Protestors chant in front of University of Washington in Seattle on April 14, 2008. Photo: ACCN

By Zhang Feifei

His eyes fixed again on the photos on the wall: colorful pictures of protests against CNN during last April's Olympic torch relay in the United States. They hang like trophies, souvenirs of a glorious past.

"I still feel passionate," smiled Rao Jin, 24-year-old founder of Anti-CNN. com, "but not as spirited as that time."

Rao's been busy. After a round of meetings with business partners and media-savvy advisors, he's re-branding the whole website: gone is the "combative title" of "Anti-CNN". In its place is "ACCN", short for "Access China Communication Network."

A new slogan "Just another voice" replaces "Don't be like CNN!"

Tsinghua graduate Rao, also the owner of IT company Cesky, said he wants "limited commercialization" and "modernization" of Anti-CNN into a "comprehensive community news website."

"The name 'Anti-CNN' was good to rally strength and fight biased reports at that time, but too easily lead to misunderstanding," said Rao.

"Life is about more than politics and debate. With these changes, I hope netizens on the website will chill out, be a bit more peaceful."

Though Anti-CNN's moderators tried to create a rational framework for expression of patriotic opinions, the complexity and diversity of its netizens makes it never an easy job.

"We were united together when fighting on Tibet and the Olympics issue," George Cui, one of the senior moderators – better known as "thin air" in the forum – told the Global Times. "But after the Olympics, with the easing of outside pressure, the differences between leftists and rightists inside the website began to appear."

Perhaps the most famous battle occurred between members "Luzhoubulaojiao" and "Jiangchun" last September. After Jiangchun depicted Chinese as too slavish to fight authority, Luzhoubulaojiao and his supporters responded with fury, debating a range of topics including Chinese national character and democracy.

As the expletive-loaded war of words grew increasingly bitter, both Lu and Jiang were punished for personal attacks by the moderator and left the forum days later, "leaving behind a bunch of still-fighting and badly-hurt netizens, some of them even in the management team," as a member with the ID "Shen Hongtao of Hebei" wrote.

Cui sometimes felt "lost" when all the brawling broke out, he admitted. "It's never an easy job for us to hold the steering wheel with both leftists and rightists aboard.

"There is this sense of confusion and loneliness, especially when you have just finished a fierce battle with your adversaries and can't yet find a new one."

Cui's reaction is only natural, according to Professor Yu Guoming, associate dean of the School of Journalism and Communication in Renmin University of China, Beijing.

"It's very common for young people to feel lost after an outburst of anger. Being lost is the beginning of thinking which may lead to more rational minds."
No fully accurate or reliable statistics are available about Anti-CNN's registered membership, but the main source of its voluntary moderators came from university students, home and abroad, Rao said.

"The young netizens born in the 1980s often make sharp observations on the Internet," said Yu, "but they easily resort to emotional reactions."

Overseas Chinese gather at CNN's global headquarters in Atlanta on April 26, 2008, to protest alleged bias and also to denounce commentator Jack Cafferty. Photo: ACCN

Anger as an energy

"Anger is the most valuable quality of the website. Engaging with the west is where Anti-CNN should stand and develop," wrote a website member with the ID "Mian Qin".

Born last March, Anti-CNN became famous for its aggressive rebuttal of perceived bias in the international media and a base of operations for patriotic young Chinese living both home and abroad.

Wearing Olympic shirts and waving Chinese national flags, thousands of overseas Chinese students crowded in front of CNN's Atlanta headquarters and chanted, "Stop lying about Tibet!"

"From this moment, 'April Youth', a brand new type of Chinese patriot, was born," according to the website's own promotional blurb. "No matter where you are, which industry you're working in, as long as you can stand up when our motherland is facing troubles and humiliation, you are part of us."

More than a year later, sitting in the comfy chair of his own company office in Beijing, Rao still got excited when talking about the "passionate" days.

"That's one of the most memorable moments of my life," said Rao. "All the April youth, home and abroad, united together and forced hundreds of foreign media and organizations, including CNN and BBC, to either apologize or silently correct their reports."

