Comments on: Does Western media get it wrong on China? http://www.chrisamico.com/2008/04/06/does-western-media-get-it-wrong-on-china/ Dispatches from somewhere far away Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:11:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Wiz_Bang http://www.chrisamico.com/2008/04/06/does-western-media-get-it-wrong-on-china/#comment-900 Wiz_Bang Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:26:23 +0000 http://www.chrisamico.com/2008/04/06/does-western-media-get-it-wrong-on-china/#comment-900 As an American who lived in Dalian for one year (and misses Dalian very much!), I am the first to admit that the media in the west (at least in the US and England) tends to be a bit “slanted” when it comes to reporting on China – or most of Asia, for that matter. Overall, coverage of Asia in American media is pretty weak. Perhaps this is due to the number of people of European descendent in this country, I don’t know. But for whatever reason, we seem to have much more media coverage about Europe and European affairs than we do about Asia. As a result, Americans in general know much less about Asia than they do about Europe, for example. Furthermore, it often seems that any media coverage of Asia tends to focus much more on the problems that exist there (environmental problems, human rights issues, etc.). When unfavorable coverage is what one mainly sees in the media, then one has a tendency to have a viewpoint that is, at best, uninformed and, at worst, very biased. That said, I would not describe the media coverage in China as “balanced” either. I don’t think that this criticism will come as any surprise to most Chinese. Yes, there is increasing access to foreign media via the Internet in China, but, at present, this access falls far short of what one has access to in the west. Either way, having “access” to information from many sources, both domestic and foreign, is useless if one is unwilling to make use of this access and to educate and inform him/herself about the rest of the world. When people begin to see the world as “us” and “them”, as though “my country is superior and the center of the world, and therefore it’s unnecessary to understand other cultures”, then prejudices are bound to develop. Americans have been guilty of this too long and, considering the globalization that is occurring in this world, I hope that we’ll become a bit less self-focused. Are there problems in China? Sure there are. Most Chinese people that I spoke to while living in Dalian (and while traveling throughout China) freely admitted that China faces many challenges in the future. However, we in the US also face many problems in our own country. Neither China nor America can rightfully take the moral high ground when it comes to casting aspersions on one another. Certainly Americans should not be pointing the fingers at others considering the mess we’ve made of the Middle East. In the end, we all want them same - a decent place to live, food to eat, and safe, clean surroundings. As an American who lived in Dalian for one year (and misses Dalian very much!), I am the first to admit that the media in the west (at least in the US and England) tends to be a bit “slanted” when it comes to reporting on China – or most of Asia, for that matter. Overall, coverage of Asia in American media is pretty weak. Perhaps this is due to the number of people of European descendent in this country, I don’t know. But for whatever reason, we seem to have much more media coverage about Europe and European affairs than we do about Asia. As a result, Americans in general know much less about Asia than they do about Europe, for example. Furthermore, it often seems that any media coverage of Asia tends to focus much more on the problems that exist there (environmental problems, human rights issues, etc.). When unfavorable coverage is what one mainly sees in the media, then one has a tendency to have a viewpoint that is, at best, uninformed and, at worst, very biased.

That said, I would not describe the media coverage in China as “balanced” either. I don’t think that this criticism will come as any surprise to most Chinese. Yes, there is increasing access to foreign media via the Internet in China, but, at present, this access falls far short of what one has access to in the west. Either way, having “access” to information from many sources, both domestic and foreign, is useless if one is unwilling to make use of this access and to educate and inform him/herself about the rest of the world. When people begin to see the world as “us” and “them”, as though “my country is superior and the center of the world, and therefore it’s unnecessary to understand other cultures”, then prejudices are bound to develop. Americans have been guilty of this too long and, considering the globalization that is occurring in this world, I hope that we’ll become a bit less self-focused.

Are there problems in China? Sure there are. Most Chinese people that I spoke to while living in Dalian (and while traveling throughout China) freely admitted that China faces many challenges in the future. However, we in the US also face many problems in our own country. Neither China nor America can rightfully take the moral high ground when it comes to casting aspersions on one another. Certainly Americans should not be pointing the fingers at others considering the mess we’ve made of the Middle East. In the end, we all want them same - a decent place to live, food to eat, and safe, clean surroundings.

]]> By: Jay http://www.chrisamico.com/2008/04/06/does-western-media-get-it-wrong-on-china/#comment-888 Jay Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:57:22 +0000 http://www.chrisamico.com/2008/04/06/does-western-media-get-it-wrong-on-china/#comment-888 Sina.com also had a forum connected to the petition you refer to above. Several times I tried putting comments on it (in Chinese) that questioned whether Chinese citizens were getting the whole truth from their government - and each time the Internet police had erased my comments within minutes. And this is supposed to be a "forum" for discussion. The only discussion the Chinese want to hear is discussion that toes the party line. Any they think the West is biased! Sina.com also had a forum connected to the petition you refer to above. Several times I tried putting comments on it (in Chinese) that questioned whether Chinese citizens were getting the whole truth from their government - and each time the Internet police had erased my comments within minutes. And this is supposed to be a “forum” for discussion. The only discussion the Chinese want to hear is discussion that toes the party line. Any they think the West is biased!

]]> By: FOARP http://www.chrisamico.com/2008/04/06/does-western-media-get-it-wrong-on-china/#comment-883 FOARP Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:33:49 +0000 http://www.chrisamico.com/2008/04/06/does-western-media-get-it-wrong-on-china/#comment-883 Couldn't agree more - as in all PR catastrophes it is the government's absolute failure to say anything of relevance which has done the most to tarnish China's image lately. Couldn’t agree more - as in all PR catastrophes it is the government’s absolute failure to say anything of relevance which has done the most to tarnish China’s image lately.

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