In China, the people know who controls the media and its message, and that makes it easy for many to doubt news reports since they know the source is the government. In the United State, the opposite is often true. About half of the people trust the traditional media because it isn’t controlled by the government, and too many Americans follow the racist Alt-Right social internet media that invents alternative facts (lies) and manufactures fake evidence to spread unproven conspiracy theories.
This means that in China, the government is behind the fake news, but in the United States individuals like Steve Bannon and his billionaire backer Richard Mercer are behind it.
The BBC reports “China is the largest media market in the world, and has the world’s largest online population. … Beijing tries to limit access to foreign news by restricting rebroadcasting and the use of satellite receivers, by jamming shortwave broadcasts, including those of the BBC, and by blocking websites.
“Overseas Chinese-language news outlets that are not state-owned are blocked in mainland China. However, international English language websites like the BBC are often available to view. … State-run Chinese Central TV (CCTV) is China’s largest media company. … There are around 1,900 newspapers. Each city has its own title, usually published by the local (CCP branch) government, as well as a local Communist Party daily.”
Before we move on, it helps to know that there are more than 85-million members in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). If the CCP were a country, it would be ranked close to Egypt (#16) on Nation Master’s countries comparison list that has 249 entries with populations to rank, and China’s government controlled media reflects the majority view of more than 85-million Chinese who belong to the CCP. This means that what’s reported is often considered to be in the best interests of keeping harmony in China instead of allowing turmoil caused by public dissension.
What about the media in the United States?
“In the early 1980s, roughly fifty-different companies owned 90-percent of the American media. … In recent years that same 90-percent is now owned by six conglomerates.”
Back to China. The New York Times reports on China’s media: “Another strategy is manipulation. In recent years, local and provincial officials have hired armies of low-paid commentators to monitor blogs and chat rooms for sensitive issues, and then spin online comment in the government’s (China’s) favor.
“Mr. Xiao of Berkeley cites one example: Jiaozuo, a city southwest of Beijing, deployed 35 Internet commentators and 120 police officers to defuse online attacks on the local police after a traffic dispute. By flooding chat rooms with pro-police comments, the team turned the tone of online comment from negative to positive in just 20 minutes.”
Isn’t this similar to what America’s Alt-Right media does except the Alt-Right media is run by individuals like Steve Bannon while the corporate traditional media is run by 6-corporate CEOs instead of the majority consensus of more than 85-million members of the CCP?
Is America really that different from China, but are Americans easier to fool and manipulate because they think the media is free and that makes them mostly trustworthy depending on who you listen to?
By now, you might understand why so many overseas news outlets that are not state-owned are blocked in mainland China. It’s obvious to me that China’s government doesn’t want to risk a future with its own version of a #FakePresident Donald Trump leading that country spreading lies and causing disharmony that might bring on the apocalypse and a collapse of civilization.
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine, Crazy is Normal, Running with the Enemy, and The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova.
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