CNN's presumption shows its true colors: China Daily editorial

Contrary to its original statement that the 39 people found dead in a lorry in Essex, Britain, were "believed to be Chinese nationals", the Essex Police now "believe the victims are Vietnamese nationals".

This is not unusual for an investigation into illegal migration across borders of multiple countries.

Even at this point, the latest police statement on the identities of the victims remains an assumption awaiting confirmation, and any conclusion will be premature until the identity of each and every victim is established without a shadow of a doubt.

That it is the worst mass death of illegal migrants in the United Kingdom since 2000, and that the misleading statement on their nationality was at a time when any means to misrepresent China is being warmly welcomed by some, it should come as no surprise the incident has made headlines worldwide.

That dozens of youthful lives perished on their way toward a destination that they believed offered them a better future calls for reflection on the development gaps that nurtured their dreams.

For media outlets covering the tragic incident, however, there is a more immediate lesson to be learned.

Some Western media reports about the incident left a lot to be desired, at least from the Chinese perspective, as they deviated from their longstanding claim to professionalism, impartiality, and loyalty to the truth.

CNN has been singled out because, taking Essex Police's preliminary assumption for granted, one of its reporters presumptuously asked the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson why are people risking their lives to leave it at a time when the country is proudly proclaiming what it has achieved over the past 70 years.

The latest Essex Police statement is a slap in CNN's face.

CNN's attempt at humiliating China has merely heaped humiliation on itself.

It must be profoundly awkward for CNN and mainstream Western media to have the truth inconveniently pull the rug out from under them; to have their proclaimed impartiality so mortifyingly exposed as arrogant prejudice.

Looking back on Western media reports on the case, almost all mainstream Western media outlets said Essex Police "confirmed" the 39 were Chinese nationals on Oct 24, with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation being one of the very few who bothered to state they were "believed to be Chinese".

In their haste, the others were caught red-handed in their true intent.

At the end of the day, it should be the facts that matter to journalists and the media organizations they work for, not what they would like the story to be.