Comments on: A week in Tibet: journalistic scoops, “cat’s paws” and BBC blunders

By: Chris O'Brien

Chris O'Brien — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:13:46 +0000

Wordwatch: What an intriguing request. Afraid the best I can do is point you towards an interview with James here: http://blog.cctv.com/detail.do?uid=1399&id=27714&type=1&agMode=1#article_status

By: wordwatch

wordwatch — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:40:58 +0000

28.3.08

Dear Chris (O’Brien),

Do you know the whereabouts of James Aitkin of Asia Today on CCTV-9 (English Service)?

Since I told the English media about him, he seems to have totally disappeared off the face of the Earth and we are now left with Edwin Mayer.

Has he gone to an interview?

The women of Britain would like James to read the news.

Has he been sent to the Front (the Olympics)? Has he been buried in a bath of sand? Has he been chopped up and left in a cave? (Yes, I know that the last two stories were based in Japan, but, who knows …..).

We receive CCTV-9 on Sky Satellite Channel 511 here in England and James has become my pin-up and, of course, then there is his lovely voice ……

To leave this man in the wildes of Canada or in the bedsits of Beijing is almost criminal.

All information gratefully received.

wordwatch

By: Denise Foley

Denise Foley — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:29:26 +0000

Let’s get some facts recorded here. The Tibetan people demonstrated for political freedom and seperation from Communist China. They desperately seek independence for their nation and culture. As to what system of governance they would chose to operate is entirely ther choice and right. One can be sure however that, unlike China, it will not operate a coercive birth control programme, censor the press, systematically torture any who dissent, consign thousands to slave-labour camps, suppress any religious expression or shoot unarmed civilians.

By: An English Teacher in China » Weekly Roundup: Blogs about China

An English Teacher in China » Weekly Roundup: Blogs about China — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:11:04 +0000

[...] BeijingNewspeak.com - a-week-in-tibet-journalistic-scoops-cats-paws-and-bbc-blunders. Great article on what happened and how you can read about it. [...]

By: David D

David D — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 04:18:46 +0000

“The Nobel laurel was tainted, and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal proved nothing but a fig leaf of the Dalai Lama …” etc

Damn, that’s some clean copy! I particularly liked the image of a hand behind the cat’s paws.

It would take an impudent lily-gilder to try and polish that masterpiece, though I notice the word “monk” in the second quoted paragraph doesn’t have an adjective in front of it.

“Bestially-hearted” perhaps? I’m just musing of course, I wouldn’t change a word.

By: dondo

dondo — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:12:25 +0000

What specific laws or policies are the Tibetans rebelling against?

Are they rebelling against Communism in general? Just any foreign government? Han Chinese? Poverty?

What exactly are the gripes here?

And if they were given independence, would they return to a theocracy? Would they remained impoverished? Would they be able to create their own military to defend themselves?

By: Fog Over Tibet. News Cut Off « China Bystander

Fog Over Tibet. News Cut Off « China Bystander — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:36:48 +0000

[...] conflict there are usually three sides, the two antagonists and those on neither of their sides. Beijing Newspeak has a read-worthy post on that and the reporting by his former employer, Xinhua. Props, too, to [...]

By: Extremely concerned

Extremely concerned — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:19:17 +0000

Xinhua’s just released “Peru government slams independence moves by Puno” - or “Quick, look everybody, we’re not the only ones with splittist problems”

Interesting point on Wen’s marathon press conference. An Australian (I think) journalist asked “as the Daily L as said he is not for independence would you be willing to open talks….”

The Chinese interpreter changed it to “if” the Daily said he was not for independence. Obviously meant for the domestic reporters who like to begin paragraphs with “When asked….

By: Chris O'Brien

Chris O'Brien — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 02:54:14 +0000

Sorry, should have been clearer: in my head I was defining Chinese state media propaganda as the output of Xinhua, CCTV, China Daily et al. Obviously, I realise the Southern Weekend is state run - but I wasn’t including it under the pure propaganda umbrella. Thanks for your thoughts - it certainly will be interesting to see what the likes of Southern Weekend come up with.

By: Sliggy

Sliggy — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:28:29 +0000

That’s precisely the point. The PRC media system is not putting out one message. The directive system is in a shambles. All the PRC journalists know it takes the CPD hours if not days to work out how to react to events. Talk to Chinese journalists about Tibet. They’ll tell you, they’re mystified why it took the authorities so long to crack down on the protesters. The answer is for the same reason it takes the CPD so long to issue directives. Just like the PRC is too big to be efficiently managed by the CPC (which is why Deng inaugurated the four reforms in the first place!), so the PRC media system is too big and unwieldy to be efficiently managed by the CPD. So the censors have issued a few directives about Tibet that have silenced (for the time being) mainstream media. Meanwile, the blogosphere is going nuts. And if the protests continue, mainstream media will not be silenced. When the whole of Guangdong Province watches nothing but Hong Kong TV, and illegal satellite reception is media de jour on the rest of the mainland, do you think the authorities can stop mainstream media from demanding their right to publish and broadcast what is going on? At the very least, expect something very good from media like Southern Weekend at some point in the future, and from journals such as Dushu.