Media in China

Chinese Facts
• With a population of 1,330,040,000 China is the
most populous country in the world
• The last Chinese Civil War (with major combat
ending in 1949) has resulted in two political
entities:
People's Republic of China (PRC), commonly
known as Communist China or simply China,
has control over mainland China and the largely
self-governing territories of Hong Kong (since
1997) and Macau (since 1999).
Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as
Taiwan or Nationalist China, has control over the
islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.
 Excerpts from articles and pieces written
about China and a war being waged for
businesses to infiltrate the biggest potential
for media coverage in the world
Rupert Murdoch
For more than 10 years, China's potential
mesmerised Rupert Murdoch. He poured
more than $2 billion into the country and
lost at least half of it.
Mr. Murdoch has flattered Communist
Party leaders and done business with their
children.
Regulatory barriers and management
missteps have thwarted Mr. Murdoch’s
hopes of big profits in China. He has said
his local business hit a “brick wall” after a
bid to corral prime-time broadcasting rights
fell apart in 2005, costing him tens of
millions of dollars.
• Mr. Murdoch cooperates closely with China’s censors
and state broadcasters, several people who worked for
him in China say. He cultivates political ties that he
hopes will insulate his business ventures from regulatory
interference.
• In speeches and interviews, Mr. Murdoch often supports
the policies of Chinese leaders and attacks their critics.
A group of China-based reporters for The Journal
accused him in a letter to Dow Jones shareholders of
“sacrificing journalistic integrity to satisfy personal and
political aims,” a charge the News Corporation denies.
• His courtship has made him the Chinese leadership’s
favorite foreign media baron. He has dined with former
President Jiang Zemin in the Zhongnanhai leadership
compound in Beijing and repeatedly met other members
of the ruling Politburo in Beijing, New York and London.
Television channels affiliated with Mr. Murdoch beam
more programming into China than any other foreign
media group.
• “The reality is that the Chinese government is not going
to let anything radical happen in media,” says Gary
Davey, an Australian who once ran Star TV for Mr.
Murdoch. “But we got a lot farther than anyone else did.”
New Media
 Google Deal with China: Does
"Don't Be Evil" Survive?
February 15, 2006
by Elizabeth Fletcher, Esq.

Google garnered a great deal of criticism in the wake of

their January announcement, it agreed to censor its
search results for its new site in China. For an
organization that prides itself on its informal company
motto, Don’t be evil? (found in its Code of Conduct),
Google faces detractors who are saying that by giving in
to Chinese censorship demands it is dismissing its own
edict. Google defends its decision, pointing out that
another aspect to its Code of Conduct is its promise to
obey the laws of each country in which it does business.
• Before the new site, Chinese Web surfers had trouble
accessing the main Google site and experienced
excruciatingly long wait times. Hoping to access the
some-100 million Internet users based in China, Google
agreed to censor a variety of search terms, such as
Taiwan independence and Tiananmen Square, in order
to launch a unique URL for the country.
• It’s ironic Google took so much heat for its decision to
launch in China. Both Yahoo and Microsoft previously
submitted to the Chinese government™ mandate that
certain forbidden terms be eliminated from search results
entirely. In contrast, however, Google search returns not
only comply with Chinese censorship demands but also
notify the user that certain links containing banned
information have been eliminated from the results.
• A US House of Representatives panel will
look into high-profile cases where
Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo worked with
China to restrict access to material or
reveal the identity of users with dissident
postings. Cisco is also implicated. But
lawmakers eager to end such cooperation
may find it hard to do so, at least in
Yahoo's case.
• A deal in October may insulate the Internet
giant. Because it gave up a majority stake
of its China service to a Chinese company,
Yahoo argues that decisions about
cooperating with Chinese officials lie with
that company, which has obligations to
obey Beijing, not Washington.
Thank you!