Beijing Times
June 8, 2009

Gaokao-related stories continued to dominate today's newspaper covers as the national college entrance exam moved into its second day.

As the number of new cases of the A(H1N1) flu continue to rise, the situation has become a major concern for this year's college entrance exams. Two major Beijing newspapers, The Beijing News and the Beijing Times both featured photos of students in Beijing receiving mandatory body temperature checks. The Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily reported that six students in Guangzhou who were found to have fevers took their first day's tests in separate rooms due to flu worries.

Plagiarism is another big issue. The SMD cover ran a photo showing a man operating a testing device that can discover any electromagnetic signal that could be used to transmit information for cheating. In Guangzhou, two students were caught yesterday for using substitutes to sit for the exam, and both had their results voided.

CCTV's Network News made front pages again following last week's big news about the the death of Luo Jing, of one of the program's most recognizable faces.

Chongqing Economic Times
June 8, 2009

The Chongqing Economic Times, among other papers, reported today that a "reform" of the long-running program is to be delivered in the near future.

Yu Guoming, vice dean of the journalism school of Renmin University, was quoted in the reports as saying that the formal, stern style of the highly-ritualized news program is likely to see a substantial change this month or shortly thereafter. In Yu's words, the change is going to be "the biggest in a decade". For more analysis, see the China Media Project.

The Chengdu bus fire made the papers again today. On June 5, a bus in the city caught fire, killing 27 passengers (photos) who were unable to break the sealed windows of the air-conditioned bus. Many newspapers reported newly-uncovered details today: according to a news conference held yesterday by local authorities, one of the passengers had brought gasoline onto the bus before the fire broke out, and the possibility of arson cannot be ruled out at the present time. In response, authorities in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, ordered all air-conditioned buses operating in the city to suspend operation until their unmovable windows have been replaced by sliding ones.

And in Jinan, capital Shandong Province, a climbing wall collapsed while in use, killing five of the climbers, who were teachers and students of a local training school.