Journalists in China and in the U.S.

Journalists in China and in the U.S. China should be Aware when the Status Quo White House Correspondents go to China There is an intrinsic difference in the perception of the Chinese media and the American media. China perceives the White House correspondents as officials representing the White House. That is very different from actuality, because in the U.S. news reporters see themselves as the critics of the government administration, which is the opposite of the role of reporters in China, whose job is to promote the Chinese government. This is particularly true with CNN, usually the more controversial the reporting is, the higher the ratings. President Bush’s ratings are at a new low, 39%. Only 28% believe that the country is headed in the right direction. The CNN reporters are very happy with this. So we don’t need help to compound the problem from the news reporters to criticize the administration abroad and increase hostility between China and US. The Bush administration basically believes that the White House is an educational center, and a nerve center for the distribution of the news. This creates a superficial but ambitious style of coverage that is not in-depth, but sells out the administration with their half truths, or pre-conceived notions. Many times, the reporters are privy to the current ongoing issues, and they carry out their platforms freely from the White House, as this is the status quo, and they can be the spokesman for the president. It is a challenging environment for both sides. An outspoken journalist can pose these questions to the president: a. What he thinks on Freedom of Press in China b. One China Policy c. China’s ailing one party political system d. China’s human rights record e. Taiwan’s rights to be independent As we know even Bush’s good friend Karen Hughes once made the mistake by speaking of “Taiwan Republic” and was to let go soon after that. She is Bush’s solid friend, but needs many classes in this sensitive area. Young news reporters are eager for more blunders to report, and will do their best to make the government officers look bad. Like gladiators, they think they can become heroes by defeating corrupt officials. The problem is that they attack the honest officials also before all of the facts are known. Bush may be used to the reporters goading him, if they are not around in China it may be too unusual for him. While pit bulls may think they are brave and assert their rights to be true journalists, China will perceive that as threat to the State stability. But if a gag order is served, then they would not fulfill their true mission—to keep asking questions. So the best solution perhaps is simply fake as a tourist, and talk about weather, be a wallflower and leave the real sharp diplomatic question to the professionals. Suggestion: Don’t issue the difficult juvenile outspoken journalists the visas, as that even the White House can’t control them for fear of trampling the Freedom of Speech, and they are marching everywhere. This is called the abuse of the rights of the general public, in the name of free media, and the American and Chinese people have to pay on their account. Because the Bush Administration is portrayed unfairly in the American media, we don’t want China to be portrayed unfairly also just for the sake of getting people to watch CNN to increase their ratings. World peace and national security are higher goals that should be worth more than ratings. The dichotomy is that the reporters are secretly happy when the government is in turmoil, because their ratings will be up.