Anti-cnn
Encyclopedia
Anti-cnn.com is a website established by Rao Jin, who was a 23-year-old Chinese student at the time, in response to what he identified as "the lies and distortions of facts from the Western media" concerning the 2008 Tibetan unrest
and the People's Republic of China
's national unity. The anti-cnn site states its purpose as "collect, classify, and exhibit the misbehavior of Western media". According to the website, the phrase "anti-cnn" does not exclusively indicate its objection to the American company CNN
, but also to many other Western media sources, including the BBC
, Der Spiegel
, La Repubblica
, n-tv
, Bild
, Fox News Channel
and RTL
. The website also states, "We are not against the western media, but against the lies and fabricated stories in the media. We are not against the western people, but against the prejudice from the western society."
Claims by anti-cnn
Anti-cnn has claimed that Western media has frequently implied that it has been the Chinese police, and not rioters, who have killed people. Description of events during the 2008 Tibet incident were positioned alongside phrases such as 'Chinese crackdown', giving a false impression that the Chinese authorities, not the rioters, were the cause of the injuries and killings. According to Rao Jin, CNN and BBC only reported selectively, and grossly misrepresented the incident.
Rao was invited to attend an interview show by the China Central Television
in the programme of Oriental Horizon (东方时空). The title of the show was "Warning to CNN: why the Chinese Internet folks got angry" (正告CNN：中国网民为何愤怒). During the interview, Rao said that he had established the site "to expose the facts, to make the facts publicized to as many people as possible". The site now claims about 500,000 visits per day, 60% of which are from China.
A Washington Post report detailing Chinese reactions to Western coverage quoted Rao as saying that more than 1,000 people have e-mailed him, volunteering to spot distorted reports in Western media. A Chinese analyst said that protests may only push Chinese government to adopt a more hard-line position. The report ended with a comment from Michael Pettis, a professor of management, which said "as China becomes a world power, there is going to be a lot more scrutiny and criticism. Just as Americans have learned to deal with it, the Chinese are going to have to learn to deal with it. My hope is that after the anger there will be some reflection on the complexity of these issues."
Some of the media accused of making distorted reports have given replies. CNN made a formal response to the charges of the cropping of cover pictures and mismatching captions, but asserted that the selection of material was "appropriate for the editorial context, and will not cause any confusion". Der Spiegel mentioned the site in an editorial, where it referred to the argument over the credibility of Western media on this particular issue with the headline "the war over words". Der Spiegel however refused to respond to the charges made, implying that the site is part of "Chinese propaganda". They also blamed the Chinese government's media control policy, saying that it forces the media to turn to "hard to confirm" evidence and "increases the risk of making mistakes and errors", which in turn "makes it easier for the Chinese authorities to accuse them".
This site first received global attention in the PRC Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Qin Gang's regular press conference on 27 March 2008 when he was asked to comment on the website. One journalist put forward a question whether the Chinese government had financed or supported the anti-cnn website. Qin Gang's response was that "It is the irresponsible and unethical reports that infuriated our people to voice voluntarily their condemnation and criticism."
Anti-cnn and April media
Anti-cnn has since changed its name and has expanded into English under the name April media.
2008 Tibetan unrest
The 2008 Tibetan unrest, also known from its Chinese name as the 3•14 Riots, was a series of riots, protests, and demonstrations that started in Tibetan regional capital of Lhasa and spread to other Tibetan areas and a number of monasteries including outside the Tibet Autonomous Region...
and the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
's national unity. The anti-cnn site states its purpose as "collect, classify, and exhibit the misbehavior of Western media". According to the website, the phrase "anti-cnn" does not exclusively indicate its objection to the American company CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, but also to many other Western media sources, including the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, La Repubblica
La Repubblica
la Repubblica is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. Founded in 1976 in Rome by the journalist Eugenio Scalfari, as of 2008 is the second largest circulation newspaper, behind the Corriere della Sera.-Foundation:...
, n-tv
N-tv
n-tv is a German television news channel owned by the Bertelsmann AG Media's RTL Group and an affiliate network of CNN since the networks creation in 1992....
, Bild
Bild-Zeitung
The Bild is a German tabloid published by Axel Springer AG. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday, while on Sundays, Bild am Sonntag is published instead, which has a different style and its own editors...
, Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
and RTL
RTL Television
Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...
. The website also states, "We are not against the western media, but against the lies and fabricated stories in the media. We are not against the western people, but against the prejudice from the western society."
Claims by anti-cnn
Anti-cnn has claimed that Western media has frequently implied that it has been the Chinese police, and not rioters, who have killed people. Description of events during the 2008 Tibet incident were positioned alongside phrases such as 'Chinese crackdown', giving a false impression that the Chinese authorities, not the rioters, were the cause of the injuries and killings. According to Rao Jin, CNN and BBC only reported selectively, and grossly misrepresented the incident.
