China has been opening up to the rest of the world since the 1970s, but its government has continued to exert an influence on journalism. One example of this is the idea of “Marxist journalism,” a concept introduced by the Party in 2001. From the Washington Post:
About 200 Tsinghua University journalism students filled a classroom one recent Friday evening for a two-hour lecture on the political history of Tibet.
The mountainous territory has always been an inalienable part of China, they were told, and the Dalai Lama is a sly traitor hiding behind his Buddhist religion to promote secession. The lecture, a rendition of China’s standard government line, put some students to sleep, but most listened patiently.
The guest professor, Zhou Xiaoming, a Tibet specialist and government consultant, was providing the students with their latest class in “Marxist journalism.” The course, required for graduates and undergraduates, was brought to the elite university by its recently founded Research Center on Marxist Journalism and Journalistic Education Reform. [Full text]
