Guiding Public Opinion Correctly

Chinese society may be better off without this junk on TV, but the People's Republic of China lingo in this article is great. And this is an excellent example of the quality of our government sponsored newpapers over here:

Recently, some local TV stations broadcast a program about plastic surgeries called Meilai Meili Xinyue and some other programs related with transsexual operation. These programs full of horrible and bloody scenes did not set a good example in guiding the public opinion. The contents were lowbrow and the production was made with lavish spending. Targeting at a high viewing rate, local censorship bodies neglected their duty by allowing these programs to pass censorship check too easily. The programs have stirred great controversy among the public after they were aired on TV, the notification said.

In order to guide public opinion correctly and fight against lowbrow programs, in order to raise media's influence and credibility among the public and to safeguard its good image in society, SARFT requires that starting from the day when the notification was publicized, all local broadcasting institutions should not design, produce or broadcast any programs in which the masses get involved in public events related with plastic surgeries or transsexual operations (any news, feature programs, or talk shows that focus on this topic are also forbidden). If such programs are being made or broadcast in any local radio or TV stations, they should be banned immediately.

The program contained a lot of contents about plastic surgeries. Some ordinary people were invited to the program and the whole process in which they were taking the plastic surgeries was broadcast live to the audience. Many netizens say they feel awful after seeing the detailed process of the surgeries.

Editor Needed II

This is one of a number of tragic mining stories which have taken place this year in China, but the editor of the China Economic Review needs to take a few more English classes:

"Mine bosses accused of negligence over flood"

A fatal flash flood at a coal mine in eastern Shandong province could have been avoided if the bosses had paid attention to warning signals, AFP reported, citing state media. As rescue efforts continued, it was feared that all 172 miners trapped in the mine when the water began to enter are now dead. Some miners said the rising water level was reported to company bosses well in advance but nothing was done about it. Rescue officials were quoted as saying that the water level was still 100 meters above the nearest point where miners were believed to have been working.

I'm not a global warming conformist and therefore have a hard time believing that the mining bosses could have prevented the flash flood. Al & Co would probably disagree, however.

East Meets West

It is always a pleasure to watch the Chinese government squirm at the hands of the western media. Officials haven't developed the PR skill set, to their detriment, so they just swat at imaginary flies in the air.

"Two senior quality control officials have lashed out at a section of the foreign media for inciting fears over the safety of Chinese products. "Some foreign media, especially those based in the US, have wantonly reported on so called unsafe Chinese products. They are turning white to black," Minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Li Changjiang said during inspection of some food enterprises in Beijing yesterday. This is the first time the administration has used such strong words against foreign media reports on China's food safety. Li conceded that there were problems with certain domestic companies, but said: "One company's problem doesn't make it a country's problem. If some food products are below standard, you can't say all the country's food is unsafe [ed - I think you could go beyond "some" to "many"]." During another inspection in neighboring Tianjin Municipality, the administration's Party Secretary Li Chuanqing, too, criticized the foreign media for arousing unnecessary fears."

Editor Needed

Must be fluent in Chinglish and capable of preventing conflicting headlines from running in the China News on the same day:

China to suffer from long-term labor surplus

China might encounter labor shortage by 2015

Shanghai Press

The Shanghai Press, like other news outlets in the world, is comprised of people who are generally unqualified to do anything else but teach. Many are reluctant to do any fact checking that might run counter to their thesis. Granted, no one likes to think they are wrong; however, when someone is paying you to write an article that some poor sap might rely on, you'd think you could manage some basic research.

From That's Shanghai in July, one Thomas Podvin reviews a Chen Shi-Zheng film which examines "how young Chinese immigrants struggle to make their mark in a culture that is at once seductive and impenetrable. And how in the process, they often downscale their American dreams to fit American realities." The film's lead, Podvin explains, is the alter ego of its director, Chen. It is a story about a Chinese man who immigrates to the US to study and pursue his dream and ultimately goes on a shooting spree when the pressure mounts and his dreams are not met.

The beauty of this story is how his interviewee, Director Chen, disagrees with every assumption Podvin makes. This of course doesn't stop Podvin from continuing to make assumptions or from printing those assumptions.

He sets the stage with: "Granted, the US has long been plagued by expressions of violence, in part because of its notoriously liberal gun laws." Tom, some quick statistics: based on individual murders, the US appears to be around #24 (the study I found conveniently leaves out portions of Israel where the Palestinians are fighting, Iraqi violence, the ethnic cleansing that regularly happens in Africa and general Middle Easterners killed by their leaders - all of which would probably change the statistics a bit). I would guess that it also requires self reporting by each country, and the US is notoriously forthcoming with negative information in a way that maybe.... Sudan is not.

But, I don't need to venture that far. Director Chen bluntly rebuts Podvin with: "It is absolutely incorrect to characterize the US as a violent country. Violence happens there, yes, but violence happens everywhere, and there are certainly countries that are far more violent - even in Asia."

As to the suggestion that the lead character is the alter ego of Director Chen, Chen replies: "It is not autobiographical." When Podvin asks whether the film is a warning to Chinese seeking to pursue their dreams in the US, Chen responds that it is not intended as a guidebook or a warning but as an examination of how individuals respond to pressure and the need to be cognisant of others around you.

The whole article is an effort by Podvin to whack the US for being the US and a series of responses by Chen disclaiming Podvin's views and trying to explain his own.

It is pathetic; it is narcissistic; it is inaccurate; and it is intended to cause citizens of another culture to have a negative opinion of the US simply because the author does. I think I see a career at Harvard for this gentleman.