CNN: What's wrong with you?
Updated: 2008-04-02 15:38
Lies and bias
Mattel Group, the leading US toy producer recalled 20 million toys that made in its company in China. Despite the designing problems explained the Group, some US media kept on with the sensational news publicity with the theme of "toys with harmful lead", which badly damaged the image of the products made in China.
During the past year, some of the foreign news agencies also had a series news report on toothpaste consisting of diethylene glycol that were exported from China, the incident of poisoning medicine in Panama and the "Da Baitu" candy consisting of formaldehyde to embroider the food safety problem of China. As a matter of fact, some of these incidents were aroused by the different testing criterions in different countries and others by illegal export from China. And some incidents were nothing but the fake reports by some western media.
As the Olympic Games is nearing, Beijing's weather and environment have also been the target of some western media. During the "Good Luck Beijing" mountain bicycle testing event last year, a US media published an article title with "Beijing’s pollution the greatest enemy of cyclists", which said "A US cyclist felt so hard to catch his breath due do the bad pollution that he couldn’t help but give up the match". Then a piece of "suggestion" followed: to provide masks to the US athletes competing at the Beijing Games.
Other issues including the Taiwan question and Darfur issue were also made the material for sensationalized news "reported" by some western media.
Experts elaborate deep-rooted reasons for distorted reports
As a matter of fact, deep-rooted reasons such as the ideology are behind the news reports covered with "colored spectacles" by some western media.
CCTV: It is the common rules of news authenticity and objectivity in the media world. But we are very sorry to see that there were many fake news reports during the previous coverage on China's issues by the western media expect for the Lhasa riots. So can you tell us what is behind this circumstances?
Yu Guoming: It is because the western media has always been adopting the western value as core to observe and understand the world. So it is understandable that there are different reporting angles and logic between some developing countries and countries with different ideologies. To some extent, however, such a double standard that targets at developing countries and socialism countries has remained unchanged in western media. Take the example of the recent riots in France. Since France is one of their western allies, the US used the word "rioters" to refer to the ordinary people joining the riots while keeping tolerant and positive to the measures taken by the French government. However, their referring, logic and inclination were totally different from those they used in the French riots when covering the Lhasa riots in China despite such transparent crimes as hurting ordinary people’s lives and attacking shops and government organs committed by the Lhasa rioters.
CCTV: What kind of mood should the Chinese government and people take to deal with the fake and distorted news report by western media?
Yu Guoming: I think the Chinese government and people should keep a rational mind as we are face up with the distorted and fake reports. I mean only emotional reactions, such as, accusing them of defaming and spreading rumors is far from enough. Especially in the area of international media, we have to face the existence of the established western media rules, its proportion in the world media area and its value composition. As a result, as I believe, to break the news hegemony of the western media, we should adopt a variety of measures.
Firstly, we must have our own voice, and make our voice louder with the strengthening economic and political power of our nation.
Secondly, various social forces should be mobilized to adopt the channel of "people's diplomacy”. The reason is that the mass media is more than the news reports by news agencies and also includes exchanges between peoples, scholars and among all walks of life. As a matter of fact, this kind of "people's diplomacy" is playing a more and more important role both in terms of the pressure and influence it exerts on world issues. Sometimes, "people’s diplomacy" makes greater effects than government diplomacy does.
Yin Yungong: We also have to adopt the up-to-date technology of communication such as the Internet and possibly the cell phone. Like many Chinese people, some overseas student in Canada and Germany expressed their satisfaction through SMS to the unfair treatment to China. We should use these technologies to show a real China to the world.
Perhaps a commentary from European Times March 21 best elaborates the fake news reports by some western media on the Lhasa riots: "As what they (western media) did to exaggerate the so-called 'China Threat', 'Chinese espionage' and Chinese toys consisting of lead, the Lhasa riots reports also showed up the double standard persistently adopted by the western media when dealing with China's issues.
A commentary polished on the same day on Lianhe Zaobao of Singapore said the Tibet independence clique had already exposed their motive to the world despite the excusing and even justifying words from some western media.
Finally, let's end today's program with a quotation from anti-CNN.com: "We are not aiming at the media itself, but the fake news reports by some western media; we are not aiming at the western people, but bias."
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