Inside China's audacious global propaganda campaign - including radio

Beijing is buying up media outlets and training scores of foreign journalists to ‘tell China’s story well’ – as part of a worldwide propaganda campaign of astonishing scope and ambition.

By Louisa Lim and Julia Bergin

Fri 7 Dec 2018 01.00 EST Last modified on Tue 11 Dec 2018 05.03 EST
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As they sifted through resumes, the team recruiting for the new London hub of China’s state-run broadcaster had an enviable problem: far, far too many candidates. Almost 6,000 people were applying for just 90 jobs “reporting the news from a Chinese perspective”. Even the simple task of reading through the heap of applications would take almost two months.

For western journalists, demoralised by endless budget cuts, China Global Television Network presents an enticing prospect, offering competitive salaries to work in state-of-the-art purpose-built studios in Chiswick, west London. CGTN – as the international arm of China Central Television (CCTV) was rebranded in 2016 – is the most high-profile component of China’s rapid media expansion across the world, whose goal, in the words of President Xi Jinping, is to “tell China’s story well”. In practice, telling China’s story well looks a lot like serving the ideological aims of the state.

Additional story at The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/dec/07/china-plan-for-global-media-dominance-propaganda-xi-jin

China expands it's reach to the world

With deep pockets, China's "big four" --- CCTV, Xinhua, and China Daily --- reach out to the world

David Shambaugh: "The Chinese government is investing a reported $8.7 billion in 2009-2010 in its 'external publicity work' — primarily on the 'Big Four': China Central Television (CCTV), China Radio International (CRI), Xinhua News Agency and the China Daily newspaper — while media executives and opinion shapers from various countries are being brought to China for 'familiarization' tours. All four of these external media outlets have had major makeovers in recent months, all intended to give a less propagandistic face to the world. Foreigners now anchor news broadcasts; op-ed pages are becoming more serious; radio programs are more diversified; Web sites are more informative; and newspapers are publishing more investigative stories. Some specific efforts include Xinhua TV now operating a 24 hour news channel that is trying to imitate Al Jazeera; CCTV News is trying to compete with CNN and BBC; CRI is buying more air time in a number of AM and FM radio markets in the United States and Europe, while broadcasting directly into Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. CCTV now broadcasts six international channels in five languages and claims a total global audience of about 125 million." -- Recommended reading, with more details of China's international media outreach. A "less propagandistic face" can still provide propaganda by the selection of news topics. Also, CCTV's "global audience of about 125 million" needs documentation. Reaching a number like that requires a rare combination effective delivery and attractive content. Viewership among Chinese diasporas might achieve that number.
(New York Times 07 June 2010 via Kim Elliott)