Do you think a free press is important for citizens to have checks & balances on the Goverment?

[Nan Yang]

The problem here is not about the freedom of the press but should be more about Responsible Press.

The press in China may not be 100% free but that does not mean everything they report are false.

Similarly the Press in the West is free but that does not mean everything they report are true.

 

[gambit]

What I see here is that people pointing out the flaws of having a free press without proposing any real solutions to those flaws. The reality is that there are no solutions to those flaws.

You want a 'responsible' press ? Then create mature and responsible people. If you managed to create such a people, then it would not matter if the government is involved with the press or not because you will ALWAYS have responsible news.

You do not like immature, biased, and irresponsible people in the press ? Then control the press. But then you return to the original problem of having immature, biased, and irresponsible people in government controlling what you learn and what you know.

What mature and responsible citizens must do is put up with biased news as well as searching out responsible press. Putting up with crap is the price of having a free press. What I see in this forum is immature people wanting responsible people spoon feed them unbiased news. They want a 'daddy'. And when they do not have that 'daddy', they moan about not having a free press, special interests, foreign governments, etc..etc...

 

[Nan Yang]

Western mainstream press ultimate goal in the end is all about making money. Telling the truth is hardly the incentive. Great example is the reports on the riots in Tibet during the run up to the Beijing Olympic. All the responsible reporting were thrown out of the window. Every single mainstream press were joining the band wagon to bash and humiliate China. It did not matter if the pictures were showing Indian police beating Tibetans, or that the riot were killing Han and even their own Tibetans, just rush it out with big headlines screaming massacres, genocide. There were no responsibility. Even after the fact were finally known there were hardly any apology. Nobody was punish or fired or even held accountable. Is this the press people want ?

 

[gambit]

In the West, news is a business. So complaining about news companies making profits is absurd.

Again, complaining without proposing solutions.

 

[Nan Yang]

What I see here is that people pointing out the flaws of having a free press without proposing any real solutions to those flaws. The reality is that there are no solutions to those flaws.

You want a 'responsible' press ? Then create mature and responsible people. If you managed to create such a people, then it would not matter if the government is involved with the press or not because you will ALWAYS have responsible news.

You do not like immature, biased, and irresponsible people in the press ? Then control the press. But then you return to the original problem of having immature, biased, and irresponsible people in government controlling what you learn and what you know.

What mature and responsible citizens must do is put up with biased news as well as searching out responsible press. Putting up with crap is the price of having a free press. What I see in this forum is immature people wanting responsible people spoon feed them unbiased news. They want a 'daddy'. And when they do not have that 'daddy', they moan about not having a free press, special interests, foreign governments, etc..etc...

Today the world information flow are dominated by Western media. China is more often on the receiving end so it is fine for you. If one day when the world information are dominated by press from China and US is on the receiving end ? Willl you say...hey its OK.

 

[gambit]

Today the world information flow are dominated by Western media. China is more often on the receiving end so it is fine for you. If one day when the world information are dominated by press from China and US is on the receiving end ? Willl you say...hey its OK.

Yeah...The Western media is in control of the Chinese people's minds.

 

[Nan Yang]

Yeah...The Western media is in control of the Chinese people's minds.

Nobody is controlling Chinese mind. Not even the Chinese press.

In the West, news is a business. So complaining about news companies making profits is absurd.

Again, complaining without proposing solutions.

I am just stating the facts. That is all. Call it complaining if you want.
The solution is already there. Like Weibo. Like PDF. The fact is that it is impossible to censure anything nowadays. If you want the truth, the last place you want to look is mainstream press. Free or not.

 

[Sheikh Rauf]

Not till every one is Educated and majority of people know whats going on .. other wise its easy to muniplate people by some foreign agendathru few people since its easy to spread words...
exactily with some of TV in Pak and anchors whos trying to convience people that if Pakistan is islamic stat or if Quaid e Azam wanted to have Islamic country..
Islamic republic of Pakistan its the name which will remain insha'Allah.

 

[gambit]

Nobody is controlling Chinese mind. Not even the Chinese press.


I am just stating the facts. That is all. Call it complaining if you want.
The solution is already there. Like Weibo. Like PDF. The fact is that it is impossible to censure anything nowadays. If you want the truth, the last place you want to look is mainstream press. Free or not.

We Americans on this forum do not take anyone's criticisms of US-style free press seriously.

When was the last time people on this forum felled for The Onion as a serious news source ? Do you really want to bet that it will never happen again ?

The fact that so many on this forum repeatedly felled for The Onion as a serious news source pretty much destroyed the credibility of the criticisms leveled at US.

As for 'special interests' groups. People talk as if special interests is a uniquely American phenomena. There are no special interests groups in China or Russia or YOUR country at all. No sir. Special interests groups are dishonest. That means YOUR country is made up of morally righteous men and women. Right ?

 

[gau8av]

freedom of the press of course, even though I hate what our free press has been doing here lately.

