China’s top leaders are considering “cultural reforms”, state media reported, which analysts said would be aimed at boosting official control over the media and Internet to shape public opinion. A meeting chaired by President Hu Jintao on Monday called for the “mastering of new trends in cultural development” and for an emphasis on “Chinese characteristics” as part of the proposed overhaul, Xinhua news agency said.
Details on the draft changes to be considered by Communist Party leaders next month were not given, but analysts said they would likely tighten Beijing’s grip on newspapers, television and popular social networking sites. “All cultural controls have the essential political mission to shape the people’s mind to not directly challenge the party rule, to accept the status quo,” a media expert at the University of California at Berkeley said. “It highlights their nervousness and their awareness of the increasing challenges to their ability to control the cultural sphere”, Xiao Qiang added.
For the past decade Beijing has been encouraging state-run media to be more competitive and less reliant on state subsidies, which has led to more critical reporting and racier programming as outlets compete for readers and viewers. But the trend towards more free-wheeling reporting has undermined official efforts to control public opinion, and unnerved authorities who have seen previously obedient media outlets criticise their decisions and defy orders to tow the Communist Party line.
The huge and rising popularity of weibos - microblogs similar to Twitter that have taken China by storm since they first launched two years ago - has also posed major challenges to censors and fuelled official concerns. There is “this anxiety over the influence of these truly commercially operating media which have gained a lot of strength in the past decade and have huge audiences,” said David Bandurski of the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong. “You really have seen the progressive loss of control by the official media and in recent years they have been trying to re-grab that agenda.”
To combat the popularity of the Internet and fluffier provincial programming, China Central Television (CCTV) - the government’s broadcast mouthpiece - plans to revamp its flagship news programmes from next year, previous reports said. CCTV also recently replaced its main news anchors with two younger presenters. Propaganda authorities also have placed two of Beijing’s most popular and colourful newspapers, “Beijing News” and “Beijing Times”, under new management in a move decried by critics as an effort to censor the news.
(Source: AFP)
on Sep 28th, 2011 at 18:47
This is no surprise. It was in the works going back to 2005. Within the Central Committee it was also discussed at internal meeting to create a China Only internet service. Meaning it would block the outside world and users would only have access to sites that are based in China. Can they do this? At the flick of a switch. It would take less than 24 hours to do this.
In the last few months there has been more pressure to tighten up on media controls. First the uprisings in the Middle East with countries China had a close relationship with like Libya, Syria, Yemen and others. Second and more importantly is the new leadership which will take place in a few months. Now outside China people don’t know much about as with most Chinese leaders. But if you look at what has happened in the last 30 years. Deng Xiaoping opened China to the world, Zhang Zemin had his administration based on business and during his time media in China transformed and opened up and there was less censorship. Then came Hu Jintao. Now I can tell you that from 2000 when Zhang was president to Hu in 2002 there was a hugh change. Hu administration introduced tighter controls and continued to do so. Xi Jinping who was hand picked by Hu is even more of a hardliner. For every 5 steps forward from Deng and Zhang, Hu took 2 steps back. And with Xi? I estimate that not right away, but within a few months of him taking over and bring in his own administration, which we be for the most part communist hardliners you will see media controls going back even further.
Time and time again I have said reducing shortwave to China is short sighted and we will see what happens. The soft power from VOA, BBC and other if only over the internet won’t have any effect. As for getting productions in local AM and FM stations in China? It won’t happen.
on Sep 29th, 2011 at 07:17
The USA has been operating on a two pronged approach: one by direct information (such as SW broadcasting) and the other by gaining support via consumerism. The latter approach has been very successful because the world has been remade in the mold of American consumerism. If the world economic downturn causes a reversal to protectionism, then not only will the newly explanded port of Felixtowe be forced into a bind with idle facilities, but China may find that the Wal-Mart / Asda gravy train has come to an end. Then there will be unrest in China as its people long for the golden days of today. This is not a new process and it was launched in Europe (not including the UK) with the Marshall Plan with great success after WWII and it sparked the W.German economic ‘miracle’. In the end the great USSR and its empire fell apart. China will go the same way because its structure has already been undermined and it is too late for the Chinese leadership to save their dictatorship.