Xujun Eberlein at Inside-Out China blog recently saw Ted Koppel’s 4-hour documentary on China, The People’s Republic of Capitalism>. Here’s what she had to say about it:
For three evenings I watched the DVDs with great interest. Not only because I was from Chongqing; as a journalist myself I was amazed by Koppel’s true journalist capacity. Koppel apparently has his own strong opinion about China, about what a country China is and what it should be. This is evident in his persistent questioning, sometimes even coaxing, of certain interviewees, trying – more often than not unsuccessfully – to get the answer he wants to hear. His biases, however, do not stop him from providing all points of view. That, to me, is a true journalist virtue. He has my admiration for that.
So, it is the disagreement that is the most interesting. As a friend once said, “If you agree with someone, you can’t say much more than ‘I agree’ but if you disagree, there are lots of things to say!” In this, Koppel’s documentary is thought provoking.
