There is absolutely no love lost between media in the West and that of China. Portrayals of each other's culture (or sphere of influence) in the corresponding opposing countries' media are often at best disparaging, and at worst openly hostile and of questionable truth and relevance. China and many Western developed democracies are economically bound together more than at any other time in history, so why are journalists on both sides so concerned with trying to play down the other's achievements?

As the recent phone hacking scandal in the UK demonstrates, the British media is far from a paragon of virtue. Several high-key public figures had their voicemail inboxes hacked by journalists working for The News of the World newspaper, now disbanded. The public uproar was huge due to a perceived lack of scruples demonstrated by the publication's journalists and editors. Can we really trust the media in the West to be working in our best interests by reporting the news and representing the truth?

Attacking China!

To some degree in China, all forms of media are monitored by the government. This means that what is presented on the news or written on websites, blogs and in newspapers goes through a tightly controlled editorial process. What is presented as news is arguably intended to make China look as good as possible to its citizens and overseas residents. Fair enough, you might say. However, even the wealth of media in China isn't immune from taking a pop at Western countries, often in stark contrast to the glorious presentations of its own country.

Western media, whilst acknowledging that China is an important presence in global politics and economics, likes to present the country as a little bit on the uncivilised side. For example, Keith Bradsher's article published on December 1st in the New York Times reports how two people were killed and 10 injured in an explosion at a bank in Wuhan. Purely and simply, the incident was a tragedy. However, Bradsher finishes the article by noting that:

"Explosives are sometimes used in commercial and domestic disputes as well as in crimes in China, partly as an alternative to guns, which are extremely hard to obtain."

Not only are explosives used in crimes, they are also used in commercial and domestic disputes! The article is about a crime, not about commercial or domestic disputes. Surely the norm in China is to use the judicial system for commercial and domestic disputes. He doesn't give any examples to back up his spurious claim.

Further evidence of scorn poured upon China by the Western press can be found in the Sidney Morning Herald. In an article published on November 27th this year, Christina Larson writes about how Chinese newspapers, especially the People's Daily and Global Times are operated by chief editors who deliberately use provocative language (she calls it "war-mongering") in order to get readers' attention. She argues that often, chief editors at these and other newspapers have no journalistic experience and in fact use these positions as stepping stones to further their political careers. This sort of thing would never happen in the West… ahem! Just look at the rhetoric used by the media during the Bush administration in the wake of 9/11, especially the memorable phrase ‘War on Terror'. What other emotional or mental states can you wage war on? A War on Confusion, or perhaps more fittingly, a War on Obscure Language.

Even the respected UK broadsheet The Guardian is guilty of continually reporting about the negative features of China. On December 2nd, Severin Carrell's article about the two Pandas sent as a gift from China to Edinburgh Zoo warned Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond not to be distracted by the bears and that he demand a better human rights record in China. A recent article from the BBC on December 16th reports that the pandas are apparently doing fine in their new habitat. Perhaps they are even enjoying better human rights and living conditions than some of the human residents of certain areas of Edinburgh and Glasgow! 

China fights back!

The media in China is just as bad when it comes to belittling its Western counterparts. According to an anonymous media-savvy Chinese resident of Shenzhen, the media here simply collect news stories from media in the West, and translate them into Chinese. He talks about news groups operating in a "sneaky way" so as not to write defamatory material about countries in the West. However, perhaps this only applies to media written or presented in Chinese.

Despite the majority of stories about Europe being economically doomed that are currently flooding both Chinese and Western media, the Global Times on December 2nd took great delight in reporting how the BBC was "forced to apologise" over comments made by one of their journalists. Jeremy Clarkson, well known as a presenter of Top Gear, made some ill-timed comments about public sector workers who were on strike across the UK last week. Clarkson, as a high profile employee of the BBC, may have caused embarrassment for the corporation, but the story in the Global Times doesn't really mention how the apology was "forced". Perhaps the article was written in that style simply to draw attention to economic problems and civil unrest in Europe.

A recent story published on December 2nd by the state-run news website www.china.org.cn tells how the US returned 22 "smuggled" dinosaur eggs to China. The article isn't particularly clear about how the fossils were smuggled out of the country in the first place, but it does mention that they had been seized by US agents of Immigration and Customs. Apparently this is the third time America has had to return smuggled fossils to China since 2009. Why doesn't the article explain how US agents had access to the fossils in the first place, and especially, why is there no description of how they managed to get them through Chinese customs?

Although this article barely scratches the surface of this huge topic, it is definitely clear that it is within China's and the West's interests to keep having sensationalist digs at one another in the media. After all, that's what sells newspapers.
 

Related links
Objective? Biased? Sloppy? Western Media Coverage of China
Are Chinese and Foreign Media Left, Right or Just Wrong?
5 Things the Foreign Media Gets Wrong About China

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: western vs. Chinese media critical press in China negative media portrayal China role of media in China attitudes press China and West