Looking at the western media through Chinese eyes

Last Modified: 22 Jul 2008
By: Guest blogger

It's more than patriotism that leads the Chinese to question the intensions of the western media, writes Danny Vincent.

30,000 journalists will arrive in Beijing in a few weeks' time, armed with cameras, pens, questions, criticism and curiosity. What will they find over the two and a half weeks that they don't already know? That's what they will be looking for.

This year China has already drawn unprecedented media attention. By nature and nurture it has become newsworthy.

But the western media is seen as a different species in China. It is seen with a little suspicion and with the idea that it reports China in one particular way, which we use to form our opinions on the country.

"I am a party member. Are you afraid of me?" a friend asks over dinner. It was a joke, but I got the sense that she did actually want to know the answer.

She had a preconception of my preconception of her, brought about in turn by her perception of the western media.

A political cartoon found online sums up the point quite well. It depicts a western journalist presenting to camera in China, claiming that the local has been brainwashed while the Beijing man is furious that this is how the world is telling the China story.

And it was this idea that sparked my friend's question and continued explanation that she was a member and a free thinker. Even after debate I think that she was unsure that I was convinced.

But since I have started looking at the western media through Chinese eyes. It's more than patriotism that leads Chinese like my friend to question the intensions of the western media.

It's the subculture of journalists, to question to criticise and to hold to account important issues. It's the idea that journalists are the watchdogs of the powerful. A self-appointed position that really is not that well understood here.

It's an idea that is not too prominent in China. This year already there have been a number of incidents where the western media has really felt the wrath of nationals.

When a journalist made negative and strong criticism about the government, live on TV broadcasted in China, the reaction was incredible, such was the sensitivity towards the criticism.

It reminded me that conflict drives the news. It's an idea that is not exclusive to Chinese reporting. And is something that we understand in the west. It is not as simple as bad news being good news, but it may be an idea that China has to get used to in the future.