Corruption in media needs to be stamped out with decisive steps

Several editors at Shanghai-based business news website 21cbh.com were detained last week for allegedly blackmailing enterprises. According to the police, the case involved a huge amount of money.

Xinhua News Agency's branch in Shanghai "automatically" ended a 3.5 million yuan ($590,000) contract with Bank of Communications last week after the central authority's disciplinary inspection team found the contract actually was a way for the bank to buy good news or ignorance from the State-run media.

The two cases came after President Xi Jinping vowed to reform the media last month and are believed to be a starting point for the authorities to deal with corruption in the media.