Last Thursday, the Southern Weekend published its exclusive interview with President Obama on page A2. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, that page was left out of editions delivered to many Western news outlets in Beijing, including NBC News and the Financial Times.

Furthermore, in the online edition of that day’s paper, seen here, page A2 was not included in the list of contents. After digging around on its website, though, readers were able to access the page.

All of this has fuelled speculation that the Communist Party’s propaganda machine attempted to censor the interview. President Obama had previously turned down an interview requested by the Party’s official mouthpiece—CCTV.

Chinese bloggers have posted this note—supposedly an order from China’s Central Propaganda Department. It bans online news portals and other media from reproducing Southern Weekend’s article about the interview.

The Southern Weekend has a reputation for daring reporting that sometimes pushes the limits of China’s censors. Its senior editor, Yan Lieshan, told us that the Propaganda Department’s intervention was to be expected.

[Yan Lieshan, Senior Editor, Southern Weekend]:
“The U.S. raised [its proposal for an interview] with the Foreign Ministry, and the Foreign Ministry told us. This was normal. Of course the Central Propaganda Department would intervene; this has to do with the internal coordination within the Chinese Communist Party.”

There are also other rumors floating around. According to Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, the Propaganda Department went through Southern Weekend interview story with a fine-tooth comb before it was published. Apple Daily alleges the Propaganda Department cut it down from a full-page to just half a page, and moved it from page A1 to Page A2—though the Southern Weekend has not confirmed this.

The Southern Weekend did, however, leave the bottom portion of the page blank, with only the cryptic words “While not everyone can become someone important, everyone can read and understand China here.”

In a hand-written note to the Southern Weekend, President Obama commended the paper for contributing to the flow of information, stating that a free press contributes to well-informed citizenry. This note has been passed around by many Chinese Internet users.