[Infowarrior] - PRC's propaganda plan

[Richard Forno]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5181300.ece

November 19, 2008

Beijing propaganda chief hatches plan to combat age of internet news
A parent, right, looks for a lost child at a brick kiln at Liuwu Village

State television was allowed to report the discovery of slave labour  
in brick kilns, but was silenced after a few days
Jane Macartney and Sophie Yu in Beijing

China’s propaganda officials are experimenting with a revolutionary  
new policy to manage their message in the age of the internet:  
reporting the news as it happens.

The move marks an important shift for the ruling Communist Party,  
which is accustomed to deciding what will be reported and when.

However, far from being a move towards freedom of the press, the aim  
is to maintain control of the information available to China’s 1.3  
billion people.

The order came straight from the desk of China’s propaganda chief, Li  
Changchun, one of the nine members of the all-powerful Politburo  
standing committee who, faced with a bewildering array of media now  
available to the public, is finding it increasingly difficult to keep  
control of information.

“Let us use the method of providing news as the way to control news,”  
a well-placed source quoted Mr Li as saying in his recently issued  
directive.

The new approach is aimed at ensuring that ultimate control of at  
least the most sensitive information remains in party hands. The  
source told The Times: “The principle is to report an incident as soon  
as possible without the need to inform the leaders in advance.”

Already this has streamlined official reporting of some events.

In the past, major news would be allowed into the public eye only  
after careful vetting by senior officials. The source said: “In the  
past, when something happened the usual practice was that a senior  
person would hold off and say he would report to the leadership. And  
once something was reported to the leadership then they would issue an  
order for a media blackout.”

When a provincial television station reported the discovery of slave  
labour in brick kilns last year the main government television station  
was allowed to air the story, but was silenced after a few days.

Restrictions remain in place, with the goal of ensuring that  
sufficient information is released to satisfy a hungry public while  
holding back details that could prove incendiary in a country whose  
leaders are deeply fearful of public unrest.

The source said that the propaganda chief had indicated that the new  
approach to news would reduce wild gossip, particularly on the  
internet, where rumours and speculation are rife and wildly inaccurate  
reports gain credence in the absence of an official version, given the  
low credibility of state-run media.

Mr Li’s directive is intended to keep the news in party hands by  
ensuring the news agenda is set by propaganda organisations rather  
than investigative reporters.

One trigger for the approach was a scandal involving the sale of  
tainted baby formula that was hidden to prevent bad news from  
tarnishing China’s image during the Beijing Olympics. When the cover- 
up was discovered and reported there was widespread anger against the  
Government.

At least four babies – and possibly many more – died from kidney  
failure after being fed milk powder contaminated with the industrial  
chemical melamine. The news emerged only in September after a Chinese  
journalist posted a report online. Other newspapers that had been  
aware of the problem then followed suit, forcing the Government to  
come out into the open. Since then, several items of bad news have  
been reported with unusual speed.

A riot late on Monday by villagers angered by the confiscation of  
their homes and land in a remote northwestern town was reported by  
state media within hours. The public have also been given blow-by-blow  
accounts of taxi strikes in several cities, even though industrial  
action has long been a taboo subject in case it triggers wider unrest.

Despite Mr Li’s exhortation, many Chinese officials are set in their  
ways.

It was only after members of the public began sending text messages  
about an epidemic of maggots in mandarin oranges from the southwestern  
Sichuan province late last month that the authorities acknowledged  
they had a problem.

State media said that officials tried to cover up the infestation for  
about a month – even though farmers notified local authorities just  
two days after tens of thousands of trees were found to be affected.

The party’s tight control was high-lighted in the past few days by a  
drive to remove the editorial board of China’s most daring magazine.

An article in the September issue of Annals of the Yellow Emperor  
praised the Communist Party leader sacked after the 1989 Tiananmen  
Square student demonstrations. The report angered his successor and Mr  
Li has followed up the leader’s request to punish the editors and  
muzzle the publication.

