Four central government departments have recently issued a joint circular ordering media to clean up misleading or base content and distorting use of idioms and sayings in advertisements.

Print and broadcast media are the major carriers of ads and should play a positive role in promoting a correct and healthy tone in choosing ad contents, said the circular, jointly formulated by the Ministry of Publicity, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the State Administration of Radio, Filmand Television and the State Press and Publication Administration.

It urges presidents and editor-in-chiefs of print and broadcastmedia to give attention to guidance over ad content and industrialand commercial authorities to enhance law enforcement against bad ads, claiming base ads could become part of the credit records forinstitutions or enterprises involved.

It also requires the setting up of a joint meeting and work report mechanisms headed by Party publicity organs at different levels in a bid to concentrate efforts to battle bad ads.

Source: Xinhua