Views of the news media pertain to overall views and fundamental opinions with regard to news phenomena and news activities. The Communist Party of China (CPC) believes that news activities should be guided by the Marxist view of the news media. This view is particularly relevant at present. In this article, I would like to present some opinions with regard to some issues of common concern.

I. The news system

There are always some people who think that China’s news system is no good, and that China should adopt a Western-style news system.

There are two sides to the news: the disseminative side, which pertains to the transmission of news; and the ideological side. The former represents the general nature of the news, while the latter represents its particular one. The Western view of the news media painstakingly emphasizes the general nature of the news while sparing no effort to conceal its ideological nature. The Marxist view of the news media, on the other hand, makes no attempt to cover up its political stance and inclinations, laying emphasis on the importance of Party spirit in news activities.

June 14, 2013, a father holds a sign reading “So Safe I’m Scared” as his young daughter sits on his shoulders during a protest in New York. The protest, which was organized by supporters of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, was held to voice anger over the secret Internet and telephone surveillance program of the National Security Agency (NSA)./ Xinhua/Reuters

Why do we say that news has ideological properties? This is because news is more than just the reporting of facts; it is also a product of ideology. Though facts themselves are neutral, containing no inherent values of their own, opinions are inevitably expressed when facts are reported in the news, and these opinions reflect differences in values. This is the reason why reports on the same story may vary considerably from media to media. The most important characteristic of the news is to let the facts speak. However, when the inclinations of the reporter become incorporated into the objective reporting of fact, what tends to be expressed is actually an “intangible opinion.”

Therefore, news has a strong ideological nature. The news media constitutes a part of the social superstructure, the core of which is political ideology and the political system. These core components are able to influence and constrain other parts of superstructure, such as the news media. All news initiatives in a society are guided and restricted by the dominant political ideology and the national political system in that society. As an important part of the political system, the news system is determined by the political system.

Why does China not adopt a Western-style news system? The answer is very simple: China is a socialist country, with political and economic systems that are different from those of Western countries. How could it be expected to have the same news system?

The Western news system is a so-called “independent media” system. Independent media is private media. According to the Western view of the news media, only independent media can be free of control by governments and political parties, maintain political impartiality, uphold objectivity, and become a public instrument. This idea is widely influential in Western society. A major Western criticism of China’s news system is the lack of independent media in China.

However, independent media reflects the greatest weakness of the Western capitalist news system. The considerable cost of running a media outlet dictates that only the rich can afford to run a media organization, and only tycoons and large financial groups can afford to run major media organizations. The most powerful Western media organizations, those that play a decisive role in world news, command global broadcasting, and exert an enormous influence on world politics, economy, ideology, and culture, are actually controlled by a small handful of families. The Wall Street Journal, the Fox Broadcasting Company, and The Times all belong to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp; CBS Broadcasting, Inc., Paramount Television, and MTV belong to Viacom Incorporated, which is controlled by the Redstone family; the world’s largest book publisher, Penguin Random House, Europe’s largest television broadcasting company, the RTL Group, and its largest magazine publishing group, Gruner + Jahr, all belong to the Bertelsmann Company, which is owned by the Mohn family; the New York Times Company, controlled by the Sulzberger family, owns The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune; and the Chandler family has long controlled the Los Angeles Times. In Britain, the Thompson family controls Reuters, one of the world’s four largest news agencies; the Pearson family owns the Financial Times, The Economist, and Pearson PLC, which runs the largest TV network in Europe; and The Guardian has been always controlled by the Scott family. In the U.S., the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) has been bought out by the General Electric Company, which is controlled by the Morgan Financial Group; Cable News Network (CNN) is owned by Time Warner Incorporated, whose 11 board members are almost all executives of investment banks, transnational corporations, or media companies, or former high-ranking government officials; and Disney, a huge media company and the owner of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), has a number of former or current executives from large enterprises such as Procter & Gamble, Visa, Google, and Starbucks on its board. Such an intricate web of power constitutes the true picture of the Western media.

