The inflated credibility of the Western media

• Source: Global Times
• [23:14 November 23 2009]
• Comments

Illustration: Liu Rui

By Lu Jingxian

Are the Western media in China stalwart defenders of the truth, or do they bring a slanted bias and preconceived ideas to their coverage?

Three years ago during the annual session of China's top legislative body, access to "Massage Milk," a popular blog by art critic Wang Xiaofeng, was abruptly blocked.

Massage Milk, which devoted a fair part of the content to taunting offcial cultural policies, was widely read. On the blanket webpage, a brief note read "the page you are requesting is not available due to reasons known to all."

It was enough to spark the imagination. Soon Reuters claimed that another bold journalist had been silenced under Chinese government's media control. The report was circulated among other Several days later, the blog was reopened. In the new post, Wang explained he shut down the website himself, intending to see what would happen. None of the Western media bothered to confi rm the facts with him before reporting it.

The controversial "setup" did challenge ethical standards, and Wang's apology didn't seem to appease many offended Chinese. But how could the Western media be trapped when they had plenty of chances to verify it?

That same spring, Beijing was hit by the worst sandstorm in years. Dust floated in the air. The wind shield of the cars was covered by a thin layer of sand. A German radio station stated that the storm left vehicles buried in sands several centimeters thick, and hospitals were swarmed with patients with respiratory diseases. Western media, picked up by over 200 sources. But then there was a twist.

I happened to check out a big hospital hoping to find story tips at the same time. To my surprise, the respiratory section was quiet. A few patients were waiting, but nobody's symptoms were caused by the sandstorm. The nurse showed me the patients' list for the day. Nothing indicated a soaring number of patients suffocated by the sandstorm.

Reporters are under constant pressure to dramatize the mundane daily routine. Newspaper space needs to be filled and air time has to be covered. Sometimes it means making something out of nothing. They hardly have any impact on the local audience.

But there are also issues that touch sensitive Chinese nerves, such as the coverage of Tibet.