中国政府最近采取了一系列严控媒体的措施，其中之一是要求记者与雇主签订保密协议，然后才能获得记者证。
本周一，中国最高级别的媒体监管机构国家新闻出版广电总局（下称“广电总局”）表示，该协议规定“记者未经雇主许可，不得披露在工作过程中获得的任何信息”。此外，它还首次宣布将给新闻网站的记者配发记者证。
新版记者证的发放工作从本周二开始，到10月30日结束。届时将有大约25万名记者领到新的记者证，官方报纸《光明日报》称。
广电总局负责监管在中国大陆工作的所有中国记者。自1989年以来，该机构每五年就会发放一次新版记者证，中国记者必须携带这种证件，才能出席很多新闻发布会，也才能采访到政府官员。
自从2013年3月习近平担任中国国家主席以来，广电总局已经大幅增加了对记者的监管力度。今年1月，在为推出新版记者证做准备时，该机构要求所有中国记者都参加一个考试，记者们需要熟记中国领导人关于监管新闻媒体的意见，才能回答其中一些考题。
2013年4月，广电总局禁止记者在网上发布他们在工作中获得的任何信息，除非事先征得了雇主的同意。上月底，它又出台一条规定，禁止记者向外国新闻机构提供信息。
中国记者在严苛的新闻审查环境中开展工作，有时遇到无法在自己出版物上发表的内容，就会提供给外国记者，或发布到网上。
今年5月，由于被指控把秘密文件泄露给一个国外网站，70岁的高瑜遭到拘留。高瑜是一位资深中国记者，长期以来对中国政府持批评态度。
China Requiring Secrecy Pledge for Press Credentials
In the latest in a series of measures tightening state control over the media, the Chinese government is requiring journalists to sign a secrecy agreement with their employers as a condition for obtaining press credentials.
China’s top media regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said on Monday that the agreements would obligate the journalists “not to disclose any information acquired in the course of work, without permission from employers.” It also announced that for the first time it would issue credentials to journalists working for news websites.
The process of renewing credentials took effect on Tuesday and will end on Oct. 30. By then about 250,000 journalists are expected to obtain new credentials, according to Guangming Daily, a state-run newspaper.
The media agency oversees all Chinese journalists working in mainland China. Every five years since 1989, the administration has issued new press credentials, which Chinese journalists must have in order to attend many news conferences and to conduct interviews with government officials.
The agency’s supervision over journalists has increased significantly since Xi Jinping became China’s president in March 2013. In January, in preparation for issuing the new press credentials, the agency required all Chinese journalists to take anexam, which tasked the journalists with memorizing Chinese leaders’ comments about regulating the news media.
In April 2013, the media administration banned journalists from publishing online any information acquired while on the job unless they had clearance from their employers. And late last month it published a directive banning journalists from sharing information with foreign news agencies.
Chinese journalists, operating under strict censorship, sometimes pass information they cannot run in their own publications to foreign journalists or post the information online.
In May, Gao Yu, 70, a veteran Chinese journalist and longtime government critic, was detained on charges of leaking secret documents to a foreign website.