CCTV FOLLIES: US AT THE BOTTOM OF THE NEWS!
Last, but not least. Just bad! -The evening news closes with its usual salute to US in decline -Train wrecks, broken bridges, pollution, protests, gun violence, racial strife and catastrophic weather!
CCTV is generally cautious about airing protest footage, partly out of fear of reminding Chinese viewers of China’s own rich legacy of violently quashed protests, and relatedly, in fear of inadvertently inspiring disgruntled Chinese from getting ideas. It is not in the interests of state TV news of offer inspiraton for models of street action and anti-state unrest. Law and order is parmount, especially in China, but to some extent foreign countries get a free pass. Still, CCTV does not want to give too much airtime to the radical sight of citizens opposing state security forces and taking their fate into their own hands.
Sets a bad example.
The US has been awash with protests about Israel and Palestine for well over a month now, but CCTV’s Xinwen Lianbo has only aired footage on a couple of occasions, most notably May 18 and May 19. China’s state TV could have effectively exploited this open wound and blistering faultline in US politics, much in the way Russian news does, but CCTV demu…