Another must-read from Will.
Update: I noticed this in the comments:
Obviously, some people (Peking Duck readers and government accountants) would probably just shut the whole thing down.
I would say this is a bit extreme. I might raze them to the ground and start over, but I wouldn’t close them down. After gutting out the rot, I would simply insist they be real media, or at least pretend to be. Right now, the propagandizing is so shameless, so blatant and in-your-face there’s no way CCTV can be taken seriously as a watchdog of the government and a conduit of information. If they absolutely must be an impotent and servile mouthpiece of the party, they could at least do so in an entertaining and sophisticated way, without appearing hopeless ham-handed and artificial. I mean, look at Fox News. They are a pure propaganda tool of the Republican Party, but they emit their sinister messages in a manner that is lively, entertaining, slick and even fun (in a depraved sort of way). But credit where due: if you have to do propaganda, do it with style and finesse. Go, Fox!
Anyway, see the excellent comments to Will’s post, and if you have any ideas for making the Chinese media more appealing to us foreigners, let us know, either here or over at Will’s post.
1
By Ivan
The first suggestion that comes to my mind is: Staff ALL PRC television newsrooms exlusively with Tibetan Buddhists.
October 26, 2006 @ 1:59 pm | Comment
2
By Fat Cat
Let’s face it; the Chinese media’s problems are not confined to their inability to reach out to a foreign audience. The situation is not going to improve until the Chinese media are given some REAL editorial freedom, similar to those enjoyed by BBC World. Any short-time cosmetic surgery will only mask the real problem and will not make them look better in the long run.
Having said that, I have to say that I share the cautious optimism expressed by Chinese media expert such as Li Datong in this BBC Report.
Li Datong seemed to agree with my view about the main problem facing media in China today. He said, “Editors in China don’t edit, they’re censors … Every day, they make decisions on what not to publish, rather than what to publish. They have to attend at least one meeting a week at the central propaganda department where they’re told what not to report.”
If anything, Li Datong?s battle with China’s censors over the magazine Freezing Point actually made him realize that there’re positive signs of change. Li said, “They are so afraid now, they don’t even write their instructions down … My editor-in-chief told me they have changed the way they control the media. Now they only give instruction over the phone. No evidence should be left. But they are so incompetent, how long can this censorship last?”
October 26, 2006 @ 2:54 pm | Comment
3
By Fat Cat
Let’s face it; the Chinese media’s problems are not confined to their inability to reach out to a foreign audience. The situation is not going to improve until the Chinese media are given some REAL editorial freedom, similar to those enjoyed by BBC World. Any short-time cosmetic surgery will just mask the real problem and will not make them look better in the long run.
Having said that, I have to say that I share the cautious optimism expressed by Chinese media expert such as Li Datong in this BBC Report.
Li Datong shared my view towards the main problem facing media in China when he said, “Editors in China don’t edit, they’re censors … Every day, they make decisions on what not to publish, rather than what to publish. They have to attend at least one meeting a week at the central propaganda department where they’re told what not to report.”
If anything, Li Datong’s battle with China’s censors over the magazine Freezing Point actually made him realize that there’re positive signs of change. Li said, “They are so afraid now, they don’t even write their instructions down … My editor-in-chief told me they have changed the way they control the media. Now they only give instruction over the phone. No evidence should be left. But they are so incompetent, how long can this censorship last?”
October 26, 2006 @ 2:57 pm | Comment
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By Pete
When I worked at China Daily a while ago the management had this problem – they needed to increase their readership to bring in ad revenue, but couldn’t produce any credible editorial content. So they still rely on their monopoly as the only national outlet for English language print news. If they had any competition they would be out of business.
A bit like the recent curbs on financial reports for Chiense companies – Xinhua knew they couldn’t do it, so they got the government to force all theforeign companies to report to them.
The Chinese could quite easily make their English language media up to a reasonable standard, [by drawing on the experince of the SCMP for example], but its not their policy to have a free media, simple as that.
October 26, 2006 @ 3:46 pm | Comment
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By Chip
I think another huge factor that would still exist even if government hold was loosened is the culture itself. My wife used to work in the “propaganda department” of her company (that’s actually what they translated it to), and absolutely nothing negative was to be published even to company newsletters. So even though nobody outside the company would have access to it, the company had to make itself look good, in the eyes of itself. “Face” is going to be a difficult obstacle to remove in media, I think.
October 27, 2006 @ 3:04 am | Comment