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

David Bandurski

CMP Director

Latest Articles

Media Friendship, from Beijing to Jakarta

Sep 4, 2024 | David Bandurski

At a recent event for China-Indonesia media cooperation, part of China’s larger push for influence in Southeast Asia, “responsibility” was on the agenda — emphasizing for participants that the role of journalism is to promote good feeling and a smooth bilateral relationship.

China’s AI Hallucination Challenge

Aug 27, 2024 | Alex Colville

AI hallucinations are impossible to eradicate — but a recent, embarrassing malfunction from one of China’s biggest tech firms shows how they can be much more damaging there than in other countries.

A Midwesterner in Foshan

Aug 15, 2024 | Initium Media

US vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz, a former Cantonese learner who was popular with his Chinese students, is affectionate toward China — but he is no “dove” on human rights, Hong Kong, and Tibet issues.

China’s AI Hype Gets a Reality Check

Aug 7, 2024 | Alex Colville

Chinese AI is moving at a fast pace, but it’s important not to give in to hype about exactly what the technology can do — a point state media are now making themselves.

When Meloni Met Xi

Aug 2, 2024 | Dalia Parete

Chinese media coverage of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s recent visit to China has been characterized by a blend of criticism and optimism, strategic framing, and an emphasis on historical ties.

How to Push China’s Narrative Abroad

Jul 23, 2024 | Alex Colville

Exchanges this week between Guyanese media and a provincial-level communication center in Shandong offer a glimpse of China’s broad push for influence abroad. The secret: convince journalists in the Global South that using Western media sources on China means unfair bias.

When Worlds Collide

Jul 12, 2024 | Alex Colville

State media have released a short, AI-generated series on Douyin. It’s the meeting point of several tools the Party has been using to modernize media and propaganda.

A Rare Exposé

Jul 10, 2024 | David Bandurski

In an investigative report splashed across the front page last week, a Beijing newspaper exposed lax food safety practices. It was just like old times.

China Starts Influence Ranking for Cities

Jul 4, 2024 | David Bandurski

The country’s external propaganda efforts have increasingly leaned on localities, mobilizing and pooling resources. Now the government will measure how they are performing.

The Politics of Pure Business

Jul 3, 2024 | David Bandurski

As Western media groups talk of “purely commercial” cooperation, China’s official Xinhua News Agency regards its partnerships as part of China’s broader effort to shape global discourse and promote its government image. It’s time for professional media groups to wake up.

China Grapples with Nationalism, and Fuels It

Jul 2, 2024 | Alex Colville

A flurry of statements from Chinese social media platforms in the wake of a tragic attack on a Japanese woman and her child in Suzhou pledge to clear up rabid nationalism online. Meanwhile, Chinese state media continue to pour fuel on the fire of anti-Japanese sentiment.

MAGA Communism and the China Grift

Jul 2, 2024 | Jordyn Haime

Riding American frustrations with foreign wars, can “MAGA Communism” advocate Jackson Hinkle help China gain sympathy in the US?

Olá Panda!

Jun 28, 2024 | David Bandurski

As China’s leadership pushes regional and local media and propaganda offices to strengthen their global communication efforts, Sichuan province takes a typical soft approach with Portuguese audiences.

A Media Labyrinth in the Middle East

Jun 25, 2024 | Bertie Lyhne-Gold

An oddly compliant question from the foreign press corps on the sidelines of this year’s National People’s Congress kicked up a simple question: Who is China-Arab TV? We followed the question down the rabbit hole.

Top Propaganda Official Faces Investigation

Jun 23, 2024 | David Bandurski

The sudden announcement Friday of a corruption probe against Zhang Jianchun marks just the second case in the Xi Jinping era of a senior propaganda official falling from grace.

More Local Centers for Global Propaganda

Jun 12, 2024 | David Bandurski

The addition of external propaganda bases in Zhejiang and Tianjin over the past two weeks brings the total number at the provincial level to 23. These ICCs, also being launched at the city level, are meant to remake China’s approach to delivering its message externally.

Goldfish Memories

May 27, 2024 | David Bandurski

In a post to China’s popular WeChat platform last week, one writer bemoaned the shocking loss of nearly a full decade of information from the early days of the country’s domestic internet. Within hours the writer’s reflections had vanished too.

Riding into the Uncanny Valley

May 21, 2024 | Alex Colville

Military mouthpieces have joined Chinese state media in experimenting with AI anchors. But how effective will these digital propagandists be in the fight for hearts and minds?

A Fire That Can’t Be Extinguished

May 21, 2024 | Dalia Parete

As Taiwan’s new president took office, state media outlets in China were spitting fire. And nothing the new leader says or does, they write, can ever dampen the flames.

China’s Mouthpieces Go Quiet

May 7, 2024 | David Bandurski

In recent months, the unexplained disappearance of high-level ministers in China has fueled speculation about unease within the halls of power. What does it mean when the leadership’s most vocal mouthpieces also fall silent?

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