BEIJING (Reuters) - A glance at the newspapers and glossy magazines jostling for space on China's news stands shows how much the media has changed since the Communist country embraced market reforms more than 20 years ago.

But the death of ousted leader Zhao Ziyang, who sympathized with student demonstrators in the 1989 Tiananmen movement, serves as a reminder that though the titles may have come a long way since Mao's days, the content is still strictly controlled.

Newspapers now report previously taboo subjects such as industrial accidents and social problems, but Zhao's death last week, which authorities feared might spark dissent, was buried on back pages and left off broadcasts altogether.

The guidelines on such a sensitive subject were clear.

But journalists say navigating the boundaries of what is allowed and when is tougher than ever, with the leadership of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao bent on consolidating control while trying to cultivate a gentler, more modern image.

"Before, you knew where the rules where. Now, there is no distinct order," journalist Wang Guangze told Reuters.

Wang arrived home from the United States in November to find himself fired from his job at the 21st Century Business Herald.

He says he was given no reason for his dismissal -- typical in an era where leaders are aware that blunt censorship is unfashionable -- but thinks it was his talk at a U.S. university on the link between the Internet and political freedom, coupled with sensitive reporting, that was one step too far.

"I cover my ears and bury my head in the sand," he said when asked whether he keeps up with the latest media controls.

But it is increasingly difficult for journalists to judge.

When Hu and Wen took over the mantle of China's Communist Party two years ago, there was hope a younger leadership might mean more reforms.

When the SARS epidemic hit China in 2003, the first crisis Hu and Wen faced, they responded by sacking top officials for the initial cover-up and leaving magazines running favorable profiles of whistleblower doctor Jiang Yanyong with a slap on the wrist.

The same year, the official Xinhua news agency reported on a submarine disaster that killed 70, showing unusual transparency over military matters.

SELF-PRESERVATION

But analysts say allowing more is not due to a desire for more media freedom, but done with an eye to self-preservation by a leadership still in the process of establishing their rule.

"It's still very conservative," said Peking University journalism professor Jiao Guobiao, who has not been allowed to teach since penning an attack on the party's propaganda department last year.

"To change media freedoms is a very fundamental reform. They haven't really had enough time to prepare that kind of mentality. I don't think they dare start that," he said.

China's leaders have in the past used their controls on the press to help consolidate power, easing up when it serves a political purpose but just as quickly clamping down.

Late leader Deng Xiaoping used the 1978-79 Democracy Wall movement, in which activists posted critical articles on a Beijing notice board, to help him oust hardline Maoists.

But when that had been accomplished and some of the activists began to attack Deng and Communist rule more directly, he quashed the movement.

Similarly, for Hu and Wen, reporting on SARS was needed to prevent the spread of the deadly flu-like disease; coal mine disasters are fair game because the energy sector has become key to feed China's booming economy.

But the nervousness over Zhao's death, news of which was even blacked out on broadcasts by CNN and BBC television, which few Chinese have access to, shows China is still a long way from having a free media.

FEARFUL

"It's one thing having Cosmo on the news stands, but it's not the same as freedom of expression," said one Western diplomat, referring to the women's magazine Cosmopolitan, which publishes a Chinese edition.

"If you take the broader view, over the last five to 10 years, it is obviously more open. But if you look at the last six to nine months, it looks like there has been a tightening."

Just last week, Propaganda Department director Liu Yunshan stressed the importance of cracking down on illegal publications, Xinhua reported.

"We should ... step up our efforts at this work and check the spread of illegal publications jeopardizing social stability," Liu was quoted as saying.

The handling of Zhao's death is still an issue, with arrangements for his funeral shrouded in secrecy.

The journalist Wang took the bold step of visiting Zhao's house to pay his respects, bowing three times before his portrait.

He says many newspapers and reporters censor themselves rather than risk being shut down or fired as he was and adds he will continue to write, though finding a forum to publish since he was fired is increasingly difficult.

"Every leader's goal is to control power and protect those close to them," he said. "They're still fearful of their own position."