A REPORTER and a correspondent for the China Mining News, a newspaper supervised by the Ministry of Land and Resources, were sentenced to seven and six years in jail for taking bribes when covering news in North China抯 Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a local court said.

The reporter, surnamed Liu, 32, who worked in the Shanxi provincial bureau of China Mining News, was accused of taking bribes totaling 45,000 yuan (US$6,410) when investigating a gas explosion in the neighboring Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2006, the Saihan District People抯 Court of Hohhot ruling said Tuesday.

The bureau's correspondent, surnamed Zhao, also accepted 45,000 yuan from the Changfeng Chemical Co. Ltd, which was held responsible for the explosion. They did not report the news after taking the bribes, the court said.

Six people died and four were injured in the gas explosion on Oct. 8, 2006. (Xinhua)