From The Christian Science Monitor:
On Sunday, China’s official news agency Xinhua issued a new set of directives on the distribution of foreign news in China that reinforces its traditional role as gatekeeper and propaganda arm. That role includes filtering news and pictures from international news agencies, which are forbidden from selling their content direct to Chinese media outlets. Foreign news reports that “undermine national unity” or disrupt “economic and social order,” among other catch-all categories, will not be distributed.
The move comes as the country’s official media begin to feel the heat from globalization, a development that so far has seen China among its chief financial beneficiaries. But growing competition from international news and media services boosts fears in Beijing that the government could lose control – and the state media lose out.
The Xinhua directives on news distribution include penalties for outlets that use unauthorized foreign news, as well as the power to suspend services from foreign agencies selling content directly to Chinese media.
What this means for China’s over 2,000 newspapers and thousands of magazines and other publications is unclear. Many already rely on Xinhua, founded in 1931 as the Red China News Agency, for much of their political content, and take a lead from its line on sensitive topics, such as natural disasters or events in Taiwan. Xinhua has long insisted on its monopoly on official news, even as the rise of new-media outlets has weakened its grip on public debate, for example by translating foreign reports. [Full Text]
