Hu’s tightening of controls over political discourse and the media intensified with the publication in September 2004 of a list of “Top Fifty Public Intellectuals” in Southern Weekly. The list, dominated by intellectuals who in the 1990’s had called for freedom of speech and political participation, appeared with the statement: “This is the time when China is facing the most problems in its unprecedented transformation, and when it most needs public intellectuals to be on the scene and to speak out.”
2004年9月，南方人物周刊发表“当代中国50名公共知识分子”名单，胡锦涛对政治讨论和传媒的控制因此加剧。二十世纪九十年代间呼吁言论自由和政治参与的知识分子在这份名单中榜上有名。该名单说明：“当今中国在前所未有的转变中正面临最大的问题，现在是最需要公共知识分子现身直言的时候。”