Getting the Story

In order to quench my thirst for up-to-date current events and independent journalism I usually log onto New York Times - a vital national resource. Living in a foreign country whose government has little respect for the truth has taught me many things, among them the doggedness and skeptism needed to analyse information coming from all different sources.

CCTV is China's main propaganda machine. In 2003, when the deadly SARS virus was threatening to trigger a global pandemic, the Chinese government (CCTV) persistently denied that its country contained the seeds of such an outbreak even though the simple reporting of this fact was the needed first step toward prevention of a monumental public health disaster. In the face of this coverup, a courageous Chinese surgeon drafted a detailed letter identifying SARS cases in Beijing itself and had it delivered to The New York Times and Wall Street Journal (actually it was first delivered to Murdoch's Hong Kong TV network for public broadcasting but did nothing with it - Rupurt Murdoch's soft-pedalling reporting and self-censorship of Chinese related stories is not uncommon).

China also doesn't have much free and intrepid journalism when it comes to international stories. In most countries around the world, they don't have correspondents and have to receive most of their information from the associated press. For example, in light of the recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto, CCTV's website wrote:


Bhutto Assassinated in explosion attack on Rally

"A supporter of Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto mourns deaths of his colleagues after a suicide attack in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto died Thursday evening after being shot and seriously injured in an explosion near the capital Islamabad. (Xinhua/AP Photo)"


I tried finding the story behind the facts, but there was none. I stumbled upon an article (not editorial) from last month describing the US as being a meddling country with no respect for the sovereignty of nations as it attempts to prepare an aid package with strings attached for Pakistan. CCTV constantly writes as if the US is the sole player in the international arena and the other members of the international community do not pull any sway. Clearly, the US-led War in Iraq only strengthened this belief. From a psychological standpoint, the government wants to maintain China's "peaceful rise" but although they look at US power and prosperity with envious eyes, the Communist Party will play all the right cards to foster contempt for their rival in the West and spark nationalism as they try to become the worlds number one superpower. Propaganda is nothing new to Chinese society, I just miss reading a real newspaper that wasn't digital.

Perhaps there is more or less to said about this but I have to run - I'm late for Korean BBQ.