Media in China

Teacher Day Time Branch TA Class

Caz

Note: This lesson plan is not acceptable for most university classes in China. Use this lesson plan
with extreme caution as it could lead to getting you fired and/or deported.

Resources:
(all the material is attached at the end of this lesson plan)
• Media Censorship in China information & Exercise Questions (4 pages)
• Media Bias information (4 pages)
• Articles for Media Bias exercise (10 pages)

Stage: Aim: Students will be able to brainstorm concepts of media

Presentation/
Method:
Practice • Free Talk with Ss to come up with idea’s of what Media means
Time: 10 • T assists Ss with the different streams of media:
o Internet: broadcasting companies, blog’s/ personal websites, podcasts,
advertising banners, email.
o Television: news, TV documentaries (national geographic)
o Cinema, Documentaries (The Inconvenient Truth)
o Advertising: various media, content, buying and placement for
advertising
o Non Fiction books, educational textbooks
o Newspapers, Magazines
o Research Journals: medical, psychology, media, etc.
o Radio: news casts, talk back, current affairs,
o Speeches, Debates
Comments

Stage: Aim: Students will be able to understand what media censorship is

Presentation
Method:
Time: 5.
• Discuss the definition of media censorship
o Definition: To examine media sources and prevent publication of
information thought to be unacceptable.
www.apheda.org.au/campaigns/burma_schools_kit/resources/1074040257_16812.html
Comments

Stage: Aim: Students will be able to practice reading/ comprehension

Practice
Method:
Time: 15.
• Class is split into groups and use the Media Censorship in China article
• Together as a group they are to read the article.
Comments

Stage: Aim: Students will be able to answer questions about censorship

Production
Method:
Time: 20.
• After Ss have read the article Ss are to complete the Questions on Censorship
sheet.
• Depending on the number of Groups/ Ss, select a spokesperson to answer a
 question each.
• Time is based on allowing 10 minutes to answer questions, and 10 to speak/
discuss answers with class.
Comments

Stage: Aim: Students will be able to comprehend the terms ‘bias’ and ‘media bias’
Presentation
Method:
Time: 5.
• Free Talk what these terms are; provide definitions, discuss.
• Definition: Bias
o a particular tendency or inclination, esp. one that prevents unprejudiced
consideration of a question; prejudice
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bias
• Definition: Media Bias
o Media bias is a term used to describe a real or perceived bias of
journalists and news producers within the mass media, in the selection of
which events will be reported and how they are covered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_bias
o Who benefits from the bias in each media that is presented?
Comments
65.
Stage: Aim: Students will be able to read/ review Media Bias article
Practice
Method:
Time: 10
• Ss read/ review Media Bias article in small groups.
• T stops Ss intermittently to CCQ each subtopic. Ss are to illustrate
comprehension by asking questions about topics, T is to elicit answers from Ss
before offering suggests/ responses.
Comments
75.
Stage: Aim: Students will be able to evaluate news articles
Production
Method:
Time: 15.
• T provides groups with one of the articles.
• Ss work in groups to read/ evaluate their article and provide answers.
• Ss elect a spokesperson who presents on behalf of group.
• Class discusses/ asks questions of group.
Comments
 Media Censorship in China
http://www.cfr.org/publication/11515

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing have drawn international attention to censorship in China.
Watchdog groups say the preexisting monitoring system piles on new restrictions, and the government
continues to detain and harass journalists. But the country’s burgeoning economy allows greater
diversity in China’s media coverage, and experts say the growing Chinese demand for information is
testing a regime that is trying to use media controls in its bid to maintain power.

What is the official media policy in China?

As China becomes a major player in the global economy, authorities in Beijing are trying to balance
the need for more information with their goal of controlling content as a means to maintain power.
CFR Senior Fellow Elizabeth C. Economy says the Chinese government is in a state of
“schizophrenia” about media policy as it “goes back and forth, testing the line, knowing they need
press freedom—and the information it provides— but worried about opening the door to the type of
freedoms that could lead to the regime’s downfall.”

