Days after it used its front page to campaign for the release of its detained reporter, a Chinese newspaper on Sunday apologised for seriously damaging the credibility of the media after the journalist confessed that he had defamed a state-run firm in exchange for money.
The Guangzhou-based newspaper New Express said it failed to verify stories by Chen Yongzhou, who was detained by police from central China's Hunan Province and confessed that he had received money from others for the reports.
"A preliminary police investigation showed that our reporter Chen Yongzhou had been incited by others to write numerous inaccurate stories in exchange for money, seriously violating the China News Workers' code of Professional Ethics and the principle of news authenticity," the newspaper said in a front-page statement.
"Meanwhile, the newspaper failed to carefully review the reports," it said.However, the paper did not clarify from whom Chen, 27, received the money or at whose request he wrote the stories, state run Xinhua news agency reported.