China Radio International will become a part of the new Voice of China.
(Source: CNN Money via Cap Tux)
Beijing has a new propaganda weapon: Voice of China
China is creating a new giant broadcaster to ensure its voice is heard loud and clear around the world.
Voice of China, as the new outlet will be known internationally, will be formed by combining three mammoth state-run national networks: China Central Television (CCTV), China National Radio and China Radio International. It will employ more than 14,000 people.
The merger was revealed in a Communist Party document on a sprawling government reorganization program, championed by President Xi Jinping to reinforce the party’s absolute control in all aspects of state governance.
State news agency Xinhua released the document Wednesday after it was approved by China’s rubber-stamp parliament.
With echos of the Voice of America radio service created by the US government during World War II, Voice of China is tasked with “propagating the party’s theories, directions, principles and policies” as well as “telling good China stories,” according to the document.
It will be under the direct control of the party’s central propaganda department.
The new broadcast juggernaut is being formed at a time when Chinese authorities face growing challenges to control their message in the age of the internet and social media. They are making strenuous efforts to maintain strict censorship at home while pouring money into propaganda projects abroad.[…]
And they are doing the right thing. Obviously, the Chinese are not ruled by such morons as Gorbachev and his followers in the USSR.
Have you lived in China?
It will be interesting to see if it finally succeeds. This isn’t the first time they have tried to merge the three together. It seems that each administration from Zhang Zemin, Hu Jintao and the late Deng Xiaoping all attempted to do the same.
Each time this was attempted it usually fell apart within 4 years. The problem is the cultures between CRI, CNR and CCTV are so different. Of the three CRI (CRI English the main language) has very little censorship and internal bureaucracy compared to CNR and CCTV. For more than 20 year both CNR and CCTV have been lobbying the central authorities to dissolve CRI and have its mandate split between the two of them.
Both CNR and CCTV have 3 times the resources than CRI. CRI’s annual budget comes from 5 different departments. The Central Committee, Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Industry & Information Technology, and the Ministry of National Defense. Of the 10 billion CHina spends on information, CRI’s annual budget (2005) was over 400 million USD. It should be noted that CRI pays nothing for any of it’s shortwave broadcasts. This is a separate budget that comes out of the 10 billion and all it;s shortwave hours are covered by the Ministry of Industry & Information Technology, Both CRN and CCTV want that money spend on them instead of CRI.
It will be interesting to see if it works out this time.
Time to try DXing the English language service of Radio Taiwan International.