Headlines and Hashtags

Media coverage of academic plagiarism highlights internal tug-of-war over fair game and taboo in news reporting

David Bandurski

CMP Director

Latest Articles

Hainan Opens Middle East Media Center

Jun 27, 2025 | David Bandurski

As the provincial government launches a communication outpost in Dubai, it partners with an outlet CMP previously identified as having close ties to China’s foreign affairs ministry.

Is Xi’s Grip Holding?

Jun 26, 2025 | David Bandurski

Despite speculation about the waning media presence of China’s top leader, our study of headlines in the People’s Daily suggests his dominance remains largely intact.

Flooding in Hunan Drowned Out

Jun 26, 2025 | Alex Colville

While the Iran crisis has dominated Chinese social media, record floods displacing 400,000 people in Hunan province have struggled for public attention.

A Media Corruption Case in Shanghai

Jun 23, 2025 | David Bandurski

Local police allege that a WeChat account extorted hundreds of thousands of yuan from companies — revealing how corruption persists in China’s tightly controlled information landscape.

A Trump Card for China’s Media

Jun 16, 2025 | Alex Colville

The authoritarian actions of the Trump administration have added jet fuel to one of the Chinese Communist Party’s most enduring external propaganda frames — that the United States is fundamentally hypocritical when it comes to rights and freedoms.

A Big Test for AI in China

Jun 2, 2025 | David Bandurski

The authorities are coming down hard on AI scams targeting desperate families ahead of high-stakes college entrance exams.

Invasion of the Robots

May 28, 2025 | David Bandurski

China’s first humanoid boxing tournament generated enthusiastic coverage from media outlets across the world —revealing how tech hype clickbait can serve the goals of external propaganda.

A Taiwan Slip on Chinese Television

May 23, 2025 | David Bandurski

An anchor on state television this week referred to Taiwan and China as separate countries during live newscast. The authorities scrambled to contain the story.

AI Joins China’s Primary Schools

May 19, 2025 | Alex Colville

The Ministry of Education has laid out exactly how AI will be taught and used by schoolchildren. Hopes and fears about AI and critical thinking are entirely missing the point.

Redacting History

May 19, 2025 | Alex Colville

An old video surfaced last week to commemorate a devastating quake nearly 20 years ago. But key portions of the original were conspicuously absent — a reminder that in China, the past is always dangerously present.

Plucking China’s “Peach Networks”

May 13, 2025 | Dalia Parete

A state television exposé last month claimed to unmask exploitative dating apps, but it also exposed how cyclical media campaigns serve official narratives in China’s tightly controlled information landscape.

Respect for the Hero

Apr 30, 2025 | David Bandurski

A young auxiliary officer in Xinjiang grips hearts across China with a daring rescue, but her act of courage unveils deeper questions about worker equity and state response to public questioning.

China’s AI Job Mirage

Apr 30, 2025 | Alex Colville

State media portrays artificial intelligence as a near-magical solution to the country’s youth employment challenges, but interviews with actual job seekers reveal a more complicated picture.

Bringing AI Down to Earth

Apr 21, 2025 | Alex Colville

Are Chinese media exaggerating the elevated state of the country’s AI technology? A senior scientist says yes—and warns that hype is blinding China to looming challenges.

AI Moves to Page One

Apr 18, 2025 | David Bandurski

One of China’s most celebrated metro commercial newspapers embraces artificial intelligence for front-page design, signaling deeper digital disruption in a newspaper industry facing tough times.

China’s Anti-Corruption Act

Apr 10, 2025 | Dalia Parete

The country’s leadership has launched another round of anti-corruption campaigning. But its use of classic cases, personal shaming and action posing is a reminder that it is more interested in political theater and loyalty tests than in real institutional reform.

Deadly Blunders in Bangkok

Apr 2, 2025 | Alex Colville

When a skyscraper built by a Chinese state company was the only to collapse in during the recent earthquake, China’s first response was not rescue — it was information lockdown.

China’s Monologue Machine

Apr 2, 2025 | David Bandurski

The newest “international communication center” in Hunan recruits college volunteers to promote state-approved narratives about local development to foreign audiences. Is this strategic thinking, or a fatal failure to grasp how communication works?

War Games

Apr 1, 2025 | David Bandurski

Beijing conjures ancient magic to transform military threats into mythical adventures — but Taiwan sees nothing supernatural about the missiles pointed at its shores.

Pen Names, Stern Warnings

Mar 25, 2025 | David Bandurski

Over the weekend, a state-run newspaper used a coded byline to signal concern about local government waste. It was a reminder of how the internal communication of the Chinese Communist Party works through an opaque system of institutional pseudonyms.

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