Cardboard bun hoax reporter jailed
14 August 2007
Zi Beijia, a television reporter, was sentenced to a year in jail and fined US$132 Sunday after faking a television story about cardboard-filled meat buns, AP reported. Zi had paid four migrant workers in Shaanxi province to make the buns for a news segment claiming that broadcast on Beijing Television's Life Channel in early July and China Central Television, and picked up by foreign news outlets. The segment, intended to advance Zi's career, came as concerns over the safety of China's food exports were on the rise, and prompted health authorities to investigate two dozen pork vendors, none found containing cardboard.