As part of the government’s massive external propaganda effort, Xinhua will launch an English-language television channel. From the Wall Street Journal:
Xinhua news agency said trial broadcasts of the new 24-hour TV service, called China Network Corp., or CNC, will start Saturday, and the station will be fully operational July 1. CNC will be available by satellite, cable systems, the Internet and cellphones, Xinhua said, and will carry a range of programming on news, business and lifestyle issues.
…China’s leadership has grown increasingly frustrated in recent years by its inability to gain influence over international views to match its rising economic and geopolitical clout. The government often bristles at foreign media coverage of China, especially sensitive events like ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008. By pouring funds into the overseas expansion of outlets like Xinhua it hopes to give China its own versions of CNN or the BBC. The effort is part of a larger campaign to enhance China’s “soft power” through programs like China-funded “Confucius Institutes” abroad that teach Chinese language and culture.
The media push is complicated, however, by the traditional role of major state outlets like Xinhua and China Central Television as propaganda arms. “These are not the kind of organizations that have a reputation for being very flexible and creative,” says David Bandurski, a researcher at the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong.
