Self-censorship among overseas and local Chinese academics, foreign and
domestic reporters, is increasing in recent years. As a negative side
effect, fabricated reports in the media have become rampant due to fierce
competition among publications and a lack of supervision of freelance
reporters.

Foreign broadcasters (Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings, Star TV, Time
Warner, CETV) operating in China, mostly in Guangdong Province, are not
allowed to carryout their bid to beam its news channel into China. On the
other hand, the illegal market for pirated satellite television technology
is thriving as never before, and both the state regulator and approved
foreign broadcasters are losing business.

The Communist Party has always seen propaganda as vital to its success. The
Communist Party rose on propaganda, and really believes that power comes
from controlling guns and pens. That is especially true now, since today's
leaders lack confidence in their ability to maintain control.

In China, the mission of English-language publications aimed at foreigners,
such as the official China Daily, is to give an impression of pragmatic
government - that distortion can lead foreigners to misconstrue the country.
State run articles are part of a broader effort to portray the US as a
hegemonic enemy despite the latter's positive contributions in investment
and aid. Some analysts argue that Beijing systematically represents the US
as an "overbearing bully" and a "declining military power with important
vulnerabilities that can be exploited".

Rupert Murdoch has used his media ownership to influence what information is
made available to the public in order to protect his business interests
(especially in China):

Murdoch removed the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) World Service
Television from the Star Television package of television channels broadcast
in China. The Chinese government had complained about the BBC's coverage of
human rights in China. Shortly afterwards Murdoch signed a deal with the
government's mouthpiece newspaper, the Peoples' Daily. He produced a
documentary on his Star TV eulogizing the Chinese ruler, Deng Xiaoping who
had been in charge when Chinese troops killed thousands of pro-democracy
demonstrators in Beijing's Tienanmen Square.

The last UK governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, was due to have a book
published by the Murdoch owned Harper Collins. This book was critical of the
Chinese government. Publication was stopped. Instead a biography of Deng
Xiaoping (written by his daughter) was published.

The Sun and The Times newspapers are frequently publishing articles critical
of the BBC (the UK's major television channels) and praising Sky Television
(which he also owns). These newspapers are also very anti-Europe. Closer
ties between the UK and Europe could affect the small amount of taxes that
Murdoch's companies pay.

In 2004, the USA documentary film maker, Michael Moore, had problems with
having his film distributed in the USA. The distributor was Miramax, owned
by Disney. The latter did not want a controversial film criticizing the USA
president in an election year. However, just prior to Michael Moore's film
release Miramax struck a deal with the Chinese and for the first time in
Communist Chinese history the first western documentary(?) was allowed to be
distributed in China. That's right, the entire Communist Chinese nation was
allowed to watch Michael Moore's bull**** propaganda film.

Xinhua Financial Network, owner of China’s official news agency, had
announced plans to buy U.S.-based Market News. The deal had many China
observers concerned that Mainland China is attempting to export its
Communist-style information control to the United States and manipulate
investor opinion.

New York-based Market News International is one of the top providers of
real-time market news, with offices throughout the United States and Europe.
The purchase would give Xinhua Financial control of a well established and
trusted source of market information.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua is the majority stakeholder in Xinhua
Financial. Sophie Beach, with the Committee to Protect Journalists, calls
Xinhua “the most firmly centralized, controlled media in China, it’s the
mouth piece for the Communist party.”

She points out that smaller local media are told to follow Xinhua’s lead,
particularly on sensitive political issues or stories of industrial
accidents or government corruption.

Xinhua has also faced heavy international criticism for its slander campaign
against Falun Gong in China. Many have compared it to Hitler’s propaganda
ministry during WWII, which painted Jews as monsters that ate Christian
babies. Chinese media in the U.S. and Canada have been sued for
rebroadcasting Xinhua’s reports which were considered hate propaganda with
no factual basis.

While China has begun to reform its media system to reduce the number of
state-owned media, most China experts agree that this kind of policy change
will do little to alter China’s history of repressing free speech. They
believe that privately owned newspapers will simply exercise
self-censorship.

According to media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, journalists in China
are now required to submit to tests on their knowledge of Communist
ideology. The group ranks China 248th on a list of 249 for press freedom and
the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has declared that “there is so far
no press freedom in China.” The Committee to Protect Journalists has also
declared China has “the world’s most elaborate system of media control.”

Although Market News is China’s most notable purchase of non-Chinese media,
the Chinese government began an aggressive campaign to dominate Chinese
media around the world after Hong Kong was receded in 1997.

