Grasping China’s propaganda machine

NEW DELHI: A top official at China’s official news agency Xinhua has provided a peep into Communist party’s propaganda machine. In a lecture titled Understanding Journalistic Protocols for Covering Breaking News — a session aimed at budding journalists understand Xinhua’s working — Xia Lin described the twin missions as to give Chinese leaders a fast and accurate picture of current events and to deftly manipulate that picture for the public to ensure social harmony, and by extension, the Communist Party’s hold on power.

An article in the New York Times said Xin told his audience that there were some manipulations in the footage of China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, floating back to the motherland after orbiting Earth 14 times in the Shenzhou 5, or Divine Capsule.

The national broadcaster CCTV carried the event “live” — from Yang’s famous pleasantries uttered in space — “I feel good” — to the opening of the capsule door to reveal the hero.

The Xinhua official, however, said the mission was not so perfect. According to NYT, the paper presented by the Xinhua official described how a design flaw had exposed the astronaut to excessive G-force pressure during re-entry, splitting his lip and drenching his face in blood. “Startled but undaunted by Mr. Yang’s appearance, the workers quickly mopped up the blood, strapped him back in his seat and shut the door. Then, with the cameras rolling, the cabin door swung open again, revealing an unblemished moment of triumph for all the world to see.”