CCTV FOLLIES 8.4 Reality trumps propaganda

Xi personality cult in high dudgeon -CCP is savior of all flood refugees! -Trump trumps foreign news -CCTV on scene in DC -Ukraine drone strikes -Job hunt in China as easy as lighting a cigarette!

The main story of news value in today’s Xinwen Lianbo news comes from the foreign news section. It’s not important because it involves a former US president, nor is it well-reported or particularly insightful, especially for Chinese domestic viewers. The Trump story is of interest because it’s covered more or less like news is actually covered, even when it’s covered poorly, which is to say a CCTV crew goes to the scene, points the camera and shoots, while the producers and translators collect some information if possible. It doesn’t sound like much, but this is leaps and bounds ahead in journalistic terms compared to the usual propaganda, which CCTV covers with great panache, color and verve, but is entirely scripted in tune with the party line and is largely composed in the studio.

CCTV has reporter Liu Xu doing a stand-up on the scene, reporting from Washington, DC. There’s nothing about a stand-up that makes a story more news-worthy, a lot of effort is wasted on positioning and appearances, but it screams “news” to viewers accustomed to the idiosyncratic ways of US television coverage.

The roving CCTV crew manages to get some fresh, original footage from the field which is then edited into stock footage and combined with visuals from other sources.

CCTV is becoming more adept at covering political demonstrations around the globe as can be seen in recent reports from Japan and Korea covering tame and polite gatherings that are mostly focused on the Fukushima radiated water issue.

CCTV has also covered a few demonstrations in the US, usually sticking close to the contingent with the most colorful placards and/or pro-socialist/anti-US slogans.

Today’s CCTV coverage is worth taking note of because it does something CCTV rarely does, which is to portray a head of state, current or former, in a negative light. Beijing’s protocol usually goes easy on the foibles, shortcomings and crimes of people in high places, at home and abroad, so there’s a certain amount of consistency in this editorial position. Then again, the narration here never veers into criticizing Trump, or expressing ill will, but some of the signs held by protestors do.

The chyron at the bottom of the screen reads:

“Former US President Trump appears in Washington court, protesters assemble.”

Compare this with today’s top story about Xi Jinping to get a better sense of how news about high people in high places (in this case the highest person in the highest place) gets covered, not only by pulling out the stops of laudatory propaganda, but by composing something made up entirely from old footage and picturesque visual cliches of zero news value. Nothing here is about anything that happened on this day.

It’s ostensibly about the new cultural mission of the CCP, but like so many of the top domestic stories of the day, it’s not a question of what it’s about—it’s not the tossed word salad of slogans that counts—it’s about who it is about, and that who is Xi.

The most recent pictures range from a week to several weeks old, and most of them have been aired once or twice already. Other images are drawn from old stock footage.

This month’s old virtual meeting, billed as “high-level,” gave Xi Jinping a chance to “address humanity” and the human condition, though most of the participants were from affiliated communist parties.

Now it could be argued that the heavy rains and horrific floods that have inundated parts of north China could be considered news, and news-worthy, but even here, CCTV coverage is so intent on showing the response of the party in a good light that local aid workers who responded immediately and at great risk to themselves sadly report being shoved out of the way and off-camera by CCP image-handlers who want the party to be portrayed as the soul savior.

It’s telling that freshly-printed red banners festoon the wall of temporary command centers where the party puts supplies for the people on display.

In a situation of such dire urgency, couldn’t the banners wait?

Likewise, drones, which could be quite useful at a time like this to look for survivors and survey damage are used to create propaganda images. Is this really a good use of equipment, not to mention the precious time of rescue-team workers, to stage colorful arty shots as an illustration of the party’s prowess in responding to disaster?

The shocking flood scenes of cars being swept away and phone shots of flooded villages that first surfaced on social networks and made the world news elsewhere have gotten scant coverage on CCTV. Instead, CCTV wasted a day or two, carefully polishing the lenses of their cameras, until a clear party line about what to show and not to show emerged, and then rushed to the scene with great enthusiasm to record ongoing rescue efforts by authorities. If past practices of CCTV during times of natural disaster are any guide, many of the most moving, photogenic scenes are as choreographed and staged as a Hollywood film.

Why is the strong, handsome rescue worker cradling the well-dressed baby?

A similar pattern of crowding the frame with red and orange suited workers was evident in China’s carefully edited, tightly choreographed coverage of its self-valorized earthquake rescue mission in Turkey.

If the unreality of the CCP’s valiant rescue efforts whet your appetite for more fiction, consider this special segment below on how the very manageable rate of joblessness among fresh graduates is being met with gala job fairs, fancy graphics boards, individual counseling and going online, where your new job is just a click away.

Have you ever thought about getting into the cigarette lighter business? No? Think again. It’s booming, and many young workers gleefully attest to its attraction.

It’s a growth industry and there are many levels of manufacture, some regions focus on the domestic market, others eye the more fickle foreign market. Foreigners like lighters with traditional Chinese design, they also like outdoorsy products because they like camping and other outdoor activities. Know your market!

The Kremlin Follies today offers less of the usual about Russia’s big gun prowess and more a complaint about Ukraine’s drone attack on a Russian ship. The marine drone struck and disable a ship in the key naval and shipping hub of Novorossiysk, located a considerable distance from the front line. Ukraine is said to have admitted its role in the blast, unlike previous drone attacks conducted without attribution. Russia is mad.

The Black Sea grain issue continues to interest the editors at CCTV.

This Russia Africa meeting chaired by Putin on July 27 is meant to reassure African importers of grain from the Black Sea region that Russia will meet their needs.

UK economy is still a mess. Another borrowing rate hike, now at 5.25%

And what better way to end the day’s review than with a US train wreck?

The latest blow to the crumbling infrastructure of the US took place on the Long Island Rail Road near the station in Jamaica, New York.

Zai jian!