CCTV FOLLIES 4.30 A FARCE FOR GOOD?

State media is star of its own show! -Television news switches to print format -CCTV as one giant E-reading machine? -Chinese TV bills itself as A FORCE FOR GOOD! -Xi popular in Europe! -US in decline

This is not just the official “read-out” of an announcement announcing a meeting, it is a lengthy read-out READ OUT LOUD! Every last word of it gets mouthed, sucking up every molecule of prime-time air-wave oxygen for almost ten excruciating minutes. It’s the top story of the day! It not only replaces more worthy stories, but it serves to replace critical thought altogether. Simply mind-numbing.

That’s television with CCP characteristics! Treat TV like a radio, treat people like sheep. The static, formulaic news about a meeting that won’t happen until July will inevitably stir jaded China watchers to new heights of jaundiced hope and knee-jerk anticipation. As for the rest of humanity, including the shared humanity of the broad masses of TV watchers in China, not so sure.

If you want to get the gist of the above, see the official, somewhat truncated, English translation here:

As for the Follies, a teaser or two will have to suffice for reasons of time and sanity:

“Xi Jinping, general sec…