Share This

Friday, February 25, 2022

How US media, liberal or conservative, turn Beijing Winter Olympics into another feather in their anti-China campaign cap

 

#Beijing2022 Opening Ceremony! | Full Replay


The Media Center of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games Photo: VCG The Media Center of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games Photo: VCG

The Beijing Winter Olympics successfully closed on Sunday. The sports event, "truly exceptional" as International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach described at Sunday's closing ceremony, showed the world not only the excellent performances of Olympians, but also how China overcame challenges to offer the participants high-quality facilities and services amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.
`
Nonetheless, observers said it's sad that many foreign audiences, who usually receive information from some biased Western media outlets, the US media in particular, hardly knew about the Beijing Winter Games in an authentic and objective way.
`
How did some influential American media outlets cover the Beijing Winter Olympics, when the US sees China as a strategic rival? The Global Times selected six US media outlets that represent different interest groups in the country, and collected and analyzed their recent coverage related to the Beijing Winter Games, trying to learn about the US media's strategy concerning the Games and the possible prejudice behind it.
`
The selected six media outlets were CNN, The New York Times (NYT), Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Fox News, National Public Radio (NPR), and USA Today.
`
`
Media's 'China agenda' of Beijing Olympics
`
By using online media monitoring tools, the Global Times reporters collected media coverage related to the Beijing Winter Games in February, particularly the week of February 14-21, focusing on coverage from CNN, NYT, WSJ, Fox News, NPR, and USA Today.
`
These six major media outlets presented a very mixed tone in their discourse of the closing ceremony of the Winter Games on Monday night.
`
In the titles of articles published by these US media outlets, most of the pieces included negative adjectives such as "rocky", "strange", "unwelcomed", "controversial", and "overshadowed by a doping scandal" in describing the Games, the Global Times reporters found. There were a lot references to alleged "human rights violations" and "excessively strict quarantine policies" in their review, though some articles provided a relatively objective picture of the well-designed and touching details of the closing ceremony.
`
The sour grapes mentality exhibited by US media is on full display in these articles. NPR, for instance, even preposterously tagged the Games as "the most controversial, most unwelcoming Olympics of our lifetime" in an opinion piece by its staff.
`
https://money.yahoo.com/most-controversial-most-unwelcoming-olympics-150319010.html
`
US politics and media observers tend to classify CNN and NYT as the liberal media (or "left-wing"), WSJ and Fox as conservative media (or "right-wing"), while NPR and USA Today as relatively moderate media (or "center"). American media outlets with different editorial objectives speak for different groups in the US, while they usually stand together against other countries for US national interests.
`
Looking back the past week, CNN, a typical "left-wing" media outlet known for its mostly liberal views, published some 73 articles covering the Beijing Winter Games from February 14 to 21. Fourteen of the articles were related to China or Chinese athletes, found he Global Times.
`
Among the 14 articles, four were positive overall, covering the performances of Chinese gold medalists such as figure skaters Sui Wenjing and Han Cong.
`
Three of the 14 articles were written in negative tones, which made far-fetched links between the sporting event and China's relationship with other countries. In a February 19 article reporting on a "doping scandal" about Russian skater Kamila Valieva, CNN frequently mentioned Ukraine's "border tension" and the "close ties" between China and Russia.
`
The NYT is another mainstream media publication popular among US liberalists. The Global Times found that between February 14 and 21, it produced about 211 pieces covering the Beijing Winter Games, 30 pieces of which are related to China and Chinese athletes.
`
The NYT reported on the Games with much broader views than CNN did. Among the 30 pieces, 12 were positive overall and covered not only Chinese gold medalists, but also the various cuisines provided at the Olympic Village, and China's speed trains near the Village.
`
However, in its six pieces written in a negative tone, the NYT seemed to make bigger efforts in smearing China with strange, baseless accusations. In a February 19 article reporting on a "doping scandal" about Russian skater Kamila Valieva, CNN frequently mentioned Ukraine's "border tension" and the "close ties" between China and Russia, trying to hint at China being behind the Ukrainian crisis. That was neither true nor related to the Beijing Winter Olympics in the slightest, noted Chinese international relations and media experts.
`
The WSJ, a center-right US-based media publication, published 28 reports on the Beijing Winter Olympics between February 14 and February 21, 13 pieces of which are related to China and Chinese athletes.
`
Only two of the reports were relatively positive, focusing on Gu and China's record-breaking gold medal haul.
`
Five had negative tones, involving claims of China's "data surveillance of athletes" and "dismal ratings for the Winter Olympics" that were patently untrue or have been repeatedly refuted.
`
FOX, a typical right-wing media outlet in the US, ran about 143 stories between February 14 and February 21, 31 of which were closely related to Chinese athletes or China.
`
FOX reported on international athletes' positive comments about the Winter Olympics, including praise for the quality of the ice rink in Beijing's Olympic Village, the efficient closed-loop quarantine measures, the popular Chinese food in the Village, high-tech elements, and stories of Chinese athletes' valiant efforts.
`
Gu Ailing of Team China competes in the women's freestyle skiing halfpipe event on February 18. Gu became one of the favorite topics of American media outlets about the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

