China: Bloggers declare war on Western media's Tibet coverage
Once the news of Tibetans slicing children's ears off and burning people alive sunk in, Chinese netizens worldwide seized onto initial misreported details from the situation in Tibet and don't seem willing to let this one go. In fact, they've declared cyberwar on major western media outlets, and anti-CNN.com is campaign headquarters.
As words like Tibet and Lhasa moved to the top of the GFW keyword list following the outbreak of violence and unrest in southwestern China earlier this month, a lot of attention to root causes to the Tibet situation simply stopped at anti-CNN.com's collection of photos, screenshots, furious accusations and non-sequiturs, most of which might hold up under scrutiny, as the collection made for convenient paste-and-copy blogging.
For bloggers trapped between two sides in a ruthless propaganda battle that has seen lives lost and a large part of China placed under military lock-down, there's of course a lot of frustration being felt about how to even begin blogging the situation. Then there are facts such as that young Tibetan militants in exile fully intended to created a disturbance in Lhasa for this year's Tibetan National Uprising Day and have talked openly about doing so for the past several months.
So how does one start addressing this now unfortunately prevalent attitude among Chinese bloggers seen in the intro on anti-CNN.com?
认清西方媒体卑鄙无耻的真面目
长期以来，以CNN、BBC为代表的西方某些媒体借新闻自由之名
对广大发展中国家进行了肆无忌惮的污蔑和诋毁
为了达到他们不可告人的目的
他们栽赃陷害、颠倒黑白、混淆是非、无中生有……真是无所不用其极
have been unscrupulously slandering and defaming developing nations
In order to achieve their unspoken goal
They mislead and they ensnare, switching black for white, confusing right and wrong, fabricating…willing to go to any length
在对2008年3月西藏骚乱的报道中
西方媒体的表演再一次向世人展示了他们丑恶的真实面目本网站旨在收集、整理并发布西方主流媒体作恶的证据
如果您看到任何西方媒体作恶的证据，请千万不要轻易放过他们
把它们保存起来并寄给我们
多收集一份他们的罪证，就是为我们争取到了多一点的空间我们关注所有西方媒体（不只是CNN），不限语言、内容（文本或图片）和国家
Western media's performance once again shows to the world their repulsive true face
This website seeks to collect, organize and publish the proof of the evil of western mainstream media
If you see any proof of Western media's evil, please do not whatsoever let them get off easily
Please save it and send it to us
The more evidence of their crimes we collect, the more space we'll have fought and won for ourselves
We are concerned with all western media (not only CNN), and not limited by language, content (text or photos) or country
这将是一场反抗西方话语霸权的斗争
我们应该充分认识到这场斗争的长期性、艰巨性和复杂性
但无论怎样，我们都坚信：西方国家妄图通过几个破媒体就一张臭嘴遮天的日子将一去不返了！
We need to fully recognize that this will be a long-term, difficult and complex battle
But regardless of the outcome, we all firmly believe:
Western nations’ days of using several of their crap media in an absurd attempt to fool people with their rotten words will soon be over for good!
Please see Global Voices Online's ongoing collection of related links at our special feature Tibet Protests 2008.
185 comments
its all sentiments…
no one knows the truth, not even chinese gov’t, nor Dalai Lama, but bits of voices. there is a strong sentiment against western media about the tibet protest in mainland china. of course it is partly a result of the media ban in tibet. but there is also a partial truth about the selective use of images for creating an “impression”.
while the western media is selective, the chinese media is monopolized in the representation of the issue. in both cases, readers should be informed and critical of the “production” of this “reality”.
I have been following the Tibet crisis closely on my blog. And I have posted my own reflections on the controversy concerning CNN’s coverage of the unrest.
I think we need to question the notion of the “Chinese netizen.”
http://jotman.blogspot.com/2008/03/attacks-on-cnn-motivated-by-chinese.html
Dear Dr. Kennedy,
Ok, Thanks. You’re doing fine. You’ve demonstrated very clearly what we already knew, that the march toward Tibet by the exile NGOs in India was timed to start on March 10. You may not be aware that Tibetan exiles always observe March 10 with demonstrations to commemorate the original uprising in ’59. You may also not be aware that nothing has ever happened in Tibet on March 10 since ’59 because that is simply the most logical symbolic date to have demonstrations. Therefore security in Tibet and especially in Lhasa was always tightened around this date, and so nothing ever happened. 2008 is the first time ever.
