CNN Doubles Down on Its Decision to Publish Chinese State Propaganda as "News"

Hearings. Now.

CNN this week published a report copying almost word-for-word a Chinese Communist Party press release praising the People's Liberation Army Navy's efforts to contain the coronavirus and degrading the U.S. Navy's failures to do likewise.

Almost as bad as CNN's promotion of Chinese propaganda is the network's defense of its decision to run state-sponsored agitprop.

The story was a "single update from our international site’s 24-7 Live Story," a CNN spokesman told the Daily Caller. He added, "[The story] explicitly states the sourcing as a PLA story and identifies the Global Times as 'a state-run tabloid.' That transparency is key as a global news source serving a global audience."

...

Everything about the People’s Liberation Army "report" cited by CNN screams that it is government propaganda, yet it ended up on CNN's website anyway.

How?

The original CNN story, bylined to an "international homepage editor" based at CNN’s Hong Kong bureau, was based entirely on a "news report" that appeared first on a Chinese government website. It is not the sort of place where an "international homepage editor" for a free press would normally trawl for genuine news items, unless the point was to contrast.

The author then made the judgment call that the Chinese government "report" was worthy of serious attention and news coverage, a decision that presumably required the backing of an editor. The author then wrote an article based entirely on a "report" that says the People’s Liberation Army believes the People’s Liberation Army is doing a great job. The CNN article was then (presumably) edited, double-checked by CNN web producers, and then published online. Considering the number of CNN employees who were likely involved in bringing the story to life, it is remarkable that no one flagged it for propaganda or even questioned the news value of a report that states simply that China believes China has handled the pandemic wonderfully.

Anyone else remember when collusion with a hostile foreign communist regime to influence an election was considered criminal?

posted by Ace at 07:33 PM

| Access Comments