Filtering the news

— It took China 18 years before it broke its silence to reveal that  
694 people – including 597 children – had died in a Chinese New Year’s  
Day inferno in a crowded cinema in 1977. There was no explanation for  
the delay in the news

— In 1975, 62 dams in central Henan province crumbled over the course  
of three days or were intentionally destroyed amid record rainfall,  
killing at least 175,000 people in the worst such recorded disaster in  
history. Government figures were declassified only in 2005

— The extent of the 2003 outbreak of Sars, right, was originally  
underreported. The Chinese Government was eventually forced to release  
accurate figures only after a Chinese doctor blew the whistle

— Chinese officials paid high sums in compensation to families of  
workers who died during the building of the Bird’s Nest Stadium to  
ensure their silence. China admitted the deaths of two workers only  
after a report by The Sunday Times in January of this year

— The Government was slow to respond to contamination of milk that led  
to the deaths of at least four infants and the hospitalisation of  
12,892. It admitted partial guilt in October and arrested 36  
manufacturers
State television was allowed to report the discovery of slave labour  
in brick kilns, but was silenced after a few days
Jane Macartney and Sophie Yu in Beijing

China’s propaganda officials are experimenting with a revolutionary  
new policy to manage their message in the age of the internet:  
reporting the news as it happens.

The move marks an important shift for the ruling Communist Party,  
which is accustomed to deciding what will be reported and when.

However, far from being a move towards freedom of the press, the aim  
is to maintain control of the information available to China’s 1.3  
billion people.

The order came straight from the desk of China’s propaganda chief, Li  
Changchun, one of the nine members of the all-powerful Politburo  
standing committee who, faced with a bewildering array of media now  
available to the public, is finding it increasingly difficult to keep  
control of information.

“Let us use the method of providing news as the way to control news,”  
a well-placed source quoted Mr Li as saying in his recently issued  
directive.

The new approach is aimed at ensuring that ultimate control of at  
least the most sensitive information remains in party hands. The  
source told The Times: “The principle is to report an incident as soon  
as possible without the need to inform the leaders in advance.”

Already this has streamlined official reporting of some events.

In the past, major news would be allowed into the public eye only  
after careful vetting by senior officials. The source said: “In the  
past, when something happened the usual practice was that a senior  
person would hold off and say he would report to the leadership. And  
once something was reported to the leadership then they would issue an  
order for a media blackout.”

When a provincial television station reported the discovery of slave  
labour in brick kilns last year the main government television station  
was allowed to air the story, but was silenced after a few days.

Restrictions remain in place, with the goal of ensuring that  
sufficient information is released to satisfy a hungry public while  
holding back details that could prove incendiary in a country whose  
leaders are deeply fearful of public unrest.

The source said that the propaganda chief had indicated that the new  
approach to news would reduce wild gossip, particularly on the  
internet, where rumours and speculation are rife and wildly inaccurate  
reports gain credence in the absence of an official version, given the  
low credibility of state-run media.

Mr Li’s directive is intended to keep the news in party hands by  
ensuring the news agenda is set by propaganda organisations rather  
than investigative reporters.

One trigger for the approach was a scandal involving the sale of  
tainted baby formula that was hidden to prevent bad news from  
tarnishing China’s image during the Beijing Olympics. When the cover- 
up was discovered and reported there was widespread anger against the  
Government.

At least four babies – and possibly many more – died from kidney  
failure after being fed milk powder contaminated with the industrial  
chemical melamine. The news emerged only in September after a Chinese  
journalist posted a report online. Other newspapers that had been  
aware of the problem then followed suit, forcing the Government to  
come out into the open. Since then, several items of bad news have  
been reported with unusual speed.

A riot late on Monday by villagers angered by the confiscation of  
their homes and land in a remote northwestern town was reported by  
state media within hours. The public have also been given blow-by-blow  
accounts of taxi strikes in several cities, even though industrial  
action has long been a taboo subject in case it triggers wider unrest.

Despite Mr Li’s exhortation, many Chinese officials are set in their  
ways.

It was only after members of the public began sending text messages  
about an epidemic of maggots in mandarin oranges from the southwestern  
Sichuan province late last month that the authorities acknowledged  
they had a problem.

State media said that officials tried to cover up the infestation for  
about a month – even though farmers notified local authorities just  
two days after tens of thousands of trees were found to be affected.

The party’s tight control was high-lighted in the past few days by a  
drive to remove the editorial board of China’s most daring magazine.

An article in the September issue of Annals of the Yellow Emperor  
praised the Communist Party leader sacked after the 1989 Tiananmen  
Square student demonstrations. The report angered his successor and Mr  
Li has followed up the leader’s request to punish the editors and  
muzzle the publication.