"...But unbeknownst to many people in China, all the questions had been vetted in advance, with foreign reporters and Foreign Ministry officials having negotiated over what topics were permissible, and then how the acceptable questions would be phrased.
This year CNN, Reuters, CNBC, The Associated Press and The Financial Times were among the outlets permitted to ask questions. Most of those who covered the event agreed it was a lackluster affair, without even a nugget of bona fide news.
According to several foreign journalists involved in the negotiations – a process that began months ago – there were a few non-negotiables: no questions about the stabbing attack in a train station in southwestern China earlier this month that claimed 29 lives, no mention of the self-immolations in Tibet and no references to Zhou Yongkang, the former powerful head of internal security who is reportedly the focus of a corruption inquiry..."
When President Obama came to Seoul G20, I was there. He gave question time to the reporters, and one reporter from China asked him multiples of aggressive questions in English. Mr. Obama had to say after answering a few question, "Let's hear from Korean reporters, I will take a question form a Korean reporter." If I had video recorded it, the scene would have been the opposite case of this article.
This class is so valuable to me because in my entire career in journalism, I've been nothing but a PR officer (with a journalist title) for many technological companies. I find the book Element of Journalism so comforting, since each chapter answers to many of "why" questions I have been building throughout the working years. The book helps me to understand why some of the things I put up with had to be done the way they were. Then there are articles like this I can totally relate to the culture, but can't find the answer why journalists have to put up with it. I've dealt with a few situation like that when my company covered Seoul Motor Show and G20. Some companies or organizations preferred to see questions in advance, and if my questions were approved, they had written answers ready for my interviewees to read upon. Is it to secure their public image or for the quality of an interview? I still do not really know. And as much as I want to understand the Prime Minister's Selective Answer Philosophy, I hope to see the day foreign reporters in China can get as inquisitive as they need to be, just the way Chinese reporters visit Korea and the U.S. with inquisitive minds.
Clair, fascinating. Some young Chinese engineers said to me in a casual conversation once, much information was suppressed from the news in China. When Avian Flu hit, the Chinese media carried no articles about the outbreak. Perhaps the government did later. That seemed odd to me as people could do some things to protect themselves if they knew the flu had infected their poultry.
ReplyDeleteRight, I have a lot to say about the Avian Flu. My friends visited China during the time it hit, they got so sick to death, and were hospitalized for almost three weeks!
ReplyDeleteIt could have been water, it could have been who-knows-what, but I've never seen stomach virus that severe
DeleteAvian Flu kills without a doubt. Virologists in the US are worried about mutations.
ReplyDeleteI think the US has difficulty on reporting political issues fairly too. We also get a bunch of sound bytes. I think Don just posted an article on bias today.