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Xinhua Infiltrates Western Electronic Media, Part 2: Relationships with News Agencies and Distribution Services
Publication: China Brief Volume: 21 Issue: 16
By: John Dotson
August 17, 2021 02:24 PM Age: 1 month
Author’s Note: This is the second part of a two-part article series in China Brief exploring methods by which Xinhua and other Chinese state-owned media organizations are seeking greater presence and influence for their propaganda material in English-language online media. The first article examined recent examples of “advertorial” advertising, in which Xinhua content has been hosted on the websites and promoted in the e-mail advertising of prominent English-language news and foreign affairs publications (China Brief, April 12).
Introduction
Xinhua, the state news agency of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), serves a role very different from that of its nominal counterparts in democratic states, such as Britain’s BBC, Germany’s Deutsche Welle, or Taiwan’s Central News Agency. Xinhua (新华 or “New China”) functions as the official mouthpiece of China’s ruling party: Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping, reinforcing a long-standing party dictum, has declared that “journalism is the mouthpiece of the party and people” (新闻事业是党和人民的喉舌, xinwen shiye shi dang he renmin de houshe), possessing an “important mission to guide public opinion” (引导舆论的一个重要任务, yindao yulun de yige zhongyao renwu) (Renmin Wang, September 18, 2019). Operating abroad, the primary role of the PRC’s propaganda system is the imperative to “tell China’s story well” (讲好中国故事, jiang hao Zhongguo gushi) by promoting the CCP’s narratives to international audiences...
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