Critical reports without approval forbidden

[OCguy]

Well, in order to have a lot of fun, don't wave too much your flag, the best would be not to wave the flag at all. What you might think as leftist leberal ideology is for most of us almost at the far right spectrum of our political landscape. Don't even try to defend the NSA, drone attacks and the Iraq War!

I hope that you will be mentally prepared, and have a lot of fun.

I appreciate the well wishes.

Not to worry, not all Americans traveling abroad wear American-flag track-suits and bandanas, with a 10-gallon cowboy hat on top, and a Bald Eagle on the shoulder of a 350lb frame.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

I appreciate the well wishes.

Not to worry, not all Americans traveling abroad wear American-flag track-suits and bandanas, with a 10-gallon cowboy hat on top, and a Bald Eagle on the shoulder of a 350lb frame.

Well, I didn't literarily mean that you would wave the flag in Germany as that would make you look silly anyway. I attribute that much common sense to you .

What I meant was more like telling people how great US is and the freedom, democracy and human rights crab that the US brings to everyone … You get the gist.

 

[Okemos]

As a liberal myself, I am disgusted with Chinese journalists and online commenters. The government has lost much credibility with the public due to corruption and dramatic and one-sided reporting from the media. At the same time, the public has been fooled by fake and dramatic news for too long and now have no confidence in the media. The whole society trusts nobody.

One example is the conflict between hospitals and patients. The media has always sided with the patients in any hospital related incidents, plus, use sensational heaings! Doctors have been repeatedly abused by the patients, even killed. Well it turned out that some patients are actually connected with organized groups that extort money from hospitals, etc, etc.

Of course, essentially, this nightmare is due to China's lack of rule of law after it discarded Confucius values during cultural revolution and now communist values. China has always been governed by Confucius values to cultivate oneself, instead of relying on laws, ever since Confucius school won out among the hundred schools, including Legalism school, during Spring and Autumn period, and sanctified in Han Dynasty. A country with long tradition on self discipline and Confucius values cannot suddenly embrace rule of law, esp. when Legalism school was associated with Qin, the brutal first dynasty.

It's really a mess now.

 

[Jlaw]

As a liberal myself, I am disgusted with Chinese journalists and online commenters. The government has lost much credibility with the public due to corruption and dramatic and one-sided reporting from the media. At the same time, the public has been fooled by fake and dramatic news for too long and now have no confidence in the media. The whole society trusts nobody.

One example is the conflict between hospitals and patients. The media has always sided with the patients in any hospital related incidents, plus, use sensational heaings! Doctors have been repeatedly abused by the patients, even killed. Well it turned out that some patients are actually connected with organized groups that extort money from hospitals, etc, etc.

Of course, essentially, this nightmare is due to China's lack of rule of law after it discarded Confucius values during cultural revolution and now communist values. China has always been governed by Confucius values to cultivate oneself, instead of relying on laws, ever since Confucius school won out among the hundred schools, including Legalism school, during Spring and Autumn period, and sanctified in Han Dynasty. A country with long tradition on self discipline and Confucius values cannot suddenly embrace rule of law, esp. when Legalism school was associated with Qin, the brutal first dynasty.

It's really a mess now.

China government is making this more confusing than it need to be. If journalists are blackmailing people, than under law, they should be indicted for blackmail. The government should make it easier for victims of blackmailing to take legal action against the journalists.

 

[xunzi]

It's a trial and error. If it works, we stick with it. If it doesn't, we will find other alternative. This always happen.

 

[tranquilium]

Repression being sold as progress. Being scared of criticism is a sign of weakness. The internet genie is out of the bottle, and there is nothing that can be done to stop the free exchange of information.

I always maintained that people on internet will need to learn the same customs and social convention as face to face conversation. One huge part of that is the mistaken belief that information freedom = you can say whatever you want. Free exchange of information is encouraged, but only if it is accurate information. Similarly, whiling constructive journalistic criticism is welcomed, information manipulation for personal gain should be harshly punished.

 

[OCguy]

I always maintained that people on internet will need to learn the same customs and social convention as face to face conversation. One huge part of that is the mistaken belief that information freedom = you can say whatever you want. Free exchange of information is encouraged, but only if it is accurate information. Similarly, whiling constructive journalistic criticism is welcomed, information manipulation for personal gain should be harshly punished.

What you are suggesting is not a free exchange of information, since there would have to be an authority on what is "accurate" information. Just like with state-owned news, this would lead to censorship and abuse.

The momentum is clearly going in one direction worldwide, and it certainly isn't towards state censorship.

 

[Kyle Sun]

I beg to differ.

We should not limit the J , instead , Gov should protect J to report the true life .We need to encourage them to report objectively and make severe law to crack down on guilty J.

 

[TaiShang]

I think this will be a transitory precaution since the ideal is a consolidated media that is embedded to the state interest -- especially as far as foreign policy is concerned.

Private media does not equal to free media.

"When it comes to issues that are related to US foreign policy, the almost unanimous consensus among US media outlets to willingly support the official government line is against the very notion of "free media" that the US always espouses. The media's dependency on the US government for information destroys the supposed benefits of private media. Journalists that support widely approved government policies (even if they do not share the approval of main street America) are more likely to build the necessary connections that improve their careers; those that do not support these policies cannot advance and are weeded out." (VLJS)

That is a good move (until a better system of media regulation is established) to prevent destructive, manipulative and contracted-out news reporting.

 

[tranquilium]

What you are suggesting is not a free exchange of information, since there would have to be an authority on what is "accurate" information. Just like with state-owned news, this would lead to censorship and abuse.

The momentum is clearly going in one direction worldwide, and it certainly isn't towards state censorship.

Not really. I have been on the internet since the late 90s with a dial up modem. Nowadays people are acting with much more constraint than the 90s. There are also more laws and regulations that forbids a lot more content on the web than the 90s. Child pornography on internet, for example, are not really prosecuted until recent years.

Of course there is difference between accurate and inaccurate information. Take the the large storm in Beijing a few years back as example, the rainfall was at record high since 60 years ago and many passengers are trapped on the road, but there really isn't any casualty aside from a few unfortunate individuals who were hit by fallen trees and one person who was trapped in his car because he didn't leave when the water was rising. However, during the storm, there was an individual posting that thousands have died and more are dying. Causing untold amount of grief and anxiety of people who are actually waiting for their family members to return. After he was arrested, he admitted that he was doing that to attract more clicks to his blog. So, should his "right" of "information freedom" allow him to spread rumors and causing mental harm to others for personal gain? Of course not.

 

[Sanchez]

Repression being sold as progress. Being scared of criticism is a sign of weakness.

Maybe you have not fully understood the news?

The internet genie is out of the bottle, and there is nothing that can be done to stop the free exchange of information.

They want to stop free exchange of fake information.