Reading between the headlines: SARS, Focus and TV current affairs programmes in

Recent research has shown an increasing interest in Chinese media, as they have been taken as sensitive barometers of political, economic and social changes in a transitional society. The response of the Chinese media to the extraordinary event in 2003 – the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) – provides another opportunity to observe changes in China, revealing a complex relationship between government, media and society in a partially reformed system. U-turn in the coverage of SARS In spring 2003, the world learned a new word and a new cause for anxiety – SARS. Media reaction throughout the world was instant, following an alert from the World Health Organization (WHO). The Chinese media, however, followed its own agenda and reacted to this epidemic in its own way. Although the first recorded case of SARS appeared on 16 November 2002, in Foshan in China’s southern province of Guangdong,1 the first reports on SARS from the state media did not appear until mid-February.2 On 17 February 2003, the Central Chinese TV Station (CCTV) current affairs programme Focus (Jiaodian Fangtan) put out its first coverage of the deadly virus. These first reports on SARS were followed by an outright silence from all media for a number of weeks.3 Like other media, the second programme by Focus at the beginning of April was again followed by weeks of limited coverage. But, from 18 April, the world saw a significant increase in the state media’s coverage of SARS. On 21 April