A march into Tibet was suggested several years ago by Samdhong Rinpoche before he became Prime Minister of the TGIE. It was then suggested as a Gandhian Satyagraha “Grasping onto truth” type of peaceful protest, like the famous Salt March. However, now the TYC seems to have highjacked the idea (everyone knows they don’t care for Gandhian methods). Apparently the march is off for now. (A lemming-suicidal idea, really, and not likely to help with anything at the moment.)
What you have not demonstrated at all is that the TYC had anything to do with events in the TAR. Those of us with experience in the exile community know that the TYC is famous for tough talk. But have they actually ever done anything? That we have never heard. This would be a first. That’s why we think the idea is utterly absurd and would demand some kind of proof that it occurred, not assertion based on innuendo. Leave that to Xinhua.
With thanks for your endurance of my rough or rude or ill-mannered comments. They were not aimed specifically at you, since anyway I don’t know who you are. That makes the anonymity mutual. Seems fairly fair to me.
I wonder that why the Mr Kennedy doesn’t use the pictures the netizens are pasting and copying in their blogs. The very reason is he is guiding the readers thinking about the socalled disinformed chinese people are ignorant and rude.
Germany N-TV,BILD and RTL like to use the policemen in Nepal instead the ones in China,while the Fox in US prefer the Indian police. BBC used a picture of ambulence,but labelling it as a heavy military presence.
CNN was so smart that a picture showing the tibetans attacking the vehicles with stones was cut out to be the vehicles alone.
What kind of pictures would be used if the reports even can’t go to the locale of the turbulence,and what kind of media and nations would make themselves as the savior of the world. Who can say you are telling the truth after seeing the distorted picutres?
Visit the web if you dare.
http://www.anti-cnn.com/index2.html
Cora. You are late. Everyone here have being on this website.
Wise as you are, you know everyone can be wrong. Fools er those who didn’t learn. Are you able to tell me why the anti-cnn-website doesn’t bring false Xinhoanet or China Daily information’s? Here is a website for you to visit, if you dare:
http://secrettibet.rsfblog.org/archive/2008/03/25/index.html
PS: Tell the people around anti-cnn.com that they will be less vulgar or plebeian if they made follow-ups about their own stories.
@cora:
It’s a little difficult for Western news media to get reliable pictures and stories. Why? Because China won’t even let them in. How can China complain about unfair coverage when it wouldn’t even allow Western media in?
I supported Bloggers War on Western Media Hegeomony that opposed media biased and ethnic dissents. I believed Western Media Hegeomony is just ethnic cleanising over the World including Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq & Oil War, Banana Trade Dispute… Long Live Bloggers and Struggles against Western Media Hegeomony.
I just do not know why some major western newpaper or media say that Tibetan protest is peaceful? Have not they seen the blood? The fire? 6 young and becautiful girls had been burn alive to death!!! Why they can not see that? All these have been done by Dalai clique, they are terrost!!! Every one wants freedom, but all should be legal!!! You can kill anyone you want just because you want independence??? I had seen it that some terrorists catched a chopping knife in Tibet and Sichuan province, they kill anyone they dislike, ( I do not say Tibetan, because most Tibetan like peace, just some of them are the members of Dalai Clique). But how the police responsed to that? They just persuaded them to be calm down and throw away the chopping knife. The chinese police even have not taken any weapon. Some of the police have been hurt.
I am a Chinese, I support our government.
hope CNN don’t select messages. you guys know what, you have ever been to China? could you know more than a people who live in China? I am a common chinese girl. China is a country of 56 ethnical groups . we are very united. this time, it is just Dala who prompt small goup of Tibetan chinese to do those crimes. The small goup of criminals can’t represent the whole Tibetan chinese. Large number of Tibetan chinese are now scattered on all part of China. Dut to its geographical condition,(Tibetan are on 4000 meters plateau.)Tibet is obviously less developed than other parts of China.Our chinese government every year send many scholors from other parts of china to help Tibetan chinese building their homes(even our president is ever governor of Tibet) and carried out a policy that minority goups are more privilege than main chinese group in education such as score-adding on main examination.China also has a policy of religion freedom. stop criticizing, mind your own business. All chinses people are like one family . we love China. China will become a super power in 30 years. Watch!