I am pretty sure that a good many do not agree with my comments on China or Israel and that is fine but only if, as people who supposedly affect foreign policy as citizens of a democracy, all work to get at the truth of these matters. I am a harsh skeptic of what I am told, even by that part of the press I believe to be most credible.
Yes, the Chinese government does play a role in what gets said in China about China and China in the world. Government censorship you could call it or, as the Communist Party there would have it, a government owned press a good because it is the people’s press that acts in the best interests of the Chinese people. Their argument. I have heard it.
We have a “free press” that is owned by private corporations that exist for the purpose of making a profit.
So, which is more likely to adapt the news to fit its particular agenda? Both, probably.
To what ends? That is a question that is not so easily answered in trying to figure out where the truth lies. Both Chinese and American media are have agenda. Agenda influences how the news is reported, which opinions are given air time.
The Chinese, most Americans believe, I think, that the Chinese lie, hide truth. I can point to thousands of cases in which the American press has lied to the people, often in order to appease the American government in power.
Think critically, maybe, and maybe truths will be revealed. I read the Chinese press. I read the American press. The Israeli press. I compare and never know for certain what the truth is or who is telling it. But I do know of biases and consider them in my decision making process.
