Party paper
I've been getting into China Daily, which, according to my Rough Guide, is the only English-language newspaper in mainland China. I tried to read more about it on Wikipedia, but the entry doesn't load--usually a sign it's been blocked by The Great Firewall (as are a slew of other sites, even for visiting journalists). My Frommer's Beijing guide says it's a government-distributed "propaganda sheet." From what I've read so far, it's a little sad. For a taste, check out these alarmingly defensive Olympics-related articles from the last few days:
Haze doesn't mean poor air quality
The haze that reduced visibility for a few days till Monday did not mean Beijing's air quality was bad, a senior city environmental official said Tuesday."Clouds and haze are not pollution. This kind of weather is a natural phenomenon. It has nothing to do with pollution," said Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing municipal bureau of environmental protection.
...
Photographs do not always tell the real story, he said. Some media agencies have projected the haze over Beijing as smog, and deliberately used it as a sign of the high pollution level in the city.
Such photographs "don't tell the truth", he said. "We don't approve of their use to pass judgment on the air quality ... you have to look at the complete monitoring system, and analyze the data scientifically."
Editorial: New wave of openness a sign of self-confidence
As the Beijing Olympic Games approaches, the preparations for the world sports gala have intensified and with all these there is an atmosphere of openness.Things which were previously regarded as taboos are now put in the spotlight for public discussion.
...
[One] thing that testifies the country's openness is its permission of the sales of some foreign publications to domestic and foreign readers in the Games venues and dozens of hotels.
...
Such unprecedented openness and transparency originate from China's self-confidence, which is based upon the country's belief in the improved perception and judgment of its people after the country has experienced decades of rapid economic and social development.
...
China's rapid economic development has brought to the people the best-ever benefits they have enjoyed in history, and the Chinese people should have a sober judgment about this. In today's society with developed information technology, no information can be blocked from the public.
The developed network of information has cultivated a reasonable perception among the Chinese people about the country and its future, which will not be influenced or changed by a few twisted reports.
Look for contributions from the following Globe Staffers in Beijing:
- John Powers
- Shira Springer
- Bob Ryan
- Marc J. Spears
- Gregory Lee
- Scott LaPierre
- Patricia Wen
The China Daily is probably one of the worst newspapers I have read. It's highly biased and often times sounds as thought it was written by a high schooler who is being told exactly what he must write. When I was in China I continued to read news off Boston.com or other western news sites.
And most of the stories in CD are also very nationalistic and written in a very pro-China voice (which is not necessarily bad considering China's bad rep. in the west - which is uncalled for).
I'd suggest Xinhua English news online or China.org.cn for other English news sources, although the latter is just as bad.
Heres an assist.... the brief text on the paper from wikipedia :p
The China Daily (Chinese: 中国日报; pinyin: Zhōngguó Rìbào) is an English-language daily newspaper published in the People's Republic of China. The Communist Party of China-controlled state-run publication was established in 1981 and has the widest print circulation (200,000 per issue) of any English-language newspaper in the country. The editorial office is in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, and the newspaper has branch offices in most major cities of China as well as several foreign capitals.
The Hong Kong Edition (Traditional Chinese: 中國日報香港版, Simplified Chinese: 《中国日报香港版》 Pinyin: Zhōngguó Rìbào Xiānggǎng Bǎn ), has been published since October 6, 1997 and aims to report the policies and directions of the PRC government, politics, economy, and social and cultural issues of both mainland China and Hong Kong.
As a newspaper group, the China Daily Group also publishes 21st Century, Beijing Weekend, China Business Weekly, the China Daily Hong Kong Edition and the Shanghai Star. The China Daily is a member of the Asia News Network.
Foreign editors at the paper have been told that like most state-owned enterprises, the China Daily will no longer receive government subsidies and the newspaper's publication group is expected to show a profit. To this end, the paper has adopted a more commercial approach and its editorial content is being pitched increasingly towards a wider range of readers so as to attract more advertising revenue. The paper is still running at a loss in the increasingly competitive Chinese publication market.[citation needed]
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