Rao was invited to attend an interview show by the China Central Television
China Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
in the programme of Oriental Horizon (东方时空). The title of the show was "Warning to CNN: why the Chinese Internet folks got angry" (正告CNN：中国网民为何愤怒). During the interview, Rao said that he had established the site "to expose the facts, to make the facts publicized to as many people as possible". The site now claims about 500,000 visits per day, 60% of which are from China.
A Washington Post report detailing Chinese reactions to Western coverage quoted Rao as saying that more than 1,000 people have e-mailed him, volunteering to spot distorted reports in Western media. A Chinese analyst said that protests may only push Chinese government to adopt a more hard-line position. The report ended with a comment from Michael Pettis, a professor of management, which said "as China becomes a world power, there is going to be a lot more scrutiny and criticism. Just as Americans have learned to deal with it, the Chinese are going to have to learn to deal with it. My hope is that after the anger there will be some reflection on the complexity of these issues."
Some of the media accused of making distorted reports have given replies. CNN made a formal response to the charges of the cropping of cover pictures and mismatching captions, but asserted that the selection of material was "appropriate for the editorial context, and will not cause any confusion". Der Spiegel mentioned the site in an editorial, where it referred to the argument over the credibility of Western media on this particular issue with the headline "the war over words". Der Spiegel however refused to respond to the charges made, implying that the site is part of "Chinese propaganda". They also blamed the Chinese government's media control policy, saying that it forces the media to turn to "hard to confirm" evidence and "increases the risk of making mistakes and errors", which in turn "makes it easier for the Chinese authorities to accuse them".
This site first received global attention in the PRC Foreign Ministry
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is an executive agency responsible for foreign relations between the People's Republic of China and other countries in the world. The agency is led by the Foreign Minister. The current minister is Yang Jiechi...
spokesperson Qin Gang's regular press conference on 27 March 2008 when he was asked to comment on the website. One journalist put forward a question whether the Chinese government had financed or supported the anti-cnn website. Qin Gang's response was that "It is the irresponsible and unethical reports that infuriated our people to voice voluntarily their condemnation and criticism."
Anti-cnn and April media
Anti-cnn has since changed its name and has expanded into English under the name April media.
See also
- Chinese nationalismChinese nationalismChinese nationalism , sometimes synonymous with Chinese patriotism refers to cultural, historiographical, and political theories, movements and beliefs that assert the idea of a cohesive, unified Chinese people and culture in a unified country known as China...
- 2008 Tibetan unrest2008 Tibetan unrestThe 2008 Tibetan unrest, also known from its Chinese name as the 3•14 Riots, was a series of riots, protests, and demonstrations that started in Tibetan regional capital of Lhasa and spread to other Tibetan areas and a number of monasteries including outside the Tibet Autonomous Region...
- Media biasMedia biasMedia bias refers to the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the...
- CNN controversies
- FenqingFenqingFenqing , or "FQ" , which is itself an abbreviation for Fennu Qingnian , means literally "angry youth". It mainly refers to leftist Chinese youth who display a high level of Chinese nationalism. This term first appeared in Hong Kong in the 1970s, referring to those young people who were not...
- Anti-Western sentimentAnti-Western sentimentAnti-Western sentiment refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, or governments in the western world. In many cases the United States, Israël and the United Kingdom are the subject of discussion or hostility...
External links
- Sihai, Lei, "西方媒体向中国民意低头" , 国际在线-世界新闻报, April 02. 2008, Accessed April 08, 2008
- "Protests May Only Harden Chinese Line.", The Washington Post, March 24, 2008.
- "中国学生创建反CNN网站 做人不能太CNN成流行语" , 中国经济网, March 31, 2008. Accessed April 08, 2008
- Fang, Huang, "美华人华侨致CNN公开信'Don't be like CNN'" , Sohu.comSohuSohu.com, Inc. is a search engine company headquartered in the Sohu.com Internet Plaza in Haidian District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China. This company and its subsidiaries offer advertising, a search engine, on-line multiplayer gaming and other services. For the fiscal year ended December...
, April 08, 2008. Accessed April 08, 2008 - FM spokesman: "Anti-CNN" website reflects Chinese people's condemnation Xinhua News Agency (China)
- Report: China seen sponsoring anti-CNN website World Tribune (United States)
- Chinese students launch anti-CNN website Special Broadcasting Service (Australia)
- FM spokesman: "Anti-CNN" website reflects Chinese people's condemnation Embassy of the PRC in the United States
- China: one country against the west ZEIT online