According to Reuters, China is relaxing restrictions on the media to report “negative” news promptly and without clearance from the top. Could it be that some in the authority read what Roland had to say at ESWN regarding the pointlessness of competing with Chinese Internet users and bloggers?
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pug_ster says
That’s ehh… good news that they are allowed to on bad news. Many Chinese citizens are not dumb and shouldn’t be treated that way by censorship, as they can probably handle the truth. I just hope there’s some transparency on the part of the news media will actually lead to citizens to trust its media. They can always use information dominance as it has been used for propaganda in the Western Countries for decades.
DJ says
@ pug_ster
That’s a great way of describing it. I am going to change the title of this post. 🙂
cat says
Possibly. But let’s not get too carried away just yet. It’s not just whether something can be reported, but what is allowed to be reported. The message is still the same old “criminal elements” and “a tiny handful of people with ulterior motives.”
pug_ster says
@cat 3
I think that is the reason why the Chinese censorship media is very ineffective. The incident where the guy in Shanghai who killed 6 policeman is an example. If some guy killed 6 policemen in the US will probably be branded to the level of a terrorist, but some people actually felt sorry for this guy because he is a victim of a stolen bicycle. In contrast, the incident of the killing/suicide of the American foreigner in the drum tower during the Olympics was an example of the Chinese Media handled the situation effectively because they told the truth early.
Talking about Chinese Police, I do notice that alot of Chinese doesn’t have alot of respect for police compared to the Americans. I wonder why is that.
bt says
@ pug_ster
I have been surprised by the Yang Jia story too. Even a demonstration in favor of him during his trial!
That shows the distrust of the Chinese people (at least, some of them) regarding the police. Why? Grievances about inefficiency, corruption and brutality.
yo says
Roland: “I don’t have any sense of despair. Instead I am very optimistic. For the longest time, people have said that freedom/liberty/democracy/human rights and all that are not going to come to China through exterior imposition. Instead, it must come from the Chinese people themselves. So why would I despair when this is happening here and now? I am just honored to be an observer in this moment of history.”
AMEN TO THAT!
shel says
In Malaysia, Singapore eventhough people are not happy with the enforcement of certain law, killing of policemen will never be accepted. I think its the same in China, except people with low or no civic training, from parent, neighborhood and educational system.
As for relaxing on censorship, its in the right direction, but it is still needed for maulicious content from abroad( with BBC VOA in mind) such as those aim to spread hatred from fellow brothers, neighbors to society as a whole. Remember intelligence war is thriving especially in this era of hard economic competition.