turning point of the protest since it enraged the student protestors, leading into a widened gap between the students and the party. Support students and ask for journalistic integrity (May 4 to May 19) On the anniversary of the May Fourth Movement, Zhao Ziyang made a conciliatory speech regarding the protests at the Asian Development Bank Conference, and two days later, he made statements suggesting that an opening up of the press might be possible. In response, coverage became more positive, and the People's Daily stopped publishing pieces that were negative in tone. For example, on May 6, People's Daily issued a news article titled “Beijing post-secondary schools gradually resumed classes; Zhao Ziyang's speech received positive responses (首都高校昨日起陆续复课; 赵紫阳讲话引起积极反响),” recognizing the patriotism of the student protestors. On May 15, Jiang Zemin, then Shanghai's Party Secretary, suspended the World Economic Herald. 102 staff members from the People's Daily along with hundreds of media practitioners signed an open letter to the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, asking the Shanghai government to revoke the penalties given to Qin Benli and withdraw the Leading Group of Rectification that was in charge of the organization at the time. At a protest on May 17, more than half of the People's Daily staff members took to the streets alongside workers from other state news services, with giant posters with messages such as “Freedom of Press” and “We want to report truth! Don't force us to lie!” and the slogan, “April 26 Editorial was not written by us!” At this time, People's Daily coverage became highly laudatory and fixated on the students, with 32 articles between May 14 and May 19, of which most were exceedingly positive, and none of which were negative. This continued as students led hunger strikes, from May 17 to May 19, causing massive protests against the government in Beijing. Because of the role People's Daily and other news sources typically had as an official state mouthpiece, and in mass mobilization campaigns during the Cultural Revolution, many interpreted this support as indicative that the government supported the strikers and the protest movement. As a result, support for the movement was perceived to be safe and perhaps even encouraged by the government. Reports during the martial law (May 20 to June 2) People inside People's Daily reacted strongly against the official declaration of the martial law on May 20. Qian Liren, the head of the