New guidelines discouraging time travel on Chinese TV have hit the Western news recently. The Global Times doesn’t see what all the fuss is about:
Censoring media content that is inappropriate locally is part of government responsibilities everywhere. A classic example is when the US’ FCC imposed a high fine on CBS for airing an incident when Janet Jackson accidentally exposed her breast during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.
Consequently, a five-second broadcast delay was imposed on live broadcasts to avoid this type of offensive material being shown.
Admittedly, some SARFT guidelines are not supported by the domestic audience. To maintain the viability of TV and movie content, satisfying the audiences’ demands, and keeping an ethical bottom line about what is broadcast, the SARFT has quite the juggling job on its hands ….
What are Western media worried about? Either on the freedom of creation or in finding fault with Chinese’s broadcasting supervisor, exaggerating SARFT’s guidelines over time travel dramas is pointless.