 

[Nan Yang]

We Americans on this forum do not take anyone's criticisms of US-style free press seriously.

When was the last time people on this forum felled for The Onion as a serious news source ? Do you really want to bet that it will never happen again ?

The fact that so many on this forum repeatedly felled for The Onion as a serious news source pretty much destroyed the credibility of the criticisms leveled at US.

As for 'special interests' groups. People talk as if special interests is a uniquely American phenomena. There are no special interests groups in China or Russia or YOUR country at all. No sir. Special interests groups are dishonest. That means YOUR country is made up of morally righteous men and women. Right ?

He he he. Reminds me of Gordon Cheng. Feeding Americans about the collapse of China since what....2002. And he still get invited to talk shows and get paid.

 

[JSCh]

Discipline watchdog to launch WeChat whistleblower account
Source:Global Times Published: 2015-12-30 0:53:01

China's top discipline watchdog will launch an official account on social media app WeChat on Friday as a new avenue to receive tip-offs on the four undesirable work styles to widen public involvement in its campaign against corruption.

The public can directly report to the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) on undesirable work styles - formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance - through the WeChat account starting New Year's Day, read a statement on the CCDI's official website on Tuesday.

The top discipline watchdog also pledged to make sure every helpful tip-off will be handled properly, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday. CCDI will also explain to whistleblowers on why they will ignore irrelevant tip-offs, CCTV said.

The account will also provide first-hand and authoritative information.

In a separate statement, the CCDI said it has received more than 270,000 tips from the public since 2013 and transferred 8,400 pieces of evidence to judicial organs, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The CCDI has a website and mobile application, which occasionally publish information on fallen officials. The watchdog launched a gateway on its website for tip-offs in 2013 and a tip-off section on its phone app in June 2015 to gather reports of low-level corruption and minor discipline violations, Xinhua reported in June.

WeChat, operated by Tencent, is the most popular messaging app in China with more than 500 million registered users.

 

[Leviza]

A free press ensures you know that information above. A free press in UK ensures you of your rights as a citizen, to be not be picked up under some terror law and thrown into a gulag without due process .

I find this comment very funny specially when its coming from American

to be not be picked up under some terror law and thrown into a gulag without due process

American's have done that a-lot , you will find these stories everywhere in different countries where american's are involved ...
Just for the head start for you , google Moazzam Begg or here

The kind of media that is free of government control. That is what 'free media' or 'free press' really mean.

That does not mean the government cannot have its own media agency. What it really mean is that the people must be allowed to have their own media agencies, no matter how professional and unprofessional those agencies might turn out to be.

Now...Is a free press a necessary component of democracy ? Note I said 'component'. Yes, a free press is a necessary component. But if the people is not prepared to use that component, then just like any human institution, that tool will be corrupted to serve other interests.

You didn't get the point did you?

Gov should protect the media from external interference as well and there should be something where these external interference can be challenged in UNO or world court .. OR host country should have power to put fines on embassies if they are involved in such interference to ensure your called 'free media' intact

 

[JSCh]

How China’s new air law aims to curb pollution

• Clean Air Alliance of China
• 30.12.2015

A new air law will reward whistleblowers, improve monitoring and air quality management, writes the Clean Air Alliance of China

China’s new Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law—also called the New Air Law—will come into full effect starting January 1. The Law was revised and passed by the National People’s Congress in the summer, and is the powerful document to address air quality in 15 years.

The New Air Law shifts how China prioritises air quality management, requiring cities to regularly release and submit definitive plans to ensure they are on track to meet national air quality targets. This is also the first Chinese law to mention controlling greenhouse gases (GHGs), addressing sources from coal, vehicles, marine vessels and agricultural machinery, as well as from construction and food industries. Enforcement systems are strengthened—and more critically, democratised—with raised standards for public data disclosure and protection measures for public participants.
....

Role of the public

The New Air Law recognises public participation as a crucial part of environmental protection. To encourage the public to contribute to enforcement efforts, the New Air Law requires regional governments to protect the confidentiality anyone who reports of illegal polluting acts, investigate these cases, and if the claims are correct, reward the reporter of the incident.

After translating the entire law into English, the Clean Air Alliance of China, a platform for international think-tanks, worked with the Energy Foundation to highlight some important changes that can be seen starting on January 1.
....


Read the complete article here -> How China’s new air law aims to curb pollution | Clean Air Alliance of China - China Dialogue

 

[gambit]

You didn't get the point did you?

I get the point far better than you do. I live in a country whose freedom of the press is the envy of the world.

Gov should protect the media from external interference as well and there should be something where these external interference can be challenged in UNO or world court .. OR host country should have power to put fines on embassies if they are involved in such interference to ensure your called 'free media' intact

Whose media ? And how ?

What YOU do not get is that if you empower the government to 'protect' you pretty much empowered the government to do whatever it wants to the press in the name of that protection.

We already had that experiment. Perhaps you have heard of it ? It was called communism.