Chinese authorities have arrested a Beijing TV reporter for “faking” the cardboard bun story, according to the AP. The report by Beijing TV claimed that an unlicensed snack vendor had been serving buns filled with cardboard softened with caustic soda and flavored with pork.

Chinese authorities say the reporter fabricated the report in order to get “higher audience ratings” on Chinese State TV. From the AP:

Beijing authorities said investigations had found that an employee surnamed Zi had fabricated the report to garner “higher audience ratings”, the China Daily said on Thursday.

“Zi had provided all the cardboard and asked the vendor to soak it. It’s all cheating,” the paper quoted a government notice as saying.

A city-wide inspection of steamed bun vendors in the wake of the report had found no such cases, the paper said.

`He used deceptive means to get the footage on the air,” said news anchor Wang Ye, without giving specifics. “The Beijing Public Security Bureau has taken the criminal suspect, Zi, into custody and he will be severely dealt with according to law.”

No one is saying what the law is, and no one seems to have any idea what will happen to “Zi.”

Beijing Cardboard-Stuffed Buns a Hoax [Guardian] (Thanks, Ian!)
China reporter held over cardboard-in-buns story [CNN]
(Photo:AP)

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