but only if it is not reported to the police or the site of the accident is altered to make the collection of evidence impossible.

Article 76 of the country's Road Traffic and Safety Law says the extent of the driver's liability can only be reduced when proof is available that it is the pedestrian or the non-motorized vehicle driver who breaks the law and the driver has taken necessary measures to avoid the accident.

In these circumstances it is only reasonable that drivers shoulder the blame.

Most media reports have conveniently deleted the conditions under which drivers are held responsible.

Similar media hype is quite common these days.

The media are an indispensable source of information. But whatever "news" they are transmitting is supposed to be true.

They are also supposed to be "the eyes and ears of the public" and help supervise public abuses such as corruption.

If some media outlets continue in this fashion, they will fail.

It is all very well to vie for the fastest output of breaking stories -- but professional ethics should always be borne in mind.

(China Daily September 9, 2004)