FOCUS: China's propaganda 'carriers' go global+

BEIJING, April 24 Kyodo -
China is declaring war on the world. And it is not one of weapons, but of words.
Tired of rushing in to clean up its international image only after public
relations disasters like last year's bloody Tibetan riots and protest-ridden
Olympic torch relay, the country is on the offensive to project its national
image through a growing global presence of English-language media.
''The Chinese government now understands the importance of image as portrayed
by the media,'' Zhang Tongdao, professor of communications at Beijing Normal
University, told Kyodo News. ''It wants to use international media to change
China's image, and newspapers, television stations, international
co-productions...all these are concrete signs of this continuing policy.''
To show how seriously the country is taking its own image, it was reported
earlier this year that despite the economic gloom, China had embarked on a 45
billion yuan (about $6.6 billion) global drive to grow state media outlets such
as the official Xinhua News Agency outwards.
China Central Television, or CCTV, announced plans in March to ''accelerate''
the growth of the station internationally, with a target of 11 international
channels by 2013. Also reported in the pipeline is a new 24-hour news channel
that will be the country's answer to CNN or Al-Jazeera.
The aggressive expansion of the country's cultural industries has been
described by Chinese officials as the building of media ''aircraft carriers''
with multiple platforms including the Internet, the press and broadcast media,
said David Bandurski, a researcher with the University of Hong Kong's China
Media Project. ''Such metaphors of power projection shows that China sees this
as a function of state power,'' he said.
The most recent addition to the country's expanding media empire appears to
back up his point. The English-language version of Global Times, a paper under
the stable of the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's organ paper,
was launched Monday to international diplomats and guests from Beijing's
foreign media outlets. Its inaugural copy ran an editorial saying it aimed to
present news ''from a Chinese perspective, in a fair, insightful and courageous
manner.''
However, the ''Chinese perspective'' appeared to be the standard party line. On
its website, an opinion piece on the role of the United States in cross-straits
relations accuses it of using Taiwan as a ''pawn'' to achieve its strategic
goals in East Asia, and warns that the ''Chinese people'' will always be on the
alert for any ''U.S. tricks.''
''The language they use show that China is developing its soft power with a
simplistic notion of Western media,'' Bandurski said. ''It envisions a Chinese
propaganda machine in the West. It's not a liberalization of media policy, but
an attempt to grab a larger share of public opinion.''
It is not that China has spared any effort in making sure its message to an
international audience will go down well. To help with its soft power drive to
the West, media officials have been busy consulting with top media companies
and roping in foreign experts to help with English-language content.
5 Continents Television, or 5CTV, a collaboration between U.S. investors and
the media production arm of China's propaganda department, the State Council
Information Office, was launched in May last year at a glitzy opening in Los
Angeles that went largely unannounced back in China.
But in January this year ahead of the launch of an important series of
documentaries on China, 5CTV, through the State Council Information Office,
called a meeting with major U.S. television outlets in Beijing such as CNN and
NBC, requesting advice on the kind of programming that would appeal to U.S.
audiences.
Foreign specialists were also hired to work on its programming. But according
to one who had to repackage documentaries from original Chinese versions,
sensitive references to historical events such as the Cultural Revolution were
removed. What eventually went out on air were essentially ''better-looking and
sounding versions of propaganda films that trumpeted the country's achievements
and gave lopsided perspectives on topics like Tibet,'' the specialist said.
Global Times also launched a recruitment drive to hire foreign journalists in
the months leading up to its launch. Those who had been in talks with the paper
said salaries offered were competitive, but roles for non-Chinese nationals
seemed limited to language and copyediting.
A Beijing-based journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity said she
declined a second interview with the newspaper after hearing that she will not
be allowed to contribute to reports. ''It sounds like foreigners they hire
cannot give any input on editorial direction or content,'' she said.
''Their roles seem to be restricted to improving the paper's style like
correcting grammar mistakes and rewriting headlines,'' she added.
The view of media watchers is that unless a fundamental shift occurs to follow
more closely international standards of balance and objectivity in journalism,
the slicker and more sophisticated packages that China's international media
come in will do nothing to boost its credibility beyond being a platform for
the state.
''Hiring foreigners will only help improve language and quality, not change the
nature of the programs,'' said Beijing Normal University's Zhang. ''The key is
whether the Chinese media will abide by rules of international media, not just
merely broadcast propaganda.''
To Bandurski, not only is China's new global media no reflection of a new
openness, it heralds a new approach to control of China's leaders.
''They are getting much more clever,'' he said.
==Kyodo
2009-04-24 22:54:57