Representation of China in British National Newspapers - Research Proposal Example

143702 RESEARCH PROPOSAL INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM TOPIC: REPRESENTATION OF CHINA IN BRITISH NATIONAL NEWSPAPAERS INTRODUCTION One cannot say that British media covers news from Communist China with the same enthusiasm that it covered the Tsunami. Over concentration does not adequately focus on what is happening to the ordinary people living under communist rule in China. We also have to understand issues like: is it opening up the way it says it is Has it been democratising the institutions really and definitely We always ask questions with a 'believe it or not!' kind of air. The Guardian, with 390,000 approximate circulation, subsequent coverage, and other equally important newspapers the important and attainable news; but not much about local health, education, reconstruction, mutual trust and support between Government and people, administration hazards, and how people are facing it. Recently there was coverage of mobile killer squads in China, which horrified Western readers. It is important to research on how the human day-today activities of the country are represented in British media. LITERATURE REVIEW British Newspaper covering China had been very inadequate. Whatever is presented is done from the blind point, where one cannot see beyond a certain spot. Sometimes noticeable amount of repetition mars the reporting, perhaps due to non-availability of fresh news. Uncritical elements without considerable evidence, hesitancy in reporting due to lack of complete knowledge of events occur. Kind of highly Western-Centric articles too are seen. Inevitability of acceptance (after all it is China, cannot get more than this) plagues; in-depth analysis is missing, also uncritical discussion because of lack of resources and evidences and proofs persists. British media represents not only the vulnerability of international journalism in China, but also its helplessness. A breathless narration as though on the brink of a disaster, where the journalist might be thrown out or snuffed out kind of hurried, considerably less critical coverage has always been the coverage character. Today, it is the era of online global voices from every remote corner of the world, other than those few countries where autocratic rule still prevails. China's image in the West had been very negative in the 19th century, and even in 20th it did not improve much. It did improve for some time when China had Sun-Yat-Sen, but plummeted down immediately during the Communist take over. British as well as other Western media, had effectively shut their eyes to Mao's China, and China was playing truant, like a powerful bully and only such matters were reported in Britain. It was almost impossible for the British or any other media to have a peep into the forbidden country and this suited Communists, because their internal persecutions and ruthless handling of Tibetan revolts have gone unnoticed by the world. During Cold War, Western media had the preoccupation of Soviet Russia and hardly spared a glance towards China, the weaker link in Communist chain. China thrived in isolation and world ignorance. Slowly some visual documentaries were prepared on the peripheral issues of China, that could be aired in other countries, like success of communism, million flowers blooming under Mao, flourishing red revolution. Also some information about cultural glorification oozed out into the western newspapers. "Buddhism, Christianity and Marxism, Western literature and philosophy did not come to China, and Daoism, Confucianism and Chinese literature did not come to the West by means of cultural diplomacy, but they do form an essential part of cultural relations," http://journals.cambridge.org/download.phpfile=%2FCQY%2FCQY169%2FS0009443902000116a.pdf&code=0ce4594f66b5930708c095f29250a990 Still we are unaware about modernisation and modernity is taking place in China, as all mouthpieces are totally gagged. Total internet is not allowed, even though according to some researchers whatever is allowed has made a remarkable difference. "No other form of technology is more enabling than the satellite in overcoming the tyranny of distance in reaching many people. In some cases, developments in satellite technology have meant that many people can bypass state-regulated mechanisms to interact with people and images from afar, through, say, satellite conferencing, e-mail correspondence, and virtual travel on the internet," (Sun, 2002, p.159). According to recent research, Chinese, to a large extent, can be part of the information explosion. "..Chinese people - like people elsewhere - can programme their own media rather than be captive audiences." (Donald and Hong, 2002, P.15). This has not helped foreign journalists. Other than government publication, there is hardly any independent media in the vast, most populated country. "The common explanation for China's rapid economic development in the 1980s is that the country became successful after Deng opened it up to the West and began to institute capitalistic reforms," (Lull, 1991, p.2). Because of recent ongoing arguments with Taiwan, and globalisation, world realised that China is too big to be ignored. Chinese government were forced to accept globalisation because not accepting would hamper their trade, economy and would isolate them completely, making India a better and more accessible rival. "Information on China is very scarce. The bare necessities of Government statistics, handbooks and reference books, national trade and professional associations, academic studies, consultants' reports, and market research have been and mostly still are unobtainable" (Howkins, 1982, p. xiii).and this shows how difficult it is to report this country. Reluctantly China had to open her doors to Western media, albeit partially and newspapers took full advantage of such an unprecedented opening. For western countries to have trade relations with China, it had to prove that it had impeccable Human Rights. But British newspapers have proven this wrong many times. "Yet the traditional media studies critique of news reporting is predicated on the assumption that an objective idealized truth is in fact possible. This may be a less significant issue when, in the example of the Glasgow Media Group work the critical goal is necessarily also a political one, but in the context of broadcasting about China, this issue is more germane" http://mharrison.wordpress.com/2006/09/30/the-bbcs-china-1/ RESEARCH QUESTIONS Main research question is the inadequacy of representing China in British newspaper reporting and how and why it should be improved. China would like to show itself today as ideologically unbiased. It would love to present a friendly, smiling, accessible, touristy China, instead of the grim, iron curtained communist China. All know that truth lies somewhere in between. Reporting of China's internal life could hopefully lead to establishment of better Human rights practices and hence, this research is highly significant. METHODOLOGY 1. Readership survey. 