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China Gets a New Media Network

For some reason, China has always been more interesting to me than Russia -- maybe because I've been there twice. In any event, while almost everyone is writing about Russia, a new media network has launched in China -- in English -- that I think is really good. It's called the China Global Television Network, or CGTN, and it launched New Years Day, replacing what was called CCTV.

CGTN will be a multi-language and multi-platform media grouping. It will consist of six TV channels, a video content provider and a digital media division.

China's President wishes them well:

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent his congratulations during the opening ceremony held at the CGTN headquarters in Beijing on Saturday. Xi said that the relationship between China and the world is changing, adding that China needs to better understand the world, and the world needs to better understand China.

Here's more about who they are and their goals. I've been reading their news articles at their global site CGTN and at CGTN America and following two of their Twitter feeds (CGTN_America and CGTN )since New Year's. Their articles are well-written (and news and commentary are very distinct), their photos are terrific, and best of all, even though it's a a video network, there's no auto-play video. So far, the photos seem to link to text articles, not the video versions. It's easy to follow, well-organized, and the site is very uncluttered. It also loads quickly. [More...]

I absolutely hate clicking on a news headline and getting a video instead of something I can read. It is so prevalent these days I now keep my computer speakers off and only turn them on when there's a music video or TV show clip I want to watch. It avoids being unpleasantly jolted by sound, especially the voice of some irrelevant newscaster or pundit.

CGTN also has pages for World News, Africa News, and Business News. I especially like CGTN America's page of China news.

I can't remember the last time I praised a mainstream media website, they are usually so awful with their videos, advertising, disproportionate type, slowness, lack of original reporting and clutter. It's refreshing to see one get it right.
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  • Display: Sort:
    I had Xmas dinner with four Chinese expats (none / 0) (#1)
    by Mr Natural on Fri Jan 06, 2017 at 05:39:16 PM EST
    engineers and PhDs, one male, three female.  New members of my extended immediate family.

    You do realize that you're praising government controlled media, don't you?

    i liked the article (none / 0) (#2)
    by linea on Fri Jan 06, 2017 at 09:22:04 PM EST
    "Startups move into the 'she-economy'"

    and

    the article
    "Gangs get into street gunfight in southern China"
    left me curious what the backstory actually is.

    Parent

    I read the China Digital Times (none / 0) (#3)
    by Mr Natural on Sat Jan 07, 2017 at 04:23:17 PM EST
    somewhat.  The China Digital Times is based in California, offers the alt. view of Chinese politics, a viewpoint completely and totalitarianly unobtainable through official Chinese media or any of their proxies.

    Here's a typical story:

    Minitrue: No Unauthorized Coverage of Shooting

    The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source. Close all internet commentary on the shooting occurrence in Panzhihua, Sichuan. Without exception, media websites must not follow up on earlier coverage of the event unless they receive an official news release through a formal channel. (January 4, 2017) [Chinese] Chinese ...


    Parent