Beijing hotel backs off journalist offer

June 24, 2008 Beijing's Gehua New Century Hotel, site of the official non-accredited media center for the Beijing Olympics in August, has rescinded its offer to pay journalists as much as 1000 yuan ($145) for positive stories. Public relations officers in China routinely give payments to journalists in return for attending press conferences or providing coverage, usually in the form of red envelopes of "taxi money." According to earlier media reports, the hotel had offered 500 yuan for a positive article of 100-500 words in length, and 1,000 yuan for a longer article.

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