      Photo: Cui Meng/GT
`
Gu Ailing of Team China competes in the women's freestyle skiing halfpipe event on February 18. Gu became one of the favorite topics of American media outlets about the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Photo: Cui Meng/GT
`
However, some of the articles forcefully conflated the Games with unrelated political issues such as the situation in the island of Taiwan and alleged "human rights concerns" in Xinjiang, despite repeated calls from mainstream international voices to avoid politicizing the Games.
`
In a piece titled "Beijing Olympics get political with Taiwan, Uyghur questions", FOX repeatedly peppered the piece with political issues, and hyped the question "if IOC uniforms and other IOC garments were produced by Uygur labor - or from Xinjiang cotton."
`
Being regarded as a centrist media outlet by many, NPR published some 72 articles on the Beijing Olympics between February 14 and 21, and 10 of the articles were related to the host country China, and Chinese athletes.
`
Of the 10 articles, only one was relatively positive, narrating the positive impact that Gu has had on more young girls participating in winter sports.
`
The rest of the articles, while trying to maintain a relatively objective stance, included two direct attacks on China for "politicizing the Olympics" and "deplorable" restrictions imposed by the country's quarantine policies.
`
USA TODAY, another US media among centrists, ran 105 stories about the Beijing Olympics from February 14 to 21, of which 10 were directly related to Chinese athletes or the organizers.
`
Three of the articles were the relatively neutral coverage of the performance of Chinese athletes on the field. One article on February 18, however, was written in a biased and negative tone, intentionally quoting an individual athlete as saying the Beijing Olympics "terrible,", the Global Times found.
`
Correspondents and their predetermined perspectives
`
Many influential US media outlets sent correspondents to cover the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. At least 10 corresponds appear to be Chinese Americans or come from an Asian background.
`
Looking into their stories, however, most of the correspondents acted not as bridges linking Chinese and American audience, but as barriers that deepened misunderstandings between the two.
`
Amy Qin of the NYT, for instance, is a name familiar to many Chinese readers. This Asia-based correspondent regularly covers Chinese politics and society, and many of her stories have, in the past, sparked controversy laced with bias and misinformation, such a COVID-19 origins tracing piece that was published in June 2021.
`
Qin wrote at least 12 stories during the Beijing Olympics, reporting from the opening ceremony and Chinese athletes, to China's dynamic zero-COVID policy and winter sports popularity, as shown by the NYT website. In a February 19 article covering the skiing development in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, she blatantly mentioned the "genocide" rumor at the end, eclipsing any bright spots regarding skiing development in the region that may have been mentioned in her article.
`
With a cross-cultural background herself, Qin seems particularly interested in American-born athletes of Chinese descents, and what the current China-US "rivalry" has done to the group. On February 16, she wrote that Nathan Chen, a Chinese American figure skater who won gold at the Olympics, was "ignored" by the Chinese public in a seeming attempt to criticize the so-called "resurgent nationalism" among "[Chinese] citizens."
`
US correspondents in China have been a window for Americans to know more about the country. Unfortunately, "most [US correspondents in China] are actually tools to play up the negative image of China that caters to the American elites," Li Haidong, a professor from the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.
`
Nonetheless, in the era of the great boom of social media, these correspondents and the US mainstream media, can no longer dominate China-related discourse, as social media have increasingly become a popular way for people to follow Olympic-related topics, which indeed poses a challenge to the monopoly of traditional mainstream media in depicting China, Li said.
`
Despite the widespread "political boycott" against the Games played up by the US mainstream media, Americans are not fooled and many still genuinely enjoyed watching the Games across numerous social media platforms and shared what they are fond of or the Games' most captivating moments. That's a reality, but also a story that never gets told, Vipinder Jaswal, founder of the US-based PR company Vippi Media, told the Global Times in a previous interview.
`
Jaswal said that the mainstream media and politicians coming against the Games have the greatest function to negatively influence people and disseminate some type of propaganda, but people were largely not fooled.
`
Narration full of bias and lies
`
The collected data showed that in general, positive coverage of US media mostly focused on relatively light topics in specific sports or social areas, including Chinese athletes winning medals, and international athletes enjoying delicious meals at the Olympic Village.
`
Many of its negative coverage, ridiculously, had little to do with the Games. These articles were usually related to politics and economy, and clichés that alluded to "problems" in China that actually don't exist, such the "Xinjiang forced labor" accusation. Regardless of the fact that much of the fake news has been clarified by Chinese government, US media rehashed them, lashing them to the Winter Olympics for eye-grabbing sensationalism.
`
Discourse on the Games in the mainstream US media, whether liberal or conservative, has yet to get rid of the "gloom filter" that was projected in their typical coverage full of prejudice against China's development, observers said Although American media outlets with different editorial objectives speak for different groups in the US, they usually stand together against China for US national interests, they noted
`
They are still trying to use the US political elitist narrative of human rights standards as a weapon to attack the Games, Li told the Global Times.This ideology-oriented reporting approach inevitably leads to bias in the US media's reporting on China, and it ends up further away from the "independence" and "transparency" advocated by Western news ethics, said Li.

