Media should help consumers defend rights better

The annual gala of China Central Television on March 15, the International Consumer Rights Protection Day, always sparks more disputes than expected, because it seems the program should be fairer while trying to expose violations of market rules by companies and businesspeople, which demands hard work and guts.

CCTV, as the only national TV station, has one of the largest advertising revenues among the Chinese media, which is more than 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion).

This year's program (popularly called the "3.15" gala) focused on Land Rover's problematic gearbox and the money making after-sales service of Nissan. But last year, according to China Consumers' Association, Volkswagen, Ford and General Motors were the top three brands against which consumers lodged complaints regarding quality and after-sales service. Ironically, all three companies are big advertisers on CCTV.

Last year, the program criticized Apple's "discriminative" attitude toward its smartphone consumers and indifferent after-sales service in China, while ignoring poor after-sales service of some other brands. But iPhone sales, instead of dropping, are still rising in China.

A CCA report shows consumers' complaints against e-vendors have increased rapidly in recent years, and the dearth of specific laws on e-commerce is making it even more difficult for e-shoppers to safeguard their rights and interests. But CCTV rarely sheds light on this problem.

Interestingly, the "3.15" gala, which has been telecast at 8 pm sharp for years, started 44 minutes behind schedule this year, prompting many to speculate that CCTV had changed the program at the last minute by deleting the reports on e-shoppers' complaints. CCTV re-telecast Premier Li Keqiang's news conference after 7:30 pm that evening, in which he hailed the e-commerce sector as a job creator and consumption stimulator, after having showed it live in the morning, and cited that as an excuse for the delay in the "3.15" gala.

Media outlets should maintain their independence and not link their interests with the reports they publish or telecast. Last year's corruption case involving CCTV's former business channel director and advertisement department chief Guo Zhenxi revealed the depth to which some media outlets fall to get their advertisement revenue. Guo abused his power to decide which enterprises should be praised and which criticized.