BEIJING, July 23 — China has relaunched its four key official media arms this month, introducing changes which analysts described as unprecedented in scale.
A whopping 45 billion yuan (RM22.5 billion) is believed to have been pumped by the Chinese government into the mega project which has been tagged by observers as China's “media aircraft carrier”.
China National Radio, China Central Television (CCTV), People's Daily and Xinhua news agency have all undergone changes aimed at boosting China's global presence as well as improving content to draw a bigger domestic audience.
The biggest change is Xinhua's addition of a TV wing — in English, no less — and broadcasting of news bulletins in Europe.
The state news agency announced late last month that it has inked a deal to screen 90 minutes of news daily in European supermarkets, as well as outside Chinese embassies across Europe.
Xinhua is also believed to be spearheading a move to build a “Chinese CNN”, a round-the-clock international news channel.
All this came after China National Radio completed a revamp that saw its news content bumped up from 40 per cent of air time to 75 per cent. It also introduced half-hourly news in briefs.
People's Daily, the staid mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), also increased its pages from 16 to 20 earlier this month, promising to have more news and commentaries rather than official propaganda.
“Gradually, we will win over the people,” said People's Daily chief Xie Guoming.
State broadcaster CCTV is attempting to broaden the scope of its daily 7pm news programme by doubling its international content to about eight minutes.
All this, according to reports, is aimed at enabling China to wield its soft power more effectively in the global media arena where Beijing's views and positions on issues are often ignored.
Also, the official media need to be more informative and credible as citizen journalism grows on the Internet and other news gadgets.
But analysts are not optimistic of success.
“The state media will never satisfy the Chinese people no matter how they change,” said political blogger Zhao Jing, who goes by the pen name of Michael Anti. “It's still propaganda at the end of the day. Chinese today do not want to waste their time reading propaganda.”
It is near impossible to buy a copy of People's Daily off newstands in Beijing because it is so unpopular that vendors do not bother to carry it.
Researcher David Bandurski wrote in the China Media Project website of the University of Hong Kong, where he works, that it is a good idea not to “hold your breath” about CCTV's changes, which are likely to be cosmetic.
Observers are sceptical about China's “going out” or “zou chu qu” media policy too.
“I think it will largely be a failure and a waste of Chinese taxpayers' money. I am very sceptical that the Chinese media 'going out' strategy can be modelled on Al-Jazeera,” said analyst Li Mingjiang, who is familiar with the China media scene.
“The propaganda bosses in Beijing won't allow such freedom. There are too many 'sensitive' issues that the 'going out' Chinese media will have their hands and feet significantly restrained, if not bound.
“They may enjoy more freedom in reporting world affairs, but when it comes to domestic Chinese issues, the propaganda regulators will continue to be the dictator. Yet, China issues are the area where the Chinese media are expected to contend with the Western media.”
Said China media analyst Lye Liang Fook of Singapore's East Asian Institute: “Credibility is the biggest hurdle which China must cross. This 'going out' strategy in my view is significant and the Chinese side (particularly the state media players) knows the importance of getting its footing right.
“The challenge is to establish credibility — how to be perceived as providing an alternative voice of looking at developments in China and elsewhere around the world without the official stigma.”
But Zhao observed that China's move to have a louder voice internationally has started working in its favour. Comparing the fallout from the recent Xinjiang riots and last year's Tibet protests, he believed that the government's global image was less battered over Xinjiang.
“So far, only the Turkish government has been critical of the Chinese over its handling of the Xinjiang riots. The US has not said a thing,” he said. “On the Tibet issue, almost every Western government slammed the Chinese authorities.” — The Straits Times
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