A Longer Reach for China's State Media
WASHINGTON, November 8, 2010 - To counter the rapid development of technology and the Internet in relaying news, Chinese state media agencies like China Central Television (CCTV) and Xinhua are hoping to rely on "soft power" diplomacy to reshape the country's public image.
Speaking to a sold-out crowd at George Washington University's Elliot School of International Affairs, former NBC and ABC reporter Jim Laurie argued that China's new media outlook is part of a larger effort to expand its reach around the world and diversify its investments in the United States, Asia, and Hong Kong. He added that "the propaganda wars will be part of Hu Jintao's projection to raise Chinese culture through soft power at the core of news and propaganda work."
Already, the Chinese government is expected to invest some 60 billion yuan over the next five years to improve and "glamorize" the media machine. Laurie, who is the current Director of Broadcasting and Media Studies at the University of Hong Kong, believes this shift in government focus on media investment is fueled in part by media consumption in China, which is growing at phenomenal rates.
Laurie cited the example of television ownership. As he explained, in the late 1970s there was one television for every 100 Chinese people. Now that ratio has increased to one television for every one person, along with more than 2,000 newspapers and magazines fighting for customers in the newsstands. There are also 425 million "netizens" in China, giving it one of the largest proportions of Internet users in the world.
However, Laurie added, Chinese government censors continue to keep a watchful eye on Western social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. As a result, more than 68 percent of the country's young netizens turn to the Chinese equivalent—social networking sites like Renren, Weibo, and Youku—to access news and information.
In closing, the veteran newsman acknowledged that Chinese news presentation and reporting have yet to reach the sophistication of Western counterparts like the BBC. But, he added, China remains confident that its efforts to overhaul media coverage, coupled with strong, clearly articulated business development goals, will ultimately improve the world's perception of its broadcasting standards—and the rest of us will do well to heed that confidence.
Reported by Pinmook Tanteerasin and Melanie Yip