2. Pilot surveys. 3. Online interviews and questionnaires. 4. Direct questions with the readers and interviews with pertaining cultural and political groups, who keep in touch with China. 5. Study of political regulations to find more about recent trends of reporting. PILOTING RESEARCH They say, in China, politics affects everything and British media tries hard to show the real China, hiding behind the faade. For this it needs knowledge, epistemology, and objectivity. Cultural China weeks give only one side of China that is the propaganda China. This need not necessarily be the true side. Newspaper reporting needs empirical knowledge which is unavailable in the case of China, because it is bound by an autocratic rule. It is difficult to report China, a vast territory, even though socially it is absolutely integrated now, under the communist umbrella and this applies even to Tibet, that had a diverse environment and separate entity. To some extent British newspapers are reporting their own versions of China, caught imaginatively through an allowed glimpse, supported by academic, intellectual and political knowledge, mostly propped up to impress the wider world by China itself, and it is also difficult to differentiate between a deliberately nursed entrancing image and the real uglier image behind it. More encompassing knowledge is required in this field. There is an urgent need to take a closer look at the world's fastest growing economy, even though political freedom is yet to be attained, and hence, this research. Next year, economically China will be leaving Britain far behind. There are newspaper reports to show that China has liberated itself to a very large extent, but there are facts that say that religious minorities are discriminated. Most of the interviews, if any, sound theatrical, under pressure and frightened voices are emerging. British newspapers still have been unable to present the real picture of Chinese day-today lives. There is a pal of unreality in the reporting. No doubt there is a lot of analysing, referring to statistics, but the real people do not get reflected in western media. "For journalism, a single interviewee is legitimate, and this rests on both the assumption that they are representative of a broader objective social reality "China's rural poor", or "urban Chinese youth", for example, and also that they themselves can offer analysis of that social reality" http://mharrison.wordpress.com/2006/09/30/the-bbcs-china-1/ CONCLUSIONS British newspapers have failed to establish any great improvement in the most important area of Human Rights. Democracy is a far dream as in any other Communist countries, but Human Rights are important to treat China with respect in world forums. China has put economic growth as main priority, perhaps at the cost of ignoring the welfare state. British newspapers present a mixed international picture of China, rather unauthentic. Most of it all is pure guesswork. We receive the intentional reports of achievements and steps towards democracy. It is difficult to assess how much British know about China, other than that it produces washing machines, toys, cameras, and useful goods. There had always existed a clash between real Chinese and the person presented as Chinese in newspapers of Britain. We are yet to know the environmental awareness and environmental work undertaken. It is told that British reporting is lagging behind, but with good, insurmountable reasons. We arrive at the conclusion that British newspapers should aim at more reality in reporting. There is no doubt that such a report will be intimidated by Chinese authorities, being unaccustomed to openness. Nevertheless, British newspapers should make an all-out effort to achieve this status. The study will definitely be hampered by the Chinese policy towards freedom of speech and fundamental rights. It is difficult to do anything in China without encroaching into one of these administration impediments. APPENDIX: I am proposing to hold an online survey of the readers. Simultaneously, the same questions will be repeated while interviewing the readers who have no bias or serious ideological clash with the following questions: 1. How important do you think China is in world affairs 2. How is China going to affect the world 3. How much do you know about China, its history, economic growth etc 4. Do you think that Government is establishing series of Human Rights in China 5. What do you know about Chinese political system 6. Do you think Communism is strengthening itself or weakening 7. How do you think that ordinary communist man is living 8. Do you think people in China are living without being intimated 9. What form of Government is suitable for China 10. Do you think that China's invading Tibet was a right decision 11. In addition to the 'presentable' picture of China, how much to do think, you are capable of imagining about China 12. Do you think you have enough information to spend a touristy week in China depending on Newspaper reports 13. Do you think newspapers should provide more information 14. Can you decipher a changing trend like that of USSR 15. How powerful do you think the present cultural reporting is 16. How useful could be the temporary easing off on foreign journalists by China BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Donald, Stephanie Hemelryk, Michael Keane and Yin Hong (2002), ed., Media in China, Routledge Curzon, London. 2. Howkins, John (1982), Mass Communication in China, Longman, London. 3. Lull, James (1991), China Turned on, Television, reform and resistance, Routledge, London. 4. Sun, Wanning (2002), Leaving China, Media, Migration, and Transnational Imagination, Rowman and Littlefield, Oxford. ONLINE SOURCES: 1. http://journals.cambridge.org/download.phpfile=%2FCQY%2FCQY169%2FS0009443902000116a.pdf&code=0ce4594f66b5930708c095f29250a990 2. http://mharrison.wordpress.com/2006/09/30/the-bbcs-china-1/ Read More