Last night at about 8pm a fire broke out in the northern building of the new CCTV complex in Beijing (see photos on CNReviews or videos and updates on Danwei). Huge fire. Most fires burn from the bottom up, but this building was so flammable it actually burned from the top down. It's just another casualty from the Olympic building boom that has the iconic Bird's Nest being turned into a shopping center.
Blame for the fire has been accepted by CCTV, the nation's central television network, who admitted to ok'ing a fireworks display from the buildings upper floors. Not the smartest move the network has ever made. My wife and I watched as the news broke online and were utterly disappointed to find that there was no "breaking news" being shown on any TV station within China. The fact that this story was stifled by the government officials has actually become more of a story than the fire itself (at least in the China blogosphere).
Censorship is nothing new, especially here in Xinjiang. China just defended itself in front of the United Nations for its human rights record, but you'd never know it living here in Xinjiang and reading the daily news.
I'm really not quite sure what I think about all of it. Censorship happens everywhere, in every country to some degree or another, but at what point does it become unacceptable? At what point does covering up an unimportant building fire become a more serious event?
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There was also this big fire in downtown Urumqi a year and a half ago, although at this point I regret paying attention to how much the information surrounding the fire was stifled. Honestly, I think the fact that I don't remember anything unusual about it means not much fishy went on in regards to coverage. A building on fire in a Urumqi is not anywhere near as a big deal as yesterday's fire, so low coverage it can realistically be attributed to its relative unimportance. Furthermore, the Urumqi fire was not nearly as embarrassing as the Beijing one.
Er, in my post I meant to say I regret *not* paying attention of course.
I don't understand all the problems with censorship. Don't people take for granted that news is managed and we are told what they think is appropriate? China, America, England: There's isn't any difference. China may be more obvious, but the same things happen everywhere. Everyone has an agenda
That's what the internet is for: Real News.
@Porfiriy - I can't believe I forgot to mention that fire. I do remember it and actually had some friends in Urumqi who told me about it. I think I ended up reading the Tianshannet report on it which, like always, had very little information in it. Unfortunately Urumqi isn't full of as many foreigners and twitterers as Beijing, so it would have been hard to realize if or how much the news had been stifled.
@Anonymous - I agree and disagree, and that's what the post was about. When does censorship change from being selective news to agenda promotion? There is a fine line and China tends to play with it too much.
I would also like to add that I completely disagree with your statement that the internet is "real news". I'd like to take a quick snipped from Imagethief that I think hits the nail on the head concerning media bias:
"If you want the best picture possible, get your news from many sources and do your best to understand the biases and point and view of each. There is no such thing as "unbiased media" (unless you use that as a euphemism for "media I usually agree with"). The best you can do is to understand that and correct for it as much as possible."
Well said, Will.
I don't think China is the only country that crosses the line between agenda promotion and selective news. I seem to remember the invasion of Iraq and a great deal of agenda promotion by the US administration. WMDs and Saddam the boogeyman? Comparing the CCTV fire to a war isn't even remotely the same.
Perhaps I should have been more clear with my internet news comment. I completely agree with Image Thief: The internet allows you to gather a great deal of information on an issue and assess it for yourself. It's good to think about what you read and see, instead of being a brain-washed Fox News zombie.
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