ESSAY: CCTV's contrasting coverage of disasters in China and Japan

The best way to buttress an editorial line in which China is good and the world is bad is to air news stories about bad things not in China, especially in countries not in line with Beijing's line.

(January 8 update)

The deadly earthquake that struck Japan on New Year’s Day did not go unnoticed in China. It was covered from day one and it’s been covered everyday since. In fact, the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, initially called the Ishikawa quake on Chinese TV, has been the top foreign news story on CCTV’s flagship news program Xinwen Lianbo for a week now.*

Likewise, the Haneda Airport crash was a big story, with major coverage on January 2, more fiery shots on January 3, and some follow up coverage of the charred wrecked fuselage being dismantled on January 5 and 6.

Weeks can drift by without CCTV turning its gaze to Japan, so this coverage really stands out. Firstly, the quake IS an important story. As with most quakes, there are still people missing and known casualties are over 150. The runway jet collision at Haneda saw the loss of five lives in the smaller Coast Guard craft that got hit by the landing Boeing jet.

To put the sudden uptick in Japan coverage in context, both of CCT…