Chinese newspaper corrects errors blamed on censors, urges respect for editorial process

BEIJING – A Chinese weekly newspaper whose editorial staff had a rare but short-lived revolt against overbearing censorship has issued a correction for mistakes that helped fuel the dispute.

Journalists at the Southern Weekly said the mistakes resulted from last-minute changes made by censors who ignored a usual review by the paper's editorial department. The journalists used the errors to air their frustration and draw attention to how the paper's New Year's message was changed from a call for constitutionalism into a tribute to the Communist Party.

The correction at the bottom of the second page of this week's edition corrects three glitches from the New Year's edition — a typo, a wrong date and an erroneous numbering of the edition. It also calls for respect for the editorial process.