I think there was a time when state media journalists could independently run newsletters. A couple of specific individuals come to mind. I had a newsletter (the platform was Revue, X killed it, and unfortunately I did not get a chance to archive my posts) back in the day, and I used it to share my work and fill in the gaps with information left out of what was broadcast. I didn’t ask for permission to do that, and was never asked about it. This was years and years ago. There were a couple of other people doing something similar — but the sad thing about state media is that it takes anything that grows organically, providing some additional context and building a genuine following, and tries to whitewash it, reproduce it on a mass scale, and force those who went with the “ask for forgiveness, not permission” route to either continue but only with approved messaging, or stop. The same happened with WeChat official accounts back in the day, and then Facebook, YouTube, X…
I understand why Chinese state media is trying to go where the audience is, but those imposing restrictions & censorship still just don’t understand that the only way you will ever engage an audience is not by force-feeding them sanitised state media talking points, but through authentic, organic, and genuine content that has a purpose other than acting as PR for the CPC and China.
“However, while Li is bombastic, easy to spot, others are more subtle, and aiming for a more cerebral crowd.” That is an especially diplomatic way of putting it. She is pretty annoying and not very compelling. But I guess it works on some people.
I think there was a time when state media journalists could independently run newsletters. A couple of specific individuals come to mind. I had a newsletter (the platform was Revue, X killed it, and unfortunately I did not get a chance to archive my posts) back in the day, and I used it to share my work and fill in the gaps with information left out of what was broadcast. I didn’t ask for permission to do that, and was never asked about it. This was years and years ago. There were a couple of other people doing something similar — but the sad thing about state media is that it takes anything that grows organically, providing some additional context and building a genuine following, and tries to whitewash it, reproduce it on a mass scale, and force those who went with the “ask for forgiveness, not permission” route to either continue but only with approved messaging, or stop. The same happened with WeChat official accounts back in the day, and then Facebook, YouTube, X…
I understand why Chinese state media is trying to go where the audience is, but those imposing restrictions & censorship still just don’t understand that the only way you will ever engage an audience is not by force-feeding them sanitised state media talking points, but through authentic, organic, and genuine content that has a purpose other than acting as PR for the CPC and China.
A well-researched essay like yours needs a well-researched response
https://www.china-translated.com/p/my-experience-of-working-with-a-substack
“However, while Li is bombastic, easy to spot, others are more subtle, and aiming for a more cerebral crowd.” That is an especially diplomatic way of putting it. She is pretty annoying and not very compelling. But I guess it works on some people.