Navjot Singh
The problem in today’s “fake news” era is that if you don’t read the news, you are uninformed; however, if you read the news, then you are misinformed. Where does the balance lie when it comes to credibility? How do you chase the truth? That’s the key question Western media organizations such as the BBC have to answer and must get right if they are to avoid being banned by not just China but also other countries, too.
Some Western media outlets are saying that banning the BBC from broadcasting in China is a “tit-for-tat” action taken by the Chinese authorities in retaliation for the withdrawal of China Global Television Network’s (CGTN) license to broadcast in the United Kingdom by Ofcom, the British media regulator.
However, I believe the reasons extend far beyond that, and the fact is that news sources such as the BBC need to work harder than ever to stop writing and exposing non-factual news and separate fact from fiction. I wonder if some of the UK-based journalists who splutter anti-China rhetoric have ever been to China. And even if they are here in China, then shouldn’t they report on the good things that are happening in China rather than always focus on human rights?
In my 15 years in China, I have never seen or heard any sort of human rights abuses.
The reporting from the BBC (and other Western media outlets as well) makes it look as if China is some kind of dangerous place where innocent people are locked up for no reason. Just like any other country, China jails only those who have committed crimes.
Therefore, when the BBC openly discredits China’s judicial system, indiscriminately labels punishment of Westerners who committed crimes in China as “political suppression” and “violation of hu-man rights” and gives them a platform to disrespect China on TV, then you have to really question the credibility of the reporting. Why make a country look bad? Such reporting from BBC does not make sense. Nevertheless, even though the BBC is now banned in China, sadly it’s unlikely that the corporation will change their appalling reporting and treatment about China. For years, it has presented China in the most distorted way, portraying it wrongly as a rogue and totalitarian regime.
The most recent examples of this BBC mind-set include openly and falsely glamorizing the violent protests in Hong Kong as an excuse for democracy, giving air-time to criminals who caused so much vandalism in Hong Kong, or not presenting a detailed (positive) report about how well Ch-ina did to beat the COVID-19 epidemic.
But the rep-orts are always questioning China’s credibility to beat the coronavirus and reports are littered with doubts about the statistics. If you are always focused on negative news, and one that is biased toward a negative human rights outlook with viewpoints taken from a few selected individuals, then how is that classed as trusted news?
Most people in China may not be aware but in fact there is a separate movement in the UK by some groups who want to create a reform of how the BBC should be funded (In the UK, to legally watch live television people must pay for a TV licence, which goes toward funding the BBC). This is because there is an air of thought that some British people are not only apathetic to the BBC’s bias, but are actively opposed toward it.
This has resulted from years of declining trust.
So, while the BBC and other Western media outlets were reporting on the ban, the reality could be seen on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, where quite a considerable number of ordinary British people openly cheered and celebrated and wished it also happened in the UK.
It methodically downplays those attacks and generally treats any eruption of violence as a story which may only “kick off” when China may retaliate with force (and it did not). When China is forced to defend itself, the BBC frequently portrays its politicians and armed forces – the world’s most principled and human rights-friendly military – as destructive, dangerous, and controlling.
This sadly creates an anti-China feeling among the British population and we have seen a rise of hatred toward Chinese people in the UK and in ot-her countries since the CO-VID-19 pandemic began. It is quite fair to comment that with regard to China, the issue is not the BBC being biased, but BBC’s incitement to unfounded loathing.Western media organizations, such as the BBC, m-ust be very careful not to i-ncite hatred and must ens-ure that trusted news is not blown off course by claims that are unfounded, however widespread they become.