Although President Hu Jintao was expected to be more liberal than his predecessors, his administration
has pursued a media policy that involves increased regulations as well as the arrest and prosecution of
journalists. But in spite of a crackdown under Hu, China’s media is undergoing a process of
commercialization, leading to growing competition, diversified content, and an increase in
investigative reporting by Chinese news agencies.

According to a government report, there are more than two thousand newspapers, over eight thousand
magazines, and some 374 television stations in the country. China also has over 150 million Internet
users and, despite restrictions governing online content, both domestic and international stories that
censors would prefer to control slip through government information firewalls. Only state agencies can
own media in China, but there is creeping privatization as outlets subcontract administrative operations
to the private sector.

How free is Chinese media?

The watchdog group Reporters Without Borders ranked China 163 out of 168 countries in its 2007
index of press freedom. China’s constitution affords its citizens freedom of speech and press, but the
document contains broad language that says Chinese citizens must defend “the security, honor, and
interests of the motherland.” Chinese law includes media regulations with vague language that
authorities use to claim stories endanger the country by sharing state secrets.

Journalists face harassment and prison terms for violating these rules and revealing classified matter.
The government’s monitoring structure promotes an atmosphere of self-censorship; if published
materials are deemed dangerous to state security after they appear in the media, the information can
then be considered classified and journalists can be prosecuted.

How does China exert media controls?

The Chinese government uses different means of intimidation to control the media and induce
journalists to censor themselves rather than risk punishment. Censorship tactics include:

Dismissals and demotions. One of the most common punishments, say watchdog groups, is to fire or
demote editors and journalists who publish articles objectionable to the CPD.

Libel. Government officials occasionally use accusations of libel as a way to intimidate media outlets
and publishing houses. Cases range from a journalist charged with libel for writing pieces critical of
Communist Party leaders on foreign websites to an author whose book about the extortion of farmers
by local officials was banned after one of the officials sued him and his publishing house.

Fines. In August 2007, China passed the “Emergency Response Law,” which bans the spread of
unverified information regarding riots, disasters, and other emergencies. Originally, the law threatened
to fine media sources up to $12,500 for violations, but it was redrafted with more ambiguous language
before it was passed.

Closing news outlets. News organizations that cover issues the CPD considers classified face closure.
In a 2005 report, the People’s Daily said 338 publications were shut down the previous year for
printing “internal” information.

Imprisonment. China imprisoned twenty-nine journalists in 2007, making it the world’s biggest jailor
of reporters for the ninth year running, according to CPJ. Almost two-thirds of the jailed reporters were
arrested for materials published on the Internet. One incarcerated foreign correspondent, Ching Cheong
of Singapore’s Straits Times, was arrested in 2005 while reporting about leaders within the Chinese
Communist Party. Cheong was sentenced to five years in prison, plus one year’s deprivation of
political rights. His arrest had a chilling effect on press freedom in Hong Kong, where he was based.

How does China control the influence of foreign media?

China requires foreign correspondents to get permission before making reporting trips within the
country and reporters often face harassment if they cover delicate issues.
As part of its bid to host the 2008 Olympics, China promised to relax constraints and “be open in every
aspect to the rest of the country and the whole world.”

In January 2007, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signed a decree that allows foreign journalists to report
without permits before and during the Beijing Games. The decree also allows foreign journalists to
interview any individual or organization as long as the interviewee consents. The new guidelines came
into effect on January 1, 2007, and will last through October 27, 2008.

But critics accuse China of reneging on its Olympic promise. The Foreign Correspondents Club of
China reports that 180 foreign correspondents were detained, harassed, or attacked in China in 2007
despite the nominally relaxed regulations. In addition, China continues to filter foreign (and domestic)
content on the Internet—in many cases using technology provided by U.S. companies such as Yahoo!,
Microsoft, and Google.

One of the largest foreign uproars came when Beijing introduced regulations in September 2006
requiring foreign wire services to distribute news through Xinhua instead of selling economic
information directly to clients. CFR’s Economy says the restrictions had less to do with media control
than with a bid by Xinhua to cut into wire services’ profits. The move was “brazen,” says Dietz,
because even as Beijing continues prosecuting journalists who cover controversial social issues, “China
knows it cannot afford to tamper with the flow of economic data, and that is where it will receive the
most external pressure.” But despite the pressure that foreign groups place on China, experts say that
criticism coming from outside China will have little effect on policy.

