Despite the need for clarity, China still lacks definitive legislation on media activity. The 15th Party Congress in September 1997 sanctioned the media's supervisory role. Senior leaders such as Premier Zhu Rongji, who has publicly praised media exposure of official corruption, have supported this commitment. While legal ambiguity allows some breathing space for publications like Nanfang Weekend, it also has the potential to compromise the professionalism of media workers. Without both appropriate legislation and well-established professional norms, there is only a weak barrier between powerful commercial interests and the media.
Paid journalism is a widely accepted practice of Chinese media work.
A journalist who unwittingly fails to keep in mind the companies contained in a detailed list of advertisers, provided by editors, faces the unique possibility of being disciplined by either oversensitive commercial interests or overzealous state censors. Increasingly, newspapers are run by large business groupings with diversified interests, placing new pressures on open journalism. Under the guise of efficiency, Beijing has encouraged the formation of large media groupings. The policy, beginning in 1996, has led to the development of fifteen approved newspaper companies. In the process, many small innovative papers have been merged or forced from the market.