INFLUENCE: State-run China Radio International is the little-seen power behind a global web of radio stations, including those affiliated with G&E Studio Inc in California, run by James Su (top right). The programming sticks close to the Chinese government line. REUTERS/Stringer; Beijing Association USA/Handout; Lucas Jackson
Reuters: Beijing’s covert radio network airs China-friendly news across Washington, and the world
The Chinese government controls much of the content broadcast on a station that is blanketing the U.S. capital with pro-Beijing programming. WCRW is part of an expanding global web of 33 stations in which China’s involvement is obscured.
BEIJING/WASHINGTON – In August, foreign ministers from 10 nations blasted China for building artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. As media around the world covered the diplomatic clash, a radio station that serves the most powerful city in America had a distinctive take on the news.
Located outside Washington, D.C., WCRW radio made no mention of China’s provocative island project. Instead, an analyst explained that tensions in the region were due to unnamed “external forces” trying “to insert themselves into this part of the world using false claims.”
Behind WCRW’s coverage is a fact that’s never broadcast: The Chinese government controls much of what airs on the station, which can be heard on Capitol Hill and at the White House.
WNU Editor: A rather revealing look at how China tries to spread its "message".... and the Chinese are not only targeting the U.S. .... Chinese radio broadcaster taps front men in Finland and Australia (Reuters). What's my take .... I have been told that China's grip on the news is even more extensive than that .... that even Western journalists have been told in China that if their broadcasts are "too negative", access to officials will be denied to them. Since access is the "mother's milk" for journalists .... one has to wonder if their coverage is being influenced by these "threats".
So J-school is Ho school.
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