China wants into your living room, at least if you live in New York. In a somewhat confusing move for a nation that has taken strict measures to cut off Western influence, China is preparing to launch TodayChina, Bloomberg reports. The 24/7 state-run station will broadcast in both Chinese with subtitles and English. The move is apparently part of the goal of spreading Chinese cultural influence beyond their borders, which is somehow meant to stem the flow of Western media.
China’s ruling Communist government is looking to expand their state-run influence and this is one of several moves in recent years towards that end. Since 2010 China’s own news agency, Xinhua has been broadcasting overseas. The government has also sought to gain control over internet content, using what is known as the “Great Firewall” to block content deemed unacceptable for Chinese internet users. Some of the big names unable to climb the Great Firewall: YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Google, among others.
What China thinks will be accomplished by reaching a handful of Americans in New York with their government-controlled broadcasts is something of a mystery to me. If propaganda on the station is meant to assert some sort of influence over American viewers, it will first have to reach those people who might actually be influenced. It seems to me that there is likely to be quite a bit of preaching to the choice going on, since those who will actually tune in to this station are likely already influenced. Considering the recent words of Chinese President Hu Jintao regarding how he believes Western meida are“trying to Westernize and divide us by using ideology and culture”, the move certainly doesn’t seem like a step towards bringing East and West together.
