How news breaks in China
A bit more information on Wednesday's report of three people setting themselves on fire in downtown Beijing. I want to take you through the early stages of this story - so as to give you an idea of how a breaking story unfolds in China ...
At 4.31pm, the official Xinhua news agency publishes a news flash on its English-language wire service : "Three men set themselves on fire in downtown Beijing."
In practical terms, Xinhua operates as the Chinese government's press office (the official government chart lists Xinhua as an "office directly under the State Council.") All foreign journalists in China need to keep an eye on what Xinhua reports - it's often the only way we'll find out what the Communist Party wants us to know.
China has often been criticised for hiding negative or inconvenient news (in January, for example, Chinese websites censored references to Communism in Chinese transcripts of President Barack Obama's inaugural address).
But in this case, Xinhua itself breaks the news of a dramatic demonstration in China's capital.
Xinhua's English language flash is immediately picked up by international news agencies. This alerts a wider audience to the story. But we still don't know exactly where the incident happened.
At 4.44pm, Xinhua in English publishes a short update, including information from an unnamed government spokesman, "The three sat in a vehicle and ignited the fire at 3 pm at the crossing of the Wangfujing and Chang'an avenues."
Now we know where it happened - at a busy intersection just a few minutes walk from Tiananmen Square. My colleague heads straight there. When she arrives, she finds that everything has already been cleared away. Police officers wandering by do not get in her way. The only thing that makes the street unusual is a collection of foreign journalists walking about looking for people to talk to.
Eyewitnesses are reluctant to speak. But one street vendor agrees to talk, so long as we don't use her name, "The three were in a small van with flags fixed to its roof," she says, "They set fire to themselves, but within a very short time, the fire was put out."
The woman's husband says that the people in the car looked like Uighur Muslims from the Xinjiang region of western China - one of the most sensitive areas in the country. Witnesses who speak to other journalists say that the car had number plates from Xinjiang and that the three people inside were Uighur Muslims.
Later on, we get hold of this photo, taken from someone's mobile phone shortly after the fire was put out.
At 5.55pm, Xinhua in English publishes a further wire service update, saying that two of the men were taken away by the police, the other in an ambulance. "The motive of the self-immolation and the men's identities were not available at the moment."
By the early evening, then, we've been able to build up a reasonable picture of what happened.
But it's important to point out an unusual fact that you may already have noticed. All of the official updates so far have come from Xinhua's English-language wire service - not its Chinese-language wire service (it's a bit like the Press Association in the UK deciding to break news of a demonstration in the middle of London in French, but not in English.)
So, up to this point, most people who only speak Chinese - and who rely on the government for their news - will probably be unaware that anything unusual has happened in Beijing (during this time, though, Chinese speakers will have been able to find translations of the English-language reports on the Internet.)
Finally, at 6.55pm, Xinhua in Chinese publishes its first wire service report on the subject. It says that the police went to check a suspicious looking vehicle. "When police came up to make a check, the vehicle suddenly caught fire inside" (our translation). Xinhua also reports that the three people had come to Beijing to make a complaint.
What should we make of the fact that Xinhua waited for more than two hours before breaking the news in Chinese on its wire service ?
I put this question to a Chinese journalist who works for a government-sponsored publication. The journalist has asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from his employers. The journalist says that Chinese media organisations have to take much greater care when they publish stories in Chinese, because the authorities are worried about the danger of social unrest. Breaking a story in English, the journalist says, doesn't carry the same risks, and it even helps China to show the (English-speaking) world that it is taking steps towards greater press freedom.
The journalist also reports that media organisations in China have specifically been ordered not to use the words "Muslim" and "Xinjiang" when reporting on this story.
And, to my knowledge as I write this post, pictures taken at the scene have not been published widely.
I’m 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~42~RS~)
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"What should we make of the fact that Xinhua waited for more than two hours before breaking the news in Chinese on its wire service ?"
Well it takes you 2 days to post my comments and moderating it too.
Recalling the misleading news coming out of Tibet on the riots by western news was not good news for the medias.
Good reporting by the Chinese press and news people.
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Not everything happened in Beijing is necessary to report to everyone in the world, isn't it? For example, the number of people suicide on a day is not included in any newpaper in any country.
Let me give you a more propriate example:
A couple of years ago I saw a helicopter landing on Piccadilly circus in the city centre of London together with some police cars and ambulances while all the near roads were restricted for vehicles to use. But I could not find any news about it from BBC and the other British media.
It is time for us to think about what we are interested to hear from the media. If your answer is "everything", my reply is "impossible".
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I think I can explain why your media and our media report things differently. Because it is not your country so you want to cause as much havoc as you want so that you can see the drama from outside.
But to chinese media it is our country we want treat with social concience as care. That is why our media don't use uncertified sources and select pictures carefully.
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James:
What should we make of the fact that Xinhua waited for more than two hours before breaking the news in Chinese on its wire service ? It means that the Chinese media wanted to make sure it would not make it to the international media outlets....
~Dennis Junior~
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I think maybe Xinhua is right to do things in this way - report thing first in English to let the world know what's happening in China, especially to the english speaking audience.
Before when something happens, Xinhua will mostly first release the news in Chinese, and maybe work slowly to release in English. That often arises a lot of criticism in international community for trying to cover up negative things in China.
By releasing news quickly to the international community, Xinhua will get its credibility and reputation, step by step. Instead, a slow reaction often means something negative, like covering up or keeping silent.
BTW, according to this author, it is unusual for Xinhua to release a news in English first. But if Xinhua release a newspiece in Chinese and later release a english one, it will be usual, and surely will attract criticism from foreign news agencies for trying to cover things up.
Anyway, now Xinhua is doing a good thing, when compared with before, right?
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Its a sad news but not a surprise at all. Its happening everywhere in china. Tibetan people commit sucide after the March riot but we hardly had any news but the local Tibetan tells these news on Radio Free Asia. China is modern communist. half capitalist and half communist.two cannot exist togather. out of fear for losing their grips, repressive measures were imposed and out of frustrations, these acts of desperate are commonly taken by many people in china today. shame on CCP
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It's good that the Chinese have started to publish more sensitive information in their foreign language media. It's also good that Chinese speakers can use the internet to find translations of news stories that have not been published in the Chinese-language media.
I've noticed that the BBC generally censors somewhere between a quarter and a half of the comments that are posted on your blogs.
Since these cannot be accessed elsewhere on the internet, and nobody will ever know what they said, perhaps you could use your blog some time to talk about the BBC's censorship policy on your Chinese column, describing the kinds of comments that are censored, and explaining why (in general terms, obviously - I wouldn't expect you to reveal anything that might be considered sensitive).
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I think broadcasting on the English wire is entirely appropriate, since you and the rest of the western media are the ones scrutinizing every move China makes in order to bring it down.
The ordinary citizen doesnt care, and broadcasting it later does not affect them at all, except possibly calming the situation down.
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Mainlanders have various way to learn about the news about their country as well as the outside world. One popular channel is to access the Hong Kong electronic newspapers, including those pro China ones. Those who can access the WWW will then tell their oldies what had happened. You will be surprised how easy that can be and how knowledgeable they are. So to say the Chinese people may not be aware of a piece of news because the publication was in the English media only is, putting it at the lowest, a misconception.
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One more note:
If you can read Chinese, please read BBC Chinese and compare it with BBC English. When reporting China, BBC English is reporting from a standard "western" media point of view, although its neutrality is debatable. BBC Chinese, on the other hand, targets uneducated Chinese, who cannot read English. BBC Chinese is “good news” to millions of uneducated Chinese. People who hear the “good news” will become a believer of democracy and western values. Those enlightened will save China from the dictatorship by staging widespread social unrest…Those enlightened will break China up into piece and be ruled by “democracy governments”, under which looting is legal and opium is a must…
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Are they "muslim terrorists" with suicide bombs?
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China is a big country facing many big problems which sometimes are beyond our imagination. Sensitive news like this about 3 Muslims setting fire on themselves in Wangfujing must be handled sensitively if not carefully. China is still facing the sensitive religious problems in Xingjiang and Gansu, we don't want to aee any unrest in these Muslim regions instigated and fanned by this kind of incident involving the minorities. Big riots had erupted in other countries involving the minorities set off by some isolated incidents.
The Communist's mouthpiece is just doing something which the Government would like to handle sensitively.
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I just don't know why James deliberately neglect the fact that this breaking news report of a negative incident from Xinhua, the good news broadcaster, actually shows another small step forward of the press freedom in China.
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Probably the Chinese media are being too positive on many issues but on the other hand, the western media are doing the exact opposite thing, paying too much attention on how to identify the negative side of everything happening in China.
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perhaps it's a place where anything can happen.most importantly more chinese are able to read and speak english !
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That Xinhua reported the incident at all is a testament to how far the state-controlled media has come in China. But the manner in which it carries out its reports shows that it does have a bit more to go.
With regards to poster #2 and those who felt slighted by the seemingly biased reports of riots in Tibet last year:
A large part of that blame lies in the CCP's expulsion of all foreigners from Tibet. How could there be accurate reports when no one was allowed to witness the events first-hand? This year, the CCP has again kicked out all foreigners from the Tibet region in time for March. I hope that things go better this time.
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i find BBC and some other so-called objective media are open.