Source link

 

RELATED ARTICLES
 

 Related posts:

 

   ` Full Closing Ceremony | #Beijing2022   Live From Beijing 2022: Beijing 2022 closing ceremony takes place at ‘Bird’s Nest’ The Beijing .. 
 
` ` China: Rise of an Asian giant | Insight | Full Episode China’s space station: From no flush toilets to building its ow...
 
Gu Ailing Eileen wins gold Eighteen-year-old Gu is a cross-cultural legend for both China and the US        China is multifaceted, but what’...
 
 *"Gravitas"*  Recently there were quite a few videos coming out from an Indian Internet TV channel going by the program name of *.

Don't lie about seeking help in getting the corruption charges dropped. Muhyiddin warns UMNO'S Zahid

 


Muhyiddin: Zahid wanted me to drop his cases, Umno pulled support when I didn't

#KiniNews: Muhyiddin refuses Zahid’s dare, Najib says pressured by Mahathir

PUTRAJAYA: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has told Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi not to lie to the rakyat about seeking his help in getting the corruption charges against him dropped.
`
The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president said he had proof that the Bagan Datuk MP had sought his help over the matter when he was the prime minister.
`
“That night (during a ceramah), I have shown the witnesses.
`
“Don’t lie to the rakyat but if he wants to do the ‘sumpah laknat’, he can do so even multiple times, it’s up to him,” said Muhyiddin when met after chairing the National Recovery Council meeting here yesterday.
`
During a ceramah in Tangkak on Feb 16, Muhyiddin claimed that Ahmad Zahid had visited his home with piles of files a few days after he was sworn in as prime minister in 2020.
`
He claimed that the former deputy prime minister had asked for help and said that he had not done the things of which he was accused of.
`
Muhyiddin said he refused to help, which he claimed prompted Ahmad Zahid to back efforts to oust him as prime minister.
`
Ahmad Zahid in a response on Monday said he was willing to take the “sumpah laknat” to refute claims that he had sought Muhyiddin’s help to get the corruption charges against him dropped.
`
“Sumpah laknat” is usually an act of last resort, and is an oath made according to syariah principles and in the name of Allah, where the confessor calls upon God to punish him if he has told a lie.

Source link

Related posts:

 

 

UMNO politician Ismail Sabri's rise to become Malaysia's prime minister   Malaysia's new PM brings graft-tainted UMNO back to p...

