Chinese journalism and cash for coverage

I tried to post the following comment to Imagethief's blog post about Chinese journalists accepting cash for coverage, but it didn't show up, so I am posting it here as well:

Imagethief is touching upon issues that journalists in many countries encounter. In the United States media ethics are taken very seriously, and reporters and editors who get too cozy with PR folks or colleagues who sell advertising are viewed with suspicion by other journalists. There is, in fact, a term for writers that are viewed to be in the pockets of others, and/or aren't good journalists: "Hacks." The dim view of hacks is the result of numerous factors, ranging from our "free press" system, to historical encounters with Yellow Journalism and McCarthyism, to Internet journalism sites (Romenesko et al) where media scandals, no matter how minor, are rapidly disseminated to thousands of other American journalists.

China also has a long media history, but it has been influenced by a different set of factors. The press is officially subservient to the state and society, and can only play a limited watchdog role. From the early 1950s to the early 1980s it was devoid of any commercial influence. Now commercial- and circulation-supported news has come back with a vengeance, and Chinese journalists are dealing with new pressures. They may not see any problem with getting too close to PR flacks -- guanxi plays a huge role in Chinese society, and I further believe a widespread awareness of journalism ethics in China has been stunted by the state, which doesn't want a watchdog press.

I also would hypothesize that the hong bao trend in Chinese media that Imagethief and others have described may have migrated from Taiwan. I worked in the Taiwanese media in the mid 1990s, first as a television newswriter and later as a newspaper reporter and editor, and press conferences sponsored by large companies sometimes distributed hong bao with cash or department store gift certificates inside (many pressers were held at department stores). The first time I saw this, I questioned one of my Taiwanese colleagues, a television reporter, about the practice. He didn't seem surprised, said it was common, and gladly pocketed the cash (typically a few thousand $NT, or about US$60-$90). He was surprised that I didn't do the same. His reports, incidentally, were largely "fluff pieces," and I hear now he's a spokesman for a major Taiwanese political party. I know Taiwanese PR folks and journalists have crossed over to China to start businesses, and I wouldn't be surprised if they introduced their own media practices to Chinese colleagues.

I am curious if anyone who has worked in Hong Kong media has similar experiences.