Housekeeping issuesHow many of you would like

an extra week before we begin midterm presentations?

We would begin presentations on March 9 instead of March 4?

Any other questions, issues? On Wednesday I’ll be free during our blogging session to discuss midterms

Commenting on each other’s blog:

As an assignment over the break, please read at least three of your fellow students’ blogs and comment.

Be respectful and courteous, but offer constructive criticism where necessary.

Press Freedom Around the World

China: Asian Values vs. The Free Marketplace of Ideas

China Singapore 1. 3 billion

Global economic powerhouse

5,000 years of history with 150 years of foreign control

Communist capitalism

4.5 million people

Small, but powerful financial island state

Colonization by the British, then nation building under Lee Kwan Yew

Authoritarian free market

But the same view of the press… A free press is a threat to their control

Press is to used as a tool of the government…not as a tool of the people

Control of ideas versus the marketplace of ideas

China’s ranking in Reporters without Borders: 163

Singapore’s ranking in Reporters without Borders: 140

No historical precedent for a “free press” in China…China’s constitution affords its people “rights to

free speech and press”

But those are trumped by defending “security, honor and the interests of the motherland…”

Media law is vague. It is easy to claim that journalists are divulging “state secrets.”

Media still owned by government entities—even if the government no longer pays the bills.

In Singapore, there’s no gloss of a “free press.”Singaporean press is controlled…Singapore

Press Holdings…

Media is considered a way to disseminate information to the people…entertain…and make money

International media is controlled through fees, licensing and the law…which favors the government

China’s Tactics for Press Control

A Brief history…China has no historical precedent for a free press.

Emperors via the mandarin classes controlled information. Peasants didn’t “need” to know anything

Communists take power in 1949…press seen as a tool of the state and more important…the Party

Major press organizations fall under the control of the Party…not the government. Xinhua News Agency, CCTV, People’s Daily newspaper.

During the Cultural Revolution, every newspaper in the country copied the People’s Daily verbatim.

Why it works… No cultural precedent for a free press…so you have

a population that doesn’t have a history of seeing the press as something to use—but as something the government uses—until very recently.

Journalists working for state-controlled media work for the Propaganda Department of the Party…as such they don’t perceive control as wrong.

Being the “mouthpiece of government” is an honorable position.

The idea that a free press leads to better government… the Chinese have a different view:

A controlled press leads to stronger government

And continues to work…Propaganda Department tightly controls what the

media can say and say on important issues such as Tibet, Taiwan, state security even in an Internet age.

The 17th National People’s Congress (2006) announced that the press is to “exult socialism; not exaggerate the weaponry of China; avert the trend of exposing judicial injustice in the name of upholding human rights; do not promote Western ideology.”

But do write about social stability, the wealth of the country, the stability—why we see Chinese officials criticizing what is happening to the U.S. economy.

“thought work” Journalists are trained to be “mouthpieces”

50 hours of instruction in Marxism

Evaluated for loyalty to party

Journalists and editors censor themselves…control happens from the inside, not the outside.

If a story appears to harm the Party…don’t write it…

Libel laws favor the plaintiff.

You must receive permissions to write about party leaders…

Top requirement for being a journalist: faithfully propogating and carrying out the Party’s principles and policies.

Can you have a free market economy without a free market of ideas?Rupert Murdoch thought he could change the Chinese. In the end, they changed him.

But what now… The opening of Chinese society—30 years ago opened to

business and economic expansion

The Internet—seen as a tool for business—not as a way to expand press freedoms or freedom of speech

Cellphones—again a tool for business—but increasingly the way in which Chinese keep in touch with each other—may be harder to control than the Internet

The Olympics—another Tiananmen.

Taiwan and Tibet—holding the country together—the Mongolian Cow Sour Yoghurt Super Girl Contest (pg. 97 in World News Prism)

Foreign influence—pop culture, film, music,

Control today Imprisonment…32 journalists in prison…not counting regular

citizens jailed for expressing discontent…or bloggers

Impose news blackouts if necessary—Tibet, Sept. 11, melamine in milk scandal

Control foreign media through economic terms

Pass new laws: The Emergency Response Law…SARS first reported by journalists not the government…led to this law…the government decides what an emergency is…like saying the U.S. gov’t has tell us if Katrina was a disaster…

Denial of press visas

Corruption can be covered—as long as the government approves of the target or if it seen to benefit the “people” of China.

Cyber-censoring Chinese style50,000 cyber-censors and cyber police attempting

to police 100 million Internet users and 350 million-plus mobile phone users

Training for self-censorship

Keyword search shuts down sites within minutes of locating a word that is not approved

Employees of 19 of Beijing’s leading websites meet every Friday to discuss, criticize sites. Bureau announces what subjects may be covered…and those that will cause articles or sites to be shutdown or eliminated

Pretense of opennessOlympics brought new rules for international journalists…

Travel freely through the country Talk to anyone But…then Tibet happens

Pretense of opennessDomestic journalists were still controlled…why?

Journalists must get permission to write on sensitive cultural events

Banned from broadcasting news on 20 issues such as judicial corruption and campaigns to protect human rights

New penalty points system … lose all your points and your publication is shut down

More Internet rules…closing down sites that provide news broadcasts from the Internet.

Crackdown on “fake” news…the “pork bun” controversy

“Opium of the masses…”

The international community begins to wake up…

But big business plays ball…

Yahoo admits to providing Chinese authorities with information that leads to the imprisonment of Shi Tao…

His crime: sending an email that included information about the response of the government to Tiananmen

U.S. gov’t steps inChinese gov’t accuses him of “illegally

providing state secrets to foreign entities.

Yahoo claims it didn’t know what the authorities would do with information

U.S. Congress says…you operate your business here in the U.S. therefore you abide by our laws…

House approved legislation that makes it a crime to aid countries in limiting Internet access to restrict human rights…

WednesdayBlog assignment:

Read “Tiananmen Square” in Granta. Write a response to the article. How does it change your impression of China—after watching the video?

Reading assignment for discussion

Choose an article on China from your country’s media or U.S. media to discuss in class.