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Timely aid for small businesses

Impact will depend on execution of programme
`
KUALA LUMPUR: The RM40bil Semarak Niaga Keluarga Malaysia programme is seen as timely in helping businesses to recover, although its impact would depend on execution and approval processes, according to economists.
`
The programme, launched yesterday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, aims to increase access to financing for businesses especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the informal sector.
`
The programme comprises direct loans, financing guarantees and equity injections.
`
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the programme is quite timely, as the global economy will take some time to recover.
`

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the programme is quite timely, as the global economy will take some time to recover. 

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the programme is quite timely, as the global economy will take some time to recover.
`
“This economic disruption is unlike the previous ones such as the 2008 global financial crisis. Governments around the world are still hesitant about reopening their borders and economies,” he noted.
`
Regarding government debt and fiscal sustainability, he said the programme involves various government agencies and development financial institutions (DFIs).
`
“I don’t think there is direct financing from the government except if there are financing guarantees involved. While the DFIs have a mandate to support the government’s agenda in terms of promoting the growth of MSMEs, the DFIs also exercise their own due diligence to mitigate risk,” he said.
`
Afzanizam added that the financial impact of the increased access to financing would also depend on “how quickly the funds are disbursed”.
`
“This should help the Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises to recover faster
, especially as the government has signalled that there would not be any more lockdowns. We can expect better prospects, going forward, for MSMEs involved in tourism and consumer spending-related activities,” he said.
`
Afzanizam also noted that many industries were facing issues such as inflationary pressures due to higher raw material prices, difficulties in getting workers and logistical delays.
`
“The better access to financing will certainly help businesses manage their working capital and boost their liquidity position,” he said.

`Meanwhile, Centre for Market Education CEO Dr Carmelo Ferlito told StarBiz he had mixed views about the programme.

Centre for Market Education CEO Dr Carmelo Ferlito told StarBiz he had mixed views about the programme.`

Centre for Market Education CEO Dr Carmelo Ferlito told StarBiz he had mixed views about the programme.

 “From one side, the programme is an open recognition that lockdowns harmed the economy more than the benefits they provided (if any). In this sense, the government’s attempt to support businesses in general and SMEs in particular is welcomed,” he said.
`
However, Ferlito said he is concerned about the potential unintended consequences such as inflation.
`
“In a nutshell, easy credit or financing can only further stress the inflationary pressures currently at play. Just to give you some figures: given 100 the values of 2019, at the end of 2021, gross domestic product was 97.33 (so, below the 2019 level); however, M1 (the basic monetary aggregate) was 127.78, consumer price index 101.8 and producer price index 107.64.
`
“So, further money injections in the form of zero-interest loans and other refinancing initiatives can only add pressure on pressure,” he explained.
`
Ferlito said another concern is that economic initiatives may be initiated only because of the financial support rather than on the basis of a sound economic plan.
`
On fiscal sustainability, Ferlito said a less risky way to address the needs of businesses is through more favourable tax schemes and incentives rather than ambitious financing programmes, which present risks for inflation, sustainability (for banks too) and in general, for the overall cyclical dynamic of the national economy.
`
SME Association of Malaysia national secretary-general Chin Chee Seong said: “This programme is very much welcomed. For businesses to revive and to help in their cashflow, it is important for them to have fresh loans with lower interest and longer repayment periods.”
`
Chin said one issue he foresees is that the loans and micro credit schemes may be “taken up very fast” and may not reach the businesses in dire need of such financing.
`
“Also, the DFIs should be less stringent in assessing the loan applications and lower the bar for loan approvals,” he said.

Source link

 Related:

 

Responsive and proactive steps in handling crisis

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2022/02/22/responsive-and-proactive-steps-in-handling-crisis

 

SemarakNiaga initiative to help entrepreneurs recover, move forward ...

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/02/21/semarakniaga-initiative-to-help-entrepreneurs-recover-move-forward


`




https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/02/773157/government-launching-rm40-billion-semarakniaga-scheme

 

Related posts:

 

` KUALA LUMPUR: The JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative will support the government’s goal of reducing the unemployment rate by pr...
 
UMNO politician Ismail Sabri's rise to become Malaysia's prime minister   Malaysia's new PM brings graft-tainted UMNO back to p...