The Jamestown Foundation, a non-partisan think-tank specializing in
identifying governments or countries that pose a threat to democracy and
freedom, carried out a detailed analysis of China’s influence on overseas
Chinese media in 2001. It found that three of the four major Chinese
newspapers published in the U.S. are either directly or indirectly
controlled by the government of Mainland China. The fourth is run out of
Taiwan and has increasingly given in to pressure from Mainland China. A
similar situation exists within overseas Chinese television stations, which
often run CCTV-4 programming that is offered free of charge on an uncoded
satellite signal and carries what Jamestown calls Mainland China’s “slanted
news, or propaganda.”

The Jamestown report detailed that eighty percent of all Chinese-Americans
live in twelve major U.S. cities and said these overseas Chinese “are
targeted by the Chinese government with misinformation and propaganda."

"The ‘outside world’ and current events are filtered and presented through a
limited number of media, the majority of which are influenced—or even
run...by Beijing’s communist government."

Shiyu Zhou of the Association For Asia Research, a think tank specializing
in Asian affairs, points out that this is another way the PRC attempts to
control Chinese people within and beyond China’s borders.

“Overseas Chinese have close communications with Mainland China, so a lot of
information will be passed to Mainland China through this communication. So
that is why they want to control, or at least heavily influence, the opinion
of overseas Chinese.

“For the Western media and the financial news, their intention is somehow
clear or obvious. They still need a lot of foreign investment to sustain the
regime and all the economic problems they have in China.

“Over the past few years more and more overseas economists began to realize
problems with the Chinese economic system and more and more voices can be
heard in the media, talking about...what’s really going on behind the mirage
of the economic development in China. The Chinese government is very afraid
of this kind of discussion, these opinions, because this would affect
foreign investment, which is kind of key now to what they call the
‘development of the Chinese economy,’ which is very unhealthy and has much
dependence on this kind of investment.

“It’s kind of obvious, or at least reasonable to think that they will try to
control or influence this kind of opinion...The purchase of this news outlet
could be part of such an effort.”

Zhou suggests that Western countries like the United States should be
concerned over the purchase and should take a stronger stand on China’s
abuse of human rights. He pointed out that Mainland China’s ownership of
Western media could also be used to hide those abuses from the international
community.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-2-8/19552.html

http://www.ncuscr.org/Publications/conferen.htm

First is the attempt to directly control newspapers, television stations,
and radio stations through complete ownership or owning major shares. Second
is the government's use of economic ties to influence independent media who
have business relations with China. This leverage has had major effects on
the contents of broadcasting and publishing, effectively removing all
material deemed "unfavorable" by the Chinese government. Third is the
purchasing of broadcast time and advertising space (or more) from existing
independent media. Closely related to this is the government's providing
free, ready-to-go programming and contents. Fourth is the deployment of
government personnel to work in independent media, achieving influence from
within their ranks.

....their "true boss" is none other than the Chinese Consulate [in New York],
and that they are obligated to do whatever the Consulate asks.

Beijing's Communist government has thus penetrated U.S. markets to no small
extent, having effectively infiltrated all major U.S. cities home to
Chinese-Americans.

AOL Time Warner had closed a major deal with the Beijing government that
would bring CCTV programming to the United States on a much larger scale,
via Time Warner's cable operations. The U.S. government, by comparison,
continues to have broadcasting rights in China flatly denied, instead
finding its Radio Free Asia and Voice of America radio networks constantly
jammed. Similarly, all major U.S. newspapers are banned in China and their
websites blocked.

http://www.jamestown.org/publication...e_id=17&iss u
e_id=638&article_id=4587

http://www.freechina.net/2004/comment/00057.htm


The CCP economic influence over the international media.
....
During the United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to
China earlier this year, the CCP released the long incarcerated Re Biya, a
human rights activist in Xinjiang province. In return, the U.S. promised not
to mention China’s notorious human rights record during the United Nations’
meeting in Geneva. Several European nations, Germany and France especially,
have pursued lifting the arms embargo on China due to economic interests. We
must be reminded of the Munich Treaty in which England and France pledged to
pacifist terms with the powerful Nazi Germany. The English and French
ignored Czechoslovakia’s protest for their own interest. Hitler promised to
“move the troubled water to the east” and started taking over Europe.
Although the European and American appeasements to Chinese Communist Party
will not stir a world war, the consequences will be just as dire. The CCP
has introduced the Anti-Secession law to threaten Taiwan. The CCP controls
all Chinese media, tramples on the freedom of speech and persecutes
dissidents. The CCP uses money and other economic incentives to control
almost all Chinese language media overseas. If the international community
upholds its appeasement, NTDTV will become a new victim of Communist
suppression.
....
http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-4-13/27817.html