Independent media may be independent of governments and political parties, but it can never be independent of capital. The media can independently hold politicians to account, criticize political parties and governments, drive politicians out of office, condemn a political party to defeat in an election, and even force a change of government, yet they will never fundamentally question, criticize, or oppose their capitalist chiefs, or the capitalist system. The capitalist system is the arena in which capitalists thrive. This is why the mainstream U.S. media, who has always reveled in its “all-encompassing scrutiny,” was somehow unable to expose or predict the international financial crisis, a crisis that resulted from the greed of Wall Street tycoons, and that not only damaged the U.S., but also sent shockwaves around the world. This is also the reason why they are so indifferent to the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has taken target at the deep-rooted flaws within capitalism, believing that the movement has “no news value.” In fact, the Occupy Wall Street movement is about the 99% fighting against the 1%, and this 1% just happens to include the monopoly capitalist groups that control the so-called independent media. To them, the media is nothing but a mouthpiece and a tool.

People in the West often say that state-owned media represents the monopolization of the media through state power. The way we see it, private media can mean only the monopolization of the media through capital. The fundamental difference between the news systems of capitalist and socialist countries is that socialist countries do not allow the privatization of the media. In China, various political parties, people’s organizations, and other social organizations run various news organizations that share ties with different groups of people in society. These news organizations assume different responsibilities, work with each other, and even compete with each other. By reflecting the opinions of a wide spectrum of social sectors, they share the common purpose of serving the people and serving socialism. Therefore, we believe that China’s news system benefits society much more than the private news system, in which the media is run by the rich. This is our socialist view of the news media. This view is closely linked to the principles of the Party. The CPC represents the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. Its highest principles are to serve the people and to be accountable to the people. For this reason, the Party will never allow itself to become the representative of certain interest groups or minorities, and it will never permit itself to have its own special interests. The management of the media by the Party places the media in a better position to safeguard the interests of the nation and the people.

II. Freedom of the press

China’s traditional press, which mainly includes Party-run newspapers and magazines as well as radio and TV stations, may indeed enjoy a slightly lesser degree of freedom than the media organizations of developed Western countries. However, this has nothing to do with our concepts of the news or our news system; rather, this difference results from China’s current stage of development and the problems that it is confronting.

It has been more than 200 years since the modernization of Western capitalist countries began with the Industrial Revolution in Britain. But these two centuries have not all been plain sailing. On the way there have been countless economic crises, bouts of social unrest, and foreign invasions. There have even been two devastating world wars. However, during this long period of development, the countries of the West have been able to establish relatively sound mechanisms and systems, such as legal and welfare systems, which have become the foundations of their social stability. Though the majority of Western countries are still caught in the grip of crisis, order still prevails in their societies. Even so, we have still seen how these countries have strengthened their control over the media when national security and stability are threatened. For instance, an editor at the Voice of America (VOA) was dismissed for broadcasting a recording of speech by Osama bin Laden in violation of a U.S. government directive. Also, the recent PRISM scandal demonstrates that the U.S. government has long been monitoring the personal information of citizens in secret with the aid of U.S. enterprises. There are also effective ideological constraints in Western countries, where mainstream ideologies and values are treated as sacred beliefs, leaving no room for doubt or opposition.

Quite clearly, the risks to security and stability in China are greater in both number and severity than those faced in the United States. In addition to creating an unprecedented miracle of development, more than 30 years of reform and opening up have brought about drastic social changes in China, leading to a build-up of social problems. In recent years, these problems have begun to emerge in close succession.

The Central Committee of the Party has repeatedly emphasized that the correct guidance of public opinion will benefit the Party and the people, while the incorrect guidance of public opinion will do them great harm. This is a conclusion that we have arrived at on the basis of both fact and experience. The Party has strengthened its leadership and administration of publicity initiatives since the Fourth Plenary Session of the Thirteenth Central Committee, and the result has been more than 20 years of stable and rapid development and progress in China. There are undoubtedly objective laws at work here, laws that cannot be bent by human will.

China is not at the stage where it can cope with a loss of control over public opinion. We should acknowledge that Chinese society has already become much more tolerant towards the diversity of ideas and opinions as the country has entered a new phase of development. However, we should also be aware that China is undergoing an important period of opportunity for development, and experiencing a phase in which social problems are becoming increasingly frequent. As a result, the task of balancing reform, development, and stability is an extremely arduous one. At the same time, the administrative capabilities of government organizations and the overall competence of government officials are not yet high, which means that they are not equipped to deal with the challenges brought about by an excessively open media. Excessive media criticism will undermine the prestige of the government and impede its governance. At the same time, various hostile forces operating both inside and outside of China are still attempting to disrupt, Westernize, and divide China. Therefore, given this situation, excessive openness in the sphere of public opinion will inevitably give rise to serious consequences.