How do journalists get around media control measures?

Despite the systematic control of news in China—the U.S. State Department estimates China has
between thirty thousand and fifty thousand Internet monitors—editors and journalists find ways to get
news past the censors. Esarey says the primary space for freedom of speech in China is the blogosphere,
where journalists use humor and political satire to criticize the Chinese government.
In mainstream media, editors find ways to test the rules as readers in China’s flourishing economy
demand hard news, says Dietz, and journalists covering social issues their editors won’t publish will
post stories online, where the news will be released into cyberspace even if the original post is removed.

Dietz predicts press freedom “will expand to meet the needs and demands not just of the government
but of the society.” Chinese media broke the news about official suppression of information about the
2003 SARS outbreak in Beijing. Similarly, after toxic chemicals leaked into a river and contaminated
drinking water in the northeast city of Harbin in 2005, newspapers and websites criticized government
response, demanded greater transparency, and posted photos of area residents stockpiling bottled
water.
 Questions on Censorship
• Ask questions in your group make sure you discuss your answers fully.
• Select a spokesperson for your group to provide the answer to the class.

1. Before reading this article, were you aware that China had a Censorship Policy? What are your
thoughts on this policy?
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2. Do you (or someone you know) have a personal website or blog? Have you ever had material
deleted from the website?
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3. Do you feel that you would like more freedom of information? What are some good & bad
reasons for free speech?
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4. How do you think the world media views the Chinese censorships?
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5. How can China improve its international media relationships?

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 ARTICLE 1:
A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash
By AMY HARMON
Published: August 23, 2008
Excerpt from Full Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/education/24evolution.html?ref=todayspaper

STUDENTS Allie Farris, left, and Bryce Haas with their teacher David Campbell
in sophomore biology class at Ridgeview High School in Orange Park, Fla.

ORANGE PARK, Fla. — David Campbell switched on the overhead projector and wrote “Evolution”
in the rectangle of light on the screen.

He scanned the faces of the sophomores in his Biology I class. Many of them, he knew from years of
teaching high school in this Jacksonville suburb, had been raised to take the biblical creation story as
fact. His gaze rested for a moment on Bryce Haas, a football player who attended the 6 a.m. prayer
meetings of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in the school gymnasium.

“If I do this wrong,” Mr. Campbell remembers thinking on that humid spring morning, “I’ll lose him.”

In February, the Florida Department of Education modified its standards to explicitly require, for the
first time, the state’s public schools to teach evolution, calling it “the organizing principle of life
science.” Spurred in part by legal rulings against school districts seeking to favor religious versions of
natural history, over a dozen other states have also given more emphasis in recent years to what has
long been the scientific consensus: that all of the diverse life forms on Earth descended from a common
ancestor, through a process of mutation and natural selection, over billions of years.

But in a nation where evangelical Protestantism and other religious traditions stress a literal reading of
the biblical description of God’s individually creating each species, students often arrive at school
fearing that evolution, and perhaps science itself, is hostile to their faith.

Some come armed with “Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about evolution,” a document
circulated on the Internet that highlights supposed weaknesses in evolutionary theory. Others scrawl
their opposition on homework assignments. Many just tune out.
With a mandate to teach evolution but little guidance as to how, science teachers are contriving their
own ways to turn a culture war into a lesson plan. How they fare may bear on whether a new
generation of Americans embraces scientific evidence alongside religious belief.

“If you see something you don’t understand, you have to ask ‘why?’ or ‘how?’ ” Mr. Campbell often
admonished his students at Ridgeview High School.

Yet their abiding mistrust in evolution, he feared, jeopardized their belief in the basic power of science
to explain the natural world — and their ability to make sense of it themselves.
Passionate on the subject, Mr. Campbell had helped to devise the state’s new evolution standards,
which will be phased in starting this fall. A former Navy flight instructor not used to pulling his
punches, he fought hard for their passage. But with his students this spring, he found himself treading
carefully, as he tried to bridge an ideological divide that stretches well beyond his classroom.

