ESSAY: THE CCTV DILEMMA: HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?
It can't be easy, polishing the news to make Xi shine -Concocting the image of a strong, knowledgeable leader by sleight of hand -Too much? -Too little? -How to best manufacture a personality cult?
All of the examples of CCTV’s Xi coverage depicted below are taken from the Xinwen Lianbo evening news program of June 26, 2024. Many re-runs are included.
It’s just one day in the machinations of the media machine, just one cycle of brainwash, rinse and repeat, just one episode of TV propaganda designed to prop up the cult of the peerless visionary.
CCTV producers are under great pressure to show their great leader to be a uniquely brilliant, accomplished and inspirational visionary, a truly historical personage who has a plan for a New Era of shared global humanity and multilateralism, a man who is always right and never wrong, and even if and when he is wrong, he’s not wrong, because he’s above criticism, so he might as well be perfect.
The June 26 news opens with a diplomatic event: