International media have tended to focus
on fears of an economic slowdown in China, and extreme volatility in the
country's stock market. Chinese state media, meanwhile, have emphasized the
threat of a possible U.S. interest rate hike when discussing the selloff.
Both worries are legitimate. China is
hugely important to the world economy, and a sharp slowdown would have
far-reaching consequences. At the same time, plenty of countries stand to be
negatively impacted by a Federal Reserve rate hike.
But how can the
same story generate such a divergent tone and focus? In China, the answer is
simple: Information is tightly controlled, and media can face penalties for
breaking ranks and undermining the government's messaging apparatus. The idea
is that restrictions are needed to maintain social order.
What's happening
in the country's stock market is the perfect example.
Compared to
Western media, Chinese media outlets have taken a much rosier view of market
events. On Wednesday morning, the homepage of China Daily, a state-run
newspaper, barely mentioned the stock market panic, leading instead with
stories about President Xi Jinping's push to support economic growth in Tibet
and the development of China's youth.
The handful of
China Daily stories that did mention stocks were short on analysis -- one
reported how China's national and local leaders regard the stock market,
concluding that they don't see the current situation leading to a financial
crisis.
While levels of
coverage vary from day to day, China Daily sticks to the official government
line. The newspaper did republish central bank statements from Tuesday announcing moves to boost the economy, for example.
Official state
news agency Xinhua gave slightly more prominent placement on its homepage to
coverage of China's stock volatility and the global rout. But the agenda was
apparent: The agency quoted experts saying that market panic is due to poor
global economic sentiment, and that fears over China are overblown.
Chinese
journalists routinely receive confidential propaganda directives about how
certain stories should be covered.
California-based
China Digital Times, which collects such memos, published one from late June
that instructed Chinese media to avoid verbs like "slump" or
"spike," and warns journalists not to conduct in-depth analysis or
speculate on a bull versus bear market.
The memo,
published as China's stock markets started to slide, also directed reporters to
stick to information vetted and released by the China Securities Regulatory
Commission, and to halt all expert interviews.
In China,
consumers are often forced to reply on state media. Foreign news sources, and
many social media platforms, are off limits. Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB, Tech30) and Twitter (TWTR,Tech30) are
blocked in China, for example.
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