By: Leon Lau 

Recently, there has been a lot of debate regarding the Western media's reporting of all things Chinese.  There have been protests over the last month in Manchester and London, claiming that their subjective reporting was ‘tarnishing and demonising China.'

In addition, the protestors' letter stated that the BBC failed in delivering ‘credible and independent coverage of events.' The concern, that the media bias is inciting racial hatred towards the Chinese has been countered with the response by the BBC that 'despite restrictions placed on journalists, our coverage of Tibet has been extensive, fair and balanced.

The same is true of our reporting of the Olympic torch relay and the protests that have accompanied it.'  In the light of these events, a PR war has begun, with each side criticizing each other for being unfair and subjective.

On the Western side, there have been numerous suggestions to rebuke the claim that they have been biased. Firstly, there have been suggestions that those criticizing the Western press are just assailants of nationalistic fervour and that criticism of the Western media is just another manifestation of that.

David Bandurski, of the China Media Project, said criticism of the Western media was part of a public relations war being waged by Chinese officials, whilst another comment stated that ‘China is paying the price for suppressing free press and imposing dull control on the media.' Meaning that China's restrictions on Western journalists in China, such as not allowing them to enter Tibet, has resulted in Western journalists not having the tools and sources to provide a balanced portrayal of events in China. 

 This argument, however, does not support the accusations that the reports on the Olympic torch relay in London were also biased, for there were no restrictions on journalists there. As well as this, Western journalists have also accused China of being hypocritical in that they, albeit in a less subtle manner, have been strictly controlling what was being reported about both Tibet and the controversy of the Olympic torch relay.

 While in England, we hear reports about obstacle after obstacle regarding the torch relay, in China it is triumph after triumph. On the other hand, there have been various accusations that the BBC has been distorting news reports so that it has become an attack on China itself.

 One example is the coverage on the Olympic torch rally in London focusing primarily on the anti-Tibet protesters, whilst people who were actually there felt that not enough coverage was placed on the success and supporters of the Olympic torch.

 One of the witnesses felt that, ‘we were really excited to welcome the sacred flame in London streets together with many local people, but we were so disappointed when we see the news coverage of BBC. It only showed images of the pro-Tibetan-independence activists in the streets, who tried their very best to ruin the torch relay into chaos.'

 One of their fears is that this is creating anti-Chinese sentiment from people who do not know a lot about both China and the situation in Tibet, and are not being able to formulate their own views on this topic because of the lack of perspective on the Chinese side. Whatever happened to any press being good press?

 On this issue, both the West and China are guilty of some level of subjectivity. It is impossible in the coverage of other countries not to be fundamentally subjective, especially in the case of East and West.

 Some of us do read and watch the news critically, understanding that there is another perspective not represented on our television screens and newspapers. Yet for a lot of people, the fact that we are always hearing about China linked with controversy, we subconsciously link the two ideas together and that results in the subjectivity, a viscous cycle of bias as it were.

For the Chinese in Britain, the worrying thing is right now, as soon as someone mentions ‘China' the connotations all seem to be negative, from the situation in Tibet, to the situation in Darfur, as well as the Olympic torch debacle. It is impossible to demand completely fair coverage from the Western media, just as it is impossible for China to be fully balanced in their news coverage; but at this point in time, whether intentionally or not, any press on China seems to be further detrimental to the relationship between East and West.

 What are your views? Do you think that the Western media's coverage of China has been biased? Or is China just being paranoid? What are the consequences for us?

 

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LamBekBek - media comments Posted 18:48 on 12 May 2008 This is a good article because being a typical BBC; it questions the very things I have also been thinking about. To throw in my few pennies worth, I think it has partly also to do what its has "entertaining" and “sells” value in the English media; rarely would it report peaceful news of China because its boring that’s not what the English readers/viewers want, its more interested in the spectacular, the conflicts, the tragic, the scandal, the unusual etc. the subtext being how the “British” are so different from these exotic others or how better the democratic system is etc. How does this affect the BBCs? Well these highly selective media messages can be lumped together with all the Chinese in general which of course is not true, but I worry that some people may not think like that. Reply | Quote

Jeff Minter Posted 20:10 on 13 May 2008 Yep, I echo those views. People always see things at face value when situations are desperate. It's always the ones most vulnerable, most innocent who suffer the brunt of any backlash. You see the crowds of chinese student protests as a show of force, but its the BBC who is walking home alone who face the reaction - in their own country. Reply | Quote

Anonymous Posted 11:33 on 14 May 2008 I perceive a culture of China bashing across the western media, particularly among junior reports and presenters. They often inject unjustified negative personal opinion into news about China. If the material appears to present a +ve view about China, they invariably inject some -ve views that is remotely related to the subject matter, almost as if they have to show that their loyalty towards -ve reporting of China has not been compromised. Take for example the remark I heard on France 24 (channel 517 Sky) last night when reporting on China's earthquake. She said that soon the chinese is going to question why the government buildings did not collapse and the school did, and the govt. is going to be worried and start clamping down on rumours. This irresponsible remark about the collapse of buildings is way out of line with the presenter's expertise, and also express a repugnant cynicism unique to media personnel. I posted a view about our ferral media in message 15 of this thread:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbfivelive/F2148565?thread=5442987 Reply | Quote

kickass Posted 17:33 on 7 June 2008 Some see the flame of the torch as a symbol of friendship which has to be protected at all cost but some felt they were excluded. Reply | Quote

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