Police stopped a three-person TV4 (U.K.) television team, headed by Lindsey Hilsum, from filming and interviewing parents at a middle school in Jiandi township, Shifang, where 56 children died in the earthquake.
Several police followed the journalists from Deyang to Jiandi, monitoring and videotaping them throughout the town as they spoke with parents. Authorities halted the media’s reporting efforts at several points and repeatedly told them to move on for “safety reasons.”
At one location the reporters said a policeman “pulled villagers away, apparently to tell them not to talk to us. One man later asked us if we had been sent by Falun Gong,” the banned spiritual group.
The following day, the crew was stopped from entering Jiandi at a roadblock where a posted sign dated June 1 warned: “No vehicles other than aid vehicles are allowed. No entering or gathering of people who have no business. No interviews, photographs or video tape by media or other staff without permission. If you do not follow the rules you may be severely punished.”