However, we can be sure that freedom of the press in China will expand as China continues to develop and progress, and as the country’s various systems gradually become more refined and mature. In fact, this is an ongoing process.

III. Principles of news reporting

The CPC requires that the news media upholds the principle of engaging in predominantly positive publicity. However, some people don’t agree with this principle, and some are even strongly against it.

Truth, objectivity, and fairness are universally recognized as the core principles of news reporting in media sectors around the world. However, different perceptions of the news media lead to differences in the way that these principles are interpreted. We believe that truth refers to factual truth, the whole truth, and truth in substance; objectivity is to let the facts speak, persuading and guiding people with the power of fact; and fairness is to report facts and express opinions fairly and impartially, standing for the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as opposed to those of individuals and small groups, and thereby being accountable to both the people and society.

Why should our media place an emphasis on positive publicity? This is because positive things represent the mainstream of Chinese society, while negative things are mere offshoots. Only positive publicity can reflect the true nature and paint a complete picture of Chinese society. This is our view of the news media, a view that is based on seeking truth from facts.

Seeking truth from facts means that we must view truth as the life force of the news. Not only must we truthfully and accurately report individual facts, but we must also gain a factual grasp of matters from a wider angle and ensure that they are reflected in their entirety. Individual facts should be pursued under the precondition that the whole truth is represented. Since reality is complicated, we should take care not to deviate from our perception of the whole by dwelling on individual facts. A falling leaf may block one’s view of the towering mountain that lies ahead. Though the leaf is most certainly real, it may nevertheless present a deceiving picture of the whole. Seeking truth from facts also requires that we strive to uncover the reasons for the occurrence and development of events. We must reveal how things are inherently linked, expose the trends of their development, and help people to realize their true nature as well as the objective laws that govern them. These are the fundamental opinions and requirements of the Marxist view of the news media in terms of the truth of news.

There is this idea that almost nobody watches or listens to the positive publicity of China’s mainstream media. But in fact, positive publicity is like air and sunshine: its benefits may be hard to perceive, but we wouldn’t be able to survive without it. China would not be able to maintain overall social stability without the positive publicity of its mainstream media. Negative news caters to people’s curiosity, and is inherently more appealing to people than positive news. Moreover, under absolute market conditions, the media is sure to actively pursue negative news. This is not the way we view the news media. The socialist view of the news media gives top priority to the social effects that news creates. When market effects come into conflict with social effects, the former must give way to the latter.

Of course, our outlook on the news media also requires accuracy, unequivocalness, and vividness alongside truth, objectivity, and fairness. In addition to accurately reporting the facts, the media should unequivocally represent the positions and opinions of the Party and the people, rendering vivid reporting techniques in order to ensure the best possible effects.

The fact that we advocate positive publicity does not mean that we reject the idea of supervision by the media. Media supervision refers to the monitoring of national and social affairs by the public through the media. It is an important means by which the people exercise their democratic rights. Media supervision plays an important role in urging the government to uphold its principles of governance and enhance its capacity to govern. Moreover, media supervision is also needed in order to maintain public pressure against various forms of corruption. The essence of media supervision is supervision by the people. While carrying out supervision, the media should uphold two principles. The first is about political standpoint. Only when the media stands firmly for the fundamental interests of the nation and the people will it be able to truthfully and correctly reflect the opinions and voice of the people, objectively and fairly report facts and make comments, and consciously consider the social effects of the news it reports. The second principle is about a way of thinking. Reality must be the basis on which the media analyzes problems, writes reports, and expresses opinions. The media should not only consider how something should be viewed, but also how it should be addressed; they should not only ask themselves “is this right” and “is this supposed to happen,” but should also ask themselves “will this work” and “can this be done.” Only by thinking more about pragmatic solutions will the media be able to appreciate the necessity of dialectical thinking. And only then will they be able to carefully consider the complexity of reality, and understand why the policies of the central government are right.

In summary, when we are discussing views of the news media, the most important thing is to be rational and pragmatic. If we really want the best for our country and people, and if we are unified in this stance, then we should consciously adhere to the Marxist view of the news media, and devote ourselves to serving China’s overall reform, development, and stability.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No.16, 2013)