Organ Harvesting
The Epoch Times was the first newspaper to report on allegations of widespread, live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners detained in China's network of prisons and labor camps.
Throughout March 2006, the newspaper published a series of articles containing allegations by a number of anonymous individuals claiming to be eyewitnesses to organ harvesting in Sujiatun Hospital and beyond. The claims were criticized by dissident Harry Wu, who said they lacked sufficient documentary support or detailed information.
One of the newspaper's reporters working on the organ harvesting story, Wang Wenyi, who practices Falun Gong, yelled at Chinese President Hu Jintao over recent allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China after using her Epoch Times press pass to gain access to a White House lawn press briefing. The Epoch Times was criticized for the incident; Dr. Liu Kang, professor of Chinese Cultural Studies at Duke University, thought the incident damaged its credibility and contributed to the impression that the paper is "not viewed as an independent objective news media" in the overseas Chinese community. The paper apologized to the U.S. President, while suggesting the incident didn't damage its credibility, and denying any direct ties to or funding from Falun Gong.
A New America Media report cited the newspaper's withholding of names in transcripts of telephone conversations between sources in Chinese hospitals and a researcher, which were used to support allegations of organ harvesting, as not adhering to journalistic standards of professionalism and objectivity. Cindy Gu, communications director for The Epoch Times, said that the newspaper needed to protect the identity of their sources.
Read more about this topic: The Epoch Times
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