Comments on: Why Western Media Mistakes Matter

By: ChinaGeeks » Who Cares What Herta Müller Thinks?

ChinaGeeks » Who Cares What Herta Müller Thinks? — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:16:36 +0000

[...] do you think? Valid point or are we just tilting at windmills again? GD Star Ratingloading… Things to do with this [...]

By: pug_ster

pug_ster — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:06:22 +0000

http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/11/editors-note-uncommon-courage.html

Even National Geographic got into the act of posting propaganda. It noted of some brave woman who took a cell phone picture of 2 ‘protesters’ before they got by the Chinese police. It even have a colorful story like this:

Writer Matthew Teague photographed these Uygur men, advancing upon Chinese forces, moments before they were shot.

Many people carry cameras these days. Some have uncommon courage. On page 36 of this issue, in the story “The Other Tibet,” there is a photograph taken with a cell phone. The photographer was not a professional. She was a Uygur woman who documented the shooting of a Uygur man by Chinese security forces on a street in Urumqi, capital of China’s Xinjiang region. She later gave the picture to National Geographic’s photographer Carolyn Drake.

Like their Tibetan neighbors, the Uygurs have a history of struggle, but when Carolyn began covering them more than a year ago, she had no idea that the conflict would explode into one of China’s most deadly uprisings since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. By June of this year, she thought her coverage was finished; she returned home to Istanbul. Then hints of unrest began to filter back to her. “At first I didn’t realize the severity of it. I started sending emails to my translator and friends in Kashgar, Hotan, and Urumqi, but no one responded.” She anxiously searched news sources, but the picture of what was going on seemed incomplete and unclear. There was only one way to fi nd out: return to China. She did so in July.

Carolyn, writer Matthew Teague, and a Uygur woman with a cell phone camera all took great risks to bring us the story of a struggle for human rights. Many people carry cameras these days. Sometimes they help us find the truth.

But if you look at the picture and the circumstances of why almost 200 people died at around that time, you may not think it is a ‘human rights’ issue.

By: Off To 2009’s 5th Annual CnBloggerCon We Go! | CNReviews

Off To 2009’s 5th Annual CnBloggerCon We Go! | CNReviews — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:23:00 +0000

[...] to be for the upcoming week or two. Whenever I’ve had a free moment, I squandered it away defending ChinaGeeks‘ privilege to write about western media bias and entertaining thought experiments meant to prove unprovable kinky Chinese internet tales on [...]

By: Kai

Kai — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:00:30 +0000

Hemulen,

You said to Custer…

Seriously, you need to drop this and admit that you overreacted to the Guardian headline.

…before telling him what the consequences are:

Next time you want to criticize bias in Western media, people might not listen anymore.

I interpreted that as a pseudo-threat. I understand your frustration, but I don’t think my interpretation is “way out of context”. Maybe I’m taking your words far more seriously than you are and, like I said, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.

I don’t think Western media misrepresentation is the biggest problem in China (or Tibet for that matter) and focusing on it detracts from more important debates.

Which is a perfectly fine opinion for you to have. Like I said, go start a blog and write up a storm about what you think are the “more important debates.” Custer obviously feels Western media bias is an important issue, who are you to tell him otherwise, much less demand that he write otherwise? What is important to you is not necessarily important or as important to others.

I don’t think an honest consideration of Western media bias detracts from any other debate at all. I can hold more than one thought in my head. Why do you feel it detracts from other debates? Can’t we humbly recognize the facts wherever they are? Why must mentioning one fact be denounced as detracting from another fact?

I think I have a right to say that without being accused of threatening or insulting someone.

You do have a right to say THAT. In fact, you have the right to say what I objected to earlier (and quoted at the top of this comment). I just don’t see THAT and the earlier quote as the same thing. The earlier quote is you telling Custer to either drop what he cares to write about or risk losing an audience. The latter is you simply expressing your own personal priorities, not imposing them on Custer. Do you see the difference?

We’re all liable to get ahead of ourselves when we talk, myself included. I just felt your earlier statement was overstepping. I have no qualms with you having different priorities, but I don’t think it is easy to argue that others should abide, edify, or reinforce your priorities. I feel you’re doing much of the latter.

By: C. Custer

C. Custer — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:15:42 +0000

@ S: you realize that the whole REASON this post exists is because of that exact article, right?

By: s

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:56:04 +0000

Another article exhibiting typical Western racism and bias:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/22/china-executes-tibet-protesters

China executes Tibetan protesters

It identified three of the executed Tibetans as two men – Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak – and a woman named Penkyi. The fourth victim was not named.

Muslim-German-Russian protesters executed.

Recently Osama Bin Laden, Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin were found dead, murdered by US agents. A fourth victim remains unidentified.

By: C. Custer

C. Custer — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:54:00 +0000

You’re not late yet, our one-year birthday will be in January. Not sure of the exact date but you can be sure there will be a post about it.

By: Hemulen

Hemulen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:10:26 +0000

@Custer

I missed that Woeser post, we need more of that! The Freed Tibet crowd or Western media can be annoying, but they are mostly harmless. Belated happy one year birthday, BTW.

By: C. Custer

C. Custer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:08:02 +0000

@ Hemulen: As far as I know, I've never written a post criticizing the Dalai Lama. I've certainly written a few critical of the Free Tibet crowd (or at least part of it, not the Tibetan part though). Then, of course, there's the pieces like this that I've translated, or this sharply sarcastic piece I did criticizing the CCP's "serf liberation day". Somehow, those posts never come up in these conversations though. Huh... The truth is, I'm not some Tibetan hating monster, nor do I consider Tibet a nuisance. I just genuinely disagree with you on the best way of resolving the situation there. Not sure why that's so hard to stomach...

By: Hemulen

Hemulen — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:56:43 +0000

@Custer

I haven’t done the numbers, but I guess that more than 50 percent of your posts of Tibet have been devoted to criticizing DL and debunking the ideas of the “Free Tibet” crowd. Perhaps we see thing completely different and this is your blog, but I don’t think that now is not the right moment to go tough on the Tibetans, it’s unbecoming to say the least, given increasing repression in Tibet the past two years. But that’s the world we live in these days. Tibet is regarded as a nuisance by most of the China crowd…