Sorry wolf, although much of what you say has truth in it...this last is simply not so.
I see and read positive stories about China all the time.
I watch on Public TV, National Geographic, the Nature Channel, and numerous other channels, very positive and uplifting stories about China, and guess what? They are produced in the West.
I think sometimes folks get into stereotyping on both sides, and then find what they look for.
But as I have sought out social interest, documentaries, and other programs on China, I have found many very good and uplifting stories about China, her people, the culture, wildlife, geography, etc..
Hello Jeff,
kwaigonegin has pretty much covered it in his post.
I was referring to the regular news reporting, rather than interest pieces like the ones you quoted.
I think the difference between the two types of material is very telling in itself.
On the one hand, you have professionals who are usually highly educated and qualified in their reporting field, with real technical expertise and qualifications, making documentaries for the sake of the subject matter they are covering.
On the other, you have a bunch of people who's only qualification seems to be the ability to employ a spell checker (not always successfully) and say the things their employers likes to hear.
Even within a single publication like the Economist, the articles written by technical specialists are almost always less critical of China than those written by your general purpose columnists who obviously have no real qualification or skills to fall back on if their edititors don't like the opion they express in their pieces.
The fact that you can find documentaries on China that paints China in a positive light is sadly, the exception rather than the normal, and I dare say you only came across those because you were either interested in the subject matter, or because you were going out of your way to look for stories about China.
That is the exception rather than the norm, which is the point and problem, because the vast majority of people in the west would either not have the specific interests you have, or go out of their way to look for positive documentaries on China, so the overwhelming, if not only perception, they get is negative.
In democracies that is especially dangerous, since general public opinion shapes government policy.
Control the masses and you can influence if not control the government.
