I think it’s no surprise the the problem with the reporting on the tbt fracas is largely due tho the lack of reliable information coming out of the region to exactly what is going on. The western media has been widely accused in China as holding an anti-China bias and the Chinese media has long been unashamedly biased.
(Some of the examples of misreporting purported by anti-cnn are indeed incredible yet Xinhua has long used emotionally charged language like the “absolutely wrong” actions by [insert party here] and the “truth” about [insert issue here].
Chang Ping, Deputy-Editor-in-Chief of the Southern Metropolis Daily (China’s most Pugnacious newspaper) sums up my thoughts perfectly on his blog.
Translated on the ever brilliant EastSouthWestNorth:
Like any kind of fake news, the damage is first and foremost on the public trust in the media themselves, because ten thousand truths cannot undo one lie. If in the reporting of the incident (as well as other major incidents), the Chinese media are not allowed to report freely and the overseas media are suspect, then where is the truth going to come from?
..Even though anti-CNN.com states that “We are not against the media themselves; we are only against the unobjective reporting done by certain media outlets; we are not against western people, but we are against bigotry.” But the facts are different. Many netizens have gone to the opposite extreme end. They even began in the opposite direction from the first place: They do not care if the news is objective and fair; they do not care if the media hold certain positions; biases are not totally unacceptable; rather, the key is just which side you are on. If the netizens genuinely care about news values, they should not only be exposing the fake reports by the western media and they should also be challenging the control by the Chinese government over news sources and the Chinese media.
Bias is practically unavoidable and it exists on both sides but I fear, like Chang Ping that the debate has transcended this and become more of a case of (counter-productively) sides; China vs West. I have read a lot written around the blogosphere about how the Western media needs to better understand China, Chinese culture, even “grow up” and stop China-bashing, however should the non Chinese media really be treading on eggshells over hurt Chinese feelings, or is this just the first step towards free and open debate around issues we’ve been itching to talk about for decades?
[update]
Here’s what Josh from Cup of Cha has to say about the positive reaction to the western media (read: Osama bin laden smoking crack with the D*lai L*ma Clique) coverage that the Argentinian leg of the torch relay was a success.
Chinese people citing positive reporting on the torch relay by CNN and the BBC is a little like Bush saying there has been progress in Iraq because Al Sadr says so.
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