Note: full article found in above webpage.

Exercise:
• Answer question in groups: elect a spokesperson to present to class.

What type of media is this article?

How could this article be seen as biased?

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 ARTICLE 2:

http://celebrities.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=177791&showcomments=true

Kate Moss wasn't anorexic... she just had no food!

That’s right, folks. The supermodel infamous for a string of cocaine scandals now
claims that she’s never been anorexic - but that she was simply too busy to eat.

Kate told Interview magazine: "I was never anorexic, so I was never that skinny... I was never bony-
bony. But I remember thinking, 'I don't want to be this skinny.’"

And that's fair enough... but Kate's eating habits, or lack of, didn't help her cause.

"I didn't eat for a long time," she said. "Not on purpose. You'd be on shoots with bad food or get on a
plane, and the food would be so disgusting you couldn't eat it.

"You go to a show, and there's no food at all, so if you're doing shows back to back, you can forget
eating."

C’mon! Nobody really loves plane food, but as if the grumbling of an empty stomach is any better!

The 5’7” model candidly acknowledged that she too was worried about her uber-thin bod.
"I remember standing up in the bath one day, and there was a mirror in front of me, and I was so thin! I
hated it," she says. "I never liked being that skinny."

Here's hoping Kate is now setting a good example for her 5-year-old daughter, Lila Grace.
 Kate rejects claims she was anorexic.
Either way, she was still way too thin!

Exercise:
• Answer question in groups: elect a spokesperson to present to class.

What type of media is this article?

How could this article be seen as biased?

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 ARTICLE 3:

www.chinadaily.com.cn
August 25, 2008

One world, one dream, one million volunteers

By Daniel Libman
China Daily Staff Writer
Updated: 2008-08-25 07:23
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-08/25/content_6967019.htm

Wang Jue had dreamed of becoming an Olympic volunteer for three years, from the day in July 2005
when he learned he had been accepted to a university in Beijing.

After taking 160 hours of classes over five semesters, in subjects ranging from Olympic history to
journalism, he at last got the chance to serve during the Beijing Olympics as a professional media
volunteer.

Wang says that his training improved his communication skills and gave him the confidence to interact
with journalists from around the world.

He was a Help Desk Assistant at the International Broadcast Center,

decked out in busy waves of yellow, blue, grey, and white, the official
volunteer uniform.

The surrounding desks and tables were stacked high with city maps and
brochures in countless languages.

"Working with journalists is quite fun," he says. "You can always offer
somebody something, and this kind of giving can make you happy."

During his time on the job, Wang and his enthusiastic colleagues have also
thought a lot about what it means to be a volunteer.
Arsen Kasabiev of Georgia (C) falls after
failing a lift as volunteers use boards to "For many Chinese students, it's the first chance to be volunteers. It's
hide him in the men's 94 kg weightlifting pretty precious and valuable," says Linna Bie, who was a Transportation
event during the 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games in Beijing on August 17, 2008. Desk Assistant during the Olympics.
[Agencies]
Hong Chen, a volunteer director and physics professor at Tsinghua University, puts the experience in
perspective. "Organizing work is very tough," she says. "Getting people from different circles working
together at the same time is such a challenge."
The Beijing Olympics received more than one million volunteer applications, of which 74,715 were
accepted, plus 30,000 for the Paralympic Games. However, Zhang Juming, deputy director of the
Volunteer Work Department of the Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games, says that 1
million people in fact volunteered services in various fields, including medical, traffic and security
assistance. That's the equivalent of the entire population of Guatemala helping to run a sporting event.

Zhang thinks volunteerism will be one of the most powerful legacies of the Olympics. "The Games
will foster an attitude of mass participation and long-term growth of the volunteer mentality in China,"
he said during a press conference. Due to the experience of managing the Olympic volunteer program,
he believes that China will be able to run more volunteer initiatives in the future.

