How to Make the Foreign Media’s Task That Little Bit Easier - Chris O’Brien
From The Beijing Newspeak blog:
“It’s because the foreign media is so biased.” A well-worn defence, put forward by many a state media journalist, to justify resolutely one-sided reporting, deletions of chunks of critical speeches delivered by visiting dignitaries and even the censoring of its own government officials when they suffer unexpected honesty attacks. I agree with elements of their arguments but, for the most part, they are taken to extremes. When Peter Mandelson indulged in a full-blooded attack on Vice Premier Wu Yi over Chinese-made goods at the end of last month, Xinhua adopted the debating tactic used to great effect by stubborn toddlers. Namely, it put its hands over its ears and shouted, “La la la la la can’t hear you” so it could report nothing he said. Some journalists defended the act by saying the foreign media had hardly published anything the “Iron Lady” had said. The problem was that she didn’t actually say very much, as the Daily Telegraph reports:
Wu Yi, China’s vice-premier, when asked about Mr Mandelson’s comments, merely replied: “I am extremely dissatisfied.” [Full Text]
