China loosens restrictions on Tibet coverage
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Yesterday, finding online coverage of the riots in Tibet was difficult but suddenly, “After days of ignoring and then playing down protests, the media suddenly switched course yesterday. TV channels aired hours of Friday’s anti-Chinese riots in Lhasa and the aftermath,” says the Guardian, going on, “Employees at the state television service CCTV’s English service were instructed to keep broadcasting footage of burned-out shops and Chinese wounded in attacks. No peaceful demonstrators were shown.”
The story has Chris O’Brien, a former Xinhua employee and author of the Beijing Newspeak blog, saying, “Maybe [this time] there’s been a feeling that they can be a bit cleverer with this.
“You can pretty much count [the footage] as genuine stuff; it’s just that it’s not put in context. The powerful images of injured Han Chinese speak for themselves. Obviously, the historical discussions and reasons why this happened are not covered.
“It’s not a well-oiled machine at all … [But] Tibet is fairly ridiculous in how tightly they monitor it - one colleague at the Tibetan bureau told me 80% of his ideas were rejected.”
Adds the Guardian >>>
The media are overseen by the Ministry of Information and the State Council Information Office, which issue edicts telling them what subjects to cover, and how, and which to avoid. Since foreign media cannot be controlled, the government relies on blocking access.
The so-called Great Firewall of China ensures that access to stories on Tibet and other sensitive subjects is strictly limited - though they are most concerned about Chinese language sites and also video, where images transcend language. Yesterday YouTube and other media websites, including the Guardian, were blocked, though some access later returned.
Below is a BBC video with the Dalai Lama speaking about the Tibet riots.
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Also See:
riots in Tibet - China blocks YouTube Tibet video, March 17, 2008
Guardian - State TV switches to non-stop footage of Chinese under attack, March 18, 2008
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