Journalists in China would love to tell independent stories,
would love to go out and investigate.
They're not permitted. If they did, they'd be fired.
Reconnect us and nourish us, O God.
Tend to us and nurture us, we pray.
At this church in suburban Sydney, Wu Junmei is looking for comfort.
The Rev. Bill Crews offers welcoming words.
It doesn't matter if you are an unbeliever
and it doesn't matter if you've fallen a thousand times.
Come, come, whoever you are.
It reminds her of her church back in China,
the one she joined to relieve the stress
of her job as a journalist.
But Junmei was soon told by her boss
that her new-found faith was unacceptable.
For over three years, Junmei worked for the People's Daily,
China's largest newspaper group.
Like all media in China, the People's Daily is owned and operated
by the country's ruling Communist Party.
Journalists in China are expected to promote the government,
led by the Communist Party, and its policies.
Junmei's workplace sat right opposite some government offices.
Outside, people would sometimes hold protests
about issues like forced evictions and corruption.
And Junmei says the censorship didn't didn't stop at cases of civil unrest.
She was also asked to use her investigative skills
not to expose wrongdoings, but to cover them up.
Each month, Junmei would receive a kind of commission
for her involvement in extorting this revenue.
China is reaching out globally.
There's a sense within China that its story is not being well told abroad.
And in a sense it's trying to export this model
in which journalists do what they're told.
Professor John Fitzgerald says we should all be keeping a close eye
on the workings of Chinese state media.
And for good reason.
A number of our own media outlets have recently signed deals
with Chinese media organisations.
They range from content sharing and distribution agreements
to pledges to illuminate the bilateral relationship.
When mainstream, respectable Australian media platforms
enter into agreements with China,
they're basically saying that the Chinese media are equivalent,
that they too are free and independent critical voices,
able to comment on government and politics of the day.
They're not.
So these agreements in effect lend credibility
to a system which has none
and I think Australian media platforms should think about that as well.
This here is the Goddess of Democracy that was on Tiananmen Square
and I often look at her, you know, and think it's so sad what happened.
Since being in Australia,
Junmei has been learning a new version of her country's recent past.
Having spoken publicly about censorship and corruption
and the pressure she faced as a Christian,
Junmei is not sure she can return to China.
She's left behind her husband and ageing parents.
She avoids telling them too much.
Junmei has this message
for those wanting to collaborate with Chinese media outlets.