Many Chinese Olympic volunteers took great pride in their work and their contribution to history.
"Without the volunteers, there could be no great Olympics," says Wang. "Maybe it's the biggest ever
event in China, and maybe the biggest event of my lifetime."

Linna sees her volunteer job as a win-win situation. "On the one hand I can serve the country," she
explains. "And on the other hand I can improve myself through inner evaluation and inner
improvement."

Even after the Beijing Olympics conclude, the spirit of service will live on in the hearts of many
volunteers. "When this Games ends, it's not ending, but a new beginning," says Linna.

Exercise:
• Answer question in groups: elect a spokesperson to present to class.

What type of media is this article?

How could this article be seen as biased?

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 ARTICLE 4:

www.chinadaily.com.cn
August 25, 2008

Suicide bomber kills 25 west of Baghdad

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-25 09:08
Excerpt from Full Article: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-08/25/content_6967591.htm

BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday in the midst of a celebration to welcome
home an Iraqi detainee released from US custody, killing at least 25 people, Iraqi officials said.

The US military, meanwhile, announced the arrest of an al-Qaida in Iraq figure who allegedly planned
the 2006 kidnapping of American journalist Jill Carroll -- one of the highest-profile attacks against
Westerners in Iraq.

The suicide attack occurred inside one of several tents set up outside a house in the Abu Ghraib area on
Baghdad's western outskirts, according to residents and police. It was unclear if the former detainee
was among the casualties.

A woman who was wounded but declined to give her name for security
reasons said she was preparing food behind the tents when the blast occurred
at about 9 p.m., knocking her and her three young children off their feet.

Residents and police said Ayyid Salim al-Zubaie, a local sheik in the mainly
Sunni area, had invited dozens of guests to a banquet in honor of his son,
who was released earlier in the day from Camp Bucca in southern Iraq.

Residents said the detainee-son had quarreled with al-Qaida members while
in detention and may have been the target of the attack. The guests also
included several members of the local awakening council, a US-allied group
that has turned against al-Qaida.
An Iraqi boy inspects the damage
after a suicide bomb attack at a car
Yassir al-Jumaili, a doctor at the hospital in nearby Fallujah where most of
dealership in the northern Iraqi city
of Kirkuk. [Agencies]
the wounded were taken, gave the death toll as 25 and said at least 29 other
people were wounded. The blast was a grim reminder of the dangers still facing Iraqis despite a sharp
decrease in violence after the 2007 US troop buildup, a Sunni decision to join forces with the
Americans against al-Qaida and a Shiite militia cease-fire.

Note: Full article can be found in above website.

Exercise:
• Answer question in groups: elect a spokesperson to present to class.

What type of media is this article?

How could this article be seen as biased?

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 ARTICLE 5:

BBC News Updated every minute of every day

China deports US Tibet protesters

Page last updated at 03:53 GMT, Monday, 25 August 2008 04:53 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7580381.stm

China has deported eight Americans detained in Beijing last week

for demonstrating about Tibet during the Olympic Games.

The eight left China on Sunday while the closing ceremony was taking
place after American officials pressed for them to be released.

Washington had voiced "disappointment" that China had not used the
Olympics "to demonstrate greater tolerance".
Signs of dissent have been rare during
Two other detainees, a Briton and a German, were reportedly also the Beijing Olympics
freed.

The eight Americans were deported by the Chinese authorities at 2100 Chinese time (1300 GMT) on
Sunday on a China Air flight to Los Angeles, the White House said.

They had been among dozens of foreigners who evaded security checks to demonstrate in favour of
Tibetan independence and were arrested on 20-21 August.

They had faced up to 10 days in custody after hanging a "Free Tibet" banner near an Olympic venue
and holding other small demonstrations.

Briton Mandie McKeown is expected to arrive home on Monday.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown had raised Ms McKeown's case when he met his Chinese
counterpart, Wen Jiabao, in Beijing on Friday.

Florian Norbu Gyanatshang, an ethnic Tibetan German, is said by German media to have been released
and to be on his way home.
Exercise:
• Answer question in groups: elect a spokesperson to present to class.

What type of media is this article?

How could this article be seen as biased?

_____________________________________________________________________
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