Fanning recent comments by actress Sharon Stone that the May 12 earthquake was the result of "bad karma" linked to its Tibet policy has helped divert attention from the school corruption issue, analysts said.
"They increasingly recognize they can't control everything, and pick and choose," said Rebecca MacKinnon, a journalism professor at the University of Hong Kong. "The government has come to realize, rather than block outside information, you can perhaps just discredit it."
And Beijing is making more use of good-cop, bad-cop tactics. On the issue of Tibet, for instance, some arms of the government decried the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, even as other parts called for negotiations.
It also has granted unprecedented access to the foreign media when it is advantageous. During the initial stages of the earthquake coverage, it allowed foreign reporters to visit rural disaster areas, even at one point ferrying them to sites on a military helicopter -- unheard of in a country where not too long ago many Western reporters were viewed as spies. The subsequent coverage led to a huge inflow of foreign donations and a more human face abroad.
China's propaganda machine also is becoming faster and more effective in responding to lively local media and citizen journalists. Late last month, blogger "Peaceful Heart" wrote that emergency tents were being appropriated by well-connected residents of undamaged neighborhoods in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. As public outrage spread, the government mounted an investigation and launched a campaign against misuse of aid.
The recent tightening of media control is far from uniform, with a foreign reporter able to speak with residents around Juyuan Middle School on Wednesday in the presence of numerous police and paramilitary officers without a problem.
In a nation that often appears monolithic from the outside, the crisis has intensified an internal debate over information policy, analysts say.
Those in the more hard-line propaganda ministry favor tighter control. The somewhat reform-oriented State Council, meanwhile, advocates a more open approach. In something of a milestone, the earthquake crisis led to the first live news conference by top military brass, organized by the State Council.
"The school issue is very sensitive, and they're trying to put a lid on it," UC Berkeley's Xiao said. "But the issue is too big. They can't put it back in the box."
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mark.magnier@latimes.com
