ShoppingChinese Call for CCTV Boycott
2009-01-13 09:30
WONG:
And in today's China news segment... Chinese are speaking out against what they call the propaganda of China Central TV or CCTV. In an open letter published on the Internet, 22 Chinese scholars and attorneys have called for a boycott of CCTV. Here’s a closer look at what they’re trying to accomplish.
STORY:
The purpose of the letter is to resist what the group calls CCTV’s monopolization of information, controlling public opinion, and brainwashing.
The open letter lists seven main issues they have with CCTV. Among them… promoting the Sanlu Group which made milk powder tainted with melamine… and ignoring social conflicts or reporting them in a watered down manner.
The letter also criticizes CCTV’s network news broadcast. The scholars allege the newscasts report good news while covering up bad news. The scholars suggest calling the programming a “propaganda network broadcast” rather than a “network news broadcast."
The group has a four part strategy to reject CCTV: do not watch it, do not browse its website, do not listen to it, do not mention it.
This isn’t the first time this group of scholars has spoken out. Last year they criticized that CCTV turned the Chinese traditional New Year Festival into a “Fool’s Festival.”
