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BEIJING-China, already under fire for curbing press freedom, will crack down on unlicensed reporters to ensure a "clean journalism environment" for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, state media said Monday.The campaign will focus on overseas journalists and marks the latest mixed message on the issue by Beijing, which had previously promised free rein for foreign reporters during the Games.The crackdown-which will include a database of overseas journalists-is aimed mostly at stopping bogus reporters from extorting people by threatening to publish harmful stories about them, the China Daily newspaper said.It quoted Liu Binjie, minister of the General Administration of Press and Publication, as saying such reporters, "especially those representing overseas-registered media, harm society and deserve severe punishment"."Disguising reporters to threaten and intimidate others to collect money is cheating and very dangerous to society," Liu said.The announcement came a day after authorities closed a newspaper that had published a series of reports alleging miscarriages of justice by local court officials in northeastern Liaoning province, China Central Television reported.Human rights groups say authorities in China routinely harass or arrest Chinese journalists who expose corruption.Beijing this year relaxed rules governing foreign journalists, but overseas news organisations have complained that local-level officials still routinely obstruct reporting.Earlier this year, a reporter for a Chinese newspaper was beaten to death by an illegal mine operator. Official reports accused the journalist of demanding money not to print the story.As in the days of Noah....