Said Rao, "Anger doesn't necessarily contradict with rationality. We showed our inner anger politely and lawfully. We even smiled bravely when encountering misunderstandings."

With five full-time employees and 400-plus volunteers, Anti-CNN became a symbol for Chinese citizens fighting what they perceived as biased reports by the international media during the 2008 Olympic torch relay.

Starting as just one shabby web page, a rich collection of comparative pictures and videos posted on the website targeted mistakes by global media, including mis-identifying Nepalese as Chinese soldiers, using out-dated photos to match news situations and the alleged manipulative cropping of photos.

CNN issued a statement last April after its commentator Jack Cafferty called the Chinese "goons and thugs" and products manufactured in China "junk", saying it was not CNN's intent to offend the Chinese people. No specific explanation was offered about specific complaints or specific reports.

"Their aggressive fight back against the western media overthrew traditional Chinese defensive concepts, drawing lots of attention to the website," said Liu Xiaoying, a professor of international communication at the Communication University of China in Beijing.

CNN employee Ms Yang at the Beijing office requested that the Global Times e-mail an interview outline for her to forward to bureau chief Jaime Flora-Cruz. Ms Yang confirmed receiving the question list and said she would ask Flora-Cruz, whom she said was "very busy".

Despite repeated requests and deadline extensions, the Global Times received no reply from CNN.

Limited-commercialization

Anti-CNN's aggressive identification and rebuttal of perceived bias in the international media once saw millions of daily hits, with as many as 150,000 people registered members within half a year of its foundation, according to its official website.

As daily page views dropped from a peak of 10 million to about one million today, the site's future direction has never been clearer, said Rao Jin.

"Anti-CNN will focus on fighting against biased reports rather than discussing national issues, and while slander is forbidden, rational debate will be welcome," he said.

In his eyes, financing was still the biggest problem. "If we had the money … we could reshape the website very quickly," he said.

It is not unusual for successful websites to evolve toward commercialization. An example is grass-roots website Zuguo.com, where editorial differences between investors and operators lead to its closure at the end of last year.

Cui said he was "very cautious" about commercialization. "I don't want to see the future development of the website in others' hands," he said.

"Once we daubed the courage on our forehead," a Web user "Shen Hongtao" wrote on the bulletin-board forum. "We inscribed logos on our chest and raised the totem of patriotism highly, but now, how should we show the sincerity and fidelity to our country?"

"If we received donations, then we would prefer to be an NGO (non-governmental organization) or foundation," said Rao. "But whatever form it takes, we'll still stick to our goal of being a non-governmental platform with international influence."

A veteran of the dotcom venture world, nuclear physics major Rao made his fortune with Cesky but his attention now appears focused on the media industry.
 
"A lot of netizens, leftists or rightists, consider the website a weapon, but I prefer to understand it as a communication platform," he said.

After several revisions, the site's homepage has taken on a more somber hue, with a rather more rational strapline: "We're not against the international media, only against their biased reports."

Rao said, "We will continue talking to the west objectively and reasonably with a communicative desire."

The classic content of attacking bias in foreign media reports would be preserved in a special "Anti-bias" channel, said Rao.

This is not the first time "commercialization" has reared its controversial head at Anti-CNN. As early as April last year, the company stood accused of exploiting patriotism for profit.

"When I first read these kinds of critics online, I was very depressed," said Rao. "I even wanted to quit. But now I am very determined that what I am doing now is a righteous career, no matter what form it takes."

Anti-CNN had never been used to make money, he said.

"I've invested hundreds of thousands of yuan into this website, all of which came from the profits of my own company, and so I am clear in my conscience and I'm well prepared for any criticism."

As a website born through a vital clash of ideas, Professor Yu concluded Anti-CNN suffered from no shortage of character.

"But its role as a grass-roots, communicative, sometimes counter-attack platform will still be important in the next five to ten years. It just needs to aim for a deeper, more rational basis."