In contrast, if you want to express some sensitive issues on the Chinese forums, they will clear your contributions.
but in BBC, no way.
i just wrote down the truth that Old Summer Palace was looted and burned by the French and british armies.
and pointed out the truth that they had imposed crimes on Chinese people and sabotaged our hunman rights.
i don't say why can't BBC clear my posts.
are you afraid of being known the truth?
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I still can't understand why Chinese government still bar foreigners including journalists from Tibet. Perhaps they are just worried about the fact that they have no control of what these foreign journalists report?
They have been claiming that everyone is living happily and harmoniously in Tibet, but why don't they let foreigners to get in and have a look? I mean, they can't stop these people from interviewing Dalai Lama anyway. So if they want to exercise creative reporting, they can still do it outside Tibet.
One cliché question that is frequently asked by some Chinese people is whether those foreigners have actually been to Tibet themselves. This is a pretty silly question really. Most Chinese people haven't been to Tibet anyway, so the only way they learn about what's happening there must be from the state news agency.
What makes these people think Xinhua's account of Tibet is more accurate than others'? When a government wants to monopolise the news reporting in a particular region, a sensible guess is that something dodgy must be going on. People there truly living happily and harmoniously is the last thing I would infer from CCP's efforts to bar foreigners from Tibet.
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Before you say the government is right to censor this piece of 'sensitive' news, you should ask why this happened in the first place and how people can effectively monitor the government's performance without having enough information on what's been going on.
Or perhaps people are just taught to believe the government is good regardless of their performance?
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This seems suspicious - similar to the supposed Falun Gong practitioners who set themselves on fire in Tianamen square, and guards suddenly and conveniently surrounding them with fire extinguishers.
Everything was cleared away so soon?
Good luck getting to the bottom of this one, James.
As a licence-fee payer, I expect the very best!
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James, I can tell you before you mentioned the event at your last journal, I have already seen the Chinese version online. Besides, I wanna emphasize once more ---- there are more medias besides CCTV & XINHUA.
you "still don't know exactly where the incident happened" --- it tells you need to strenthen your ability to find out the news at the very early time.
"Eyewitnesses are reluctant to speak" I don't know why you like so much to emphasize "relunctant" and I don't think there's nothing to threaten them, because all he said has already been in Chinese news and it's not a secret in China at all. I think only one made those Chinese reluctant, that is, they are not good at English. James, pls don't mislead others every time that some people (mostly the police) is abusing those eyewitnesses and threaten them not to tell the truth.
BBC likes criticizing China's control over news broadcast and I have to say it's true in some aspects. However, when Chinese medias report the bad news by themselves, and BBC still likes to find the fault and why can't BBC see the improvement? I've been a Chinese for about 28 years(never left China) and I can see the change. Now in our media, we can not only seen those good news but also many bad news, including traffic accidents, natral disasters, corruptions, police' abusing suspects, etc. and many discussions on social and polical issues. Of course, China can do better and let's wait and see.
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I'd like to express one of my views on news reporting. As I know, western medias like to report bad news while Chinese medias prefer good news. From my point of view, both good news and bad news are necessary. Reports with all bad news make me think the world is so terrible while those with all good news let me feel the world is not real. Now, I like reading news (in Chinese) better than 10 years ago, because I can see various kinds of news, good or bad, in China and abroad, serious or interesting.... It's more vivid and real.
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Try watching NBC or CBC nightly news in the US. It's the same thing, one or two items of news and the rest is 'making a difference'. In the UK it would be referred to as 'drop the dead donkey' but this occurs every night on US TV. CNN blathers on but where is the real a) global news and the correct state of the union?
It's very difficult to see the real poverty stricken areas in the US (and there are many) on prime time news. For info on real issues one has to rely on indie documentary makers such as Michael Moore and even he's been arrested before!
In Canada, we get sleepy pokey news but it's so difficult to get a real picture of the exact economic and recessionary picture here - on prime time news.
I think we should be told!
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Has anyone seen the BBC live translation of Wen Jia Bao's speech about china stimulus package?
The quality is embarassing.
My question for BBC... where did you find the translator? C'mon, you'd think BBC would invest in having a quality translator... Seriously... Ridiculous
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50: I believe this may have been an official government translator. I've heard great and terrible ones in the past.
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#41.
Why foreigner/reporters are bar from Tibet? Ever think that maybe they are part of the problem? Foreigners (US/UK/France/Germany) are blindly sympathetic to the Lama. It is like a pet clause to them to feel good and get a good story.
Maybe if the foreign reporters can stop making up fake news like using Nepalese police as Chinese police, they will be trusted to enter Tibet. Right now there is no trust. Thats the real problem.
There were reporters allowed in to Tibet last year after the riot. Where did US/UK/France/Germany press print those news if at all?
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