"The paper has begun an investigation of (the journalists involved) but it's hard to say what will happen to them as these things are never published openly," said a journalist at the Nanfang Dushi Bao (Southern Metropolis Daily) which first ran with the story last Saturday.

Zeng Wenqiong, known for her in-depth reporting on SARS and China's health sector, and the duty news editor are being investigated to determine why the story was published without first being sanctioned by the central Ministry of Health, reporters working at the Southern News Group said.

"None of our journalists has been sacked or suspended," said a spokewoman at the company's head office who gave her surname as Zhao, but refused to comment further.

When the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) swept across China last year there were hopes the disease would usher in a new era of journalistic freedom, but those were quickly dashed.

In one of the most high profile cases during last year's epidemic, two editors at the state-run Xinhua news agency were sacked for publishing a document about the disease that the government wanted to keep secret.

This year authorities have continued to keep a tight lid on coverage of the disease and channel all announcements through the Ministry of Health, to ensure that the central government can control public perceptions of the virus.

So far, the tactic has worked with few people in Guangzhou seeming worried by the latest case.

"The man doesn't really have SARS so there is nothing to worry about," said Xu Danping, a primary school teacher.

But journalists in south China's fiercely independent and commercial province continue to strain at the leash.

"Guangzhou is rather unique because the emphasis on the market economy is even greater there and the government is less sensitive and eager to sell papers throughout the country, they want to promote a free press," said Joseph Cheng, professor of political science at City University in Hong Kong.

Cheng said that the party commonly launches investigations into ground-breaking stories, and often reorganises the editorial staff when journalists are seen as going too far.

"They are increasingly resorting to sacking people in order to send a stronger message," Cheng added.

With Chinese papers having to survive without government grants in the new market economy and with competition for punters in Guangdong more cut-throat that elsewhere in the country, the province's papers continue to push the boundaries.

The Southern News Group, which runs both the Nanfang Dushi Bao and the Southern Weekend is the chief pioneer in the field of independent reporting.

Southern Weekend, a popular weekly paper, blazed a trail with stories about China's yawning poverty divide and social injustice until its editor Jiang Yiping was dismissed in 2003 over a political commentary published about outgoing premier Zhu Rongji.

The paper is now headed by a former official with the provincial propaganda department and Nanfang Dushi Bao has taken up its mantle.

"Southern Weekend was always being investigated for something so now the editors are very careful, but Nanfang Dushi Bao had not caught the government's eye yet, although that may change," said a Southern Weekend reporter.

China was the country worst affected by the SARS epidemic earlier this year, infecting 5,327 people nationwide and killing 349.

TERRA.WIRE