rare articles questioning the petition system in Beijing or part of Control 2.0 ?

Two weeks ago I came across a very rare article published by Chinese official media outlet Global Times. The article was published in its English edition, which usually is completely different from its Chinese (pro-nationalist) edition.
I thought it was a significant thing, since the policy of the government until now was to vehemently deny the existence of the so-called black jails.
(I tried to post a comment on the site, but of course it was immediately deleted.)

Petitioners in tents, thugs in cop cars
http://www.globaltimes.cn/www/english/metro-beijing/highlights/photo/2009-11/484849.html

Two days ago international media outlets reported on another article in a state-run magazine discussing openly the existence of the black jails. (Funnily that article came out just days after the Foreign Ministry spokesman again denied their existence...)

State-run magazine reports on black jails in China

Media being tightly controlled by the state, one only can imagine that the appearance of these articles is not just a coincidence and it is in fact part of a strategy...It is hard to tell what the real goal of this strategy is. I remain sceptical, and in my view it is a reaction to the growing voice of Chinese 'netizens' and grassroots activists who often discuss issues which simply do not exist in state governed news lets... Since recently the government has realised that the way to control information is by being the first to report it. In this way they can actually channel the meaning of the news and have control over it.
This new strategy has already been called Control 2.0.