Hi! As we have done a presentation on media ownership last week and we all understand the characteristic, pros and cons of government media and private-company owned media, I’m not going to repeat those information but to share some examples and my own opinion.
Government vs Private Ownership
Let me just quickly recap what government media and private-company owned media is.
Government media: tightly regulated and controlled; content are filtered; mouthpiece of government, eg. advantages of a new government policy
Private-company owned media: less restricted, biased towards public opinions
Examples
China—government owned media
The Chinese government strictly control the media. They have their own media—Weibo, WeChat and Baidu. Information relating to “sensitive” topics like June fourth Tiananmen Square protests and the cultural revolution are blocked.
Recently the tag “鄂A026W” was hot in Weibo, not only because of the severity of this issue, but also because of the attitude of the Chinese government. It was about the video recording a man took a box of masks from the storehouse of the RedCross and put it inside the car and “鄂A026W” was the license plate number. The man claimed that he took the masks for his leader. People were pissed off when this video was posted up as they tried their best to send materials to Wuhan and hoped to help the medical staffs there but turned out that their donation were taken by an unknown man and would be given to his “leader”. People reposted and shared, hoped to receive an official response but almost all posts related to this issue were deleted within five minutes. Users leaving radical comments are banned, no one was allowed to share and repost the post and comment section was closed. The government was trying to hide the fact that a leader in a very high position asked the man to get him a box of masks which the masks were supposed to be given to hospitals in Wuhan.
As the government tightly controlled the media, news related to this issue could easily be covered by other news. No private media would be telling the truth so the public would eventually forget this issue without knowing the dark side of the government.
That’s why some people oppose the government ownership of media as some truth would never be known under such censorship.
Hong Kong—private-company owned media
There are lots of non-governmental and individual owned media in Hong Kong, such as 100Most, AppleDaily and the pages run by the KOLs. People enjoy freedom of speech that they rarely bear legal liability even if they spread false information. Online platforms were the major channel of organizing some illegal activities during the past few months because of the anti extradition law amendment bill. The private media has strong influence and somewhat escalated the conflicts in the society.
Some posted the short version of the bill, letting the public understand more easily but it is a “demonized version” instead. People would then misunderstand the bill and oppose the government. Some edited videos were posted through media engines such as YouTube and Facebook. The edited videos, eg. the police throwing petrol bomb to the protesters. In fact it’s the other way round. However, the video was widely spread already and people trusted it. It would be hard for the government to explain. The public tended to trust the private media instead of the government as they might think that the government is making excuses.
This shows that there are actually lots of problem come along with freedom.
My thoughts
I personally think that the government should own the media. The example of China is a relatively extreme case. People can still enjoy freedom of speech if the government regulate the media appropriately. The government policies will not harm the people, only the ways of carrying out cause controversy. But if the private company owns media, they may harm the society for their own benefits as they are working for themselves, the government works for people.
The conflicts in Hong Kong reflects how important it is to have a strong government. As the Hong Kong government wasn’t strong enough to stop the violence and to convince people that the bill is not that horrible, the situation got worse. That’s why I agree that government should own the media to prevent similar situation as Hong Kong. It’s kinda sad to see such big conflict within the society that you grow and live for 18years.
I’ve always heard about people criticizing China for the dictatorship. There are lots of problem seen in the Chinese government and I know that they always hide their dark side and show the illusion to people that they are the best government. But still I always tell my friends that I believe those problems will be solved one day. It really disappoints me when the “鄂A026W” incident happened. As I’ve just mentioned I tell others that I believe there will be improvement but how the government handle and respond to this incident was really like a slap in the face. As the technology advanced and people receive better education, a majority of Chinese people have their own thoughts and judgements, they are no longer ignorant and innocent as before. But the government still chose to hide everything instead of improving. Chinese government may still want to adopt the “brainwash” education in order to control people’s mind to gain fully support and respect. But when more people received high quality education, they will find out that there are still lots of weakness. Wouldn’t it be better if the government correct and improve instead of people figuring out the problems and try to overthrow the party?
I really hope that the Chinese government will be changing the political system to improve the situation of the “leader” having all the authority and controlling everything.
Reflection
I think our group had a quite complete presentation with the examples from different places of the world. One thing to improve is that some slides may be a bit wordy. Some words can be cut so it will be more clear and easier to see and also prevent presenter(me!) from referring to the powerpoint slides frequently.
Presentation is always my weakness! Luckily there is still some time for me to overcome and improve before the next presentation. I actually can speak when I’m talking about something personal, such as my personal experience or my own opinion but when it comes to formal presentation I will be sooo nervous and my brain cannot control my mouth (Cantonese almost jump out!!)! Hope this situation can be improved and I could be a confident presenter on stage someday!
Thank you for reading and see you next week!:)
References
The Daily Beast. (2020). China Arrested Doctors Who Warned About Coronavirus Outbreak. Now Death Toll’s Rising, Stocks Are Plunging.. [online] Available at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/china-arrested-doctors-who-warned-about-coronavirus-outbreak-now-death-tolls-rising-stocks-are-plunging [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Anon, (2020). [image] Available at: https://www.sekkeistudio.com/blog/top-social-media-platforms-in-china-2020/ [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Anon, (2020). [image] Available at: https://d1uu3oy1fdfoio.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/fcc-infographic-smaller.jpg [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Anon, (2020). [image] Available at: https://www.chinatechnews.com/2015/07/29/21932-chinese-social-media-aggregation-site-shuts-down [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Anon, (2020). [image] Available at: https://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2019-09-04/pop-culture/through-hong-kong-protests-social-media-has-become-a-battleground/ [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Anon, (2020). [image] Available at: https://p1htmlkernalweb.mybluemix.net/articles/%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E5%8F%8D%E9%80%81%E4%B8%AD%E6%8A%97%E4%BA%89+%E4%BC%A0%E5%87%BA%E9%A6%96%E5%AE%97%E6%97%A0%E8%BE%9C%E6%B0%91%E4%BC%97%E9%81%AD%E5%87%BB%E8%BA%AB%E4%BA%A1_3024262_1688.html [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Anon, (2020). [image] Available at: https://reader.turnnewsapp.com/ct/20190804/b06aa6/q1rfmjaxota4mdrfqtzfmq2/share [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Anon, (2020). [image] Available at: http://news.creaders.net/china/2019/09/06/2132241.html [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Anon, (2020). [image] Available at: https://www.ftvnews.com.tw/news/detail/2019A27I15M1 [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Anon, (2020). [image] Available at: https://giphy.com/gifs/applause-clapping-oscars-srg19CG0cKMuI [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Josie's Blog 
Hey Josie! A great reflection on this write up! I liked how you use real life case studies to compare government and private owned media, it makes your point easier to comprehend!
I truly believe that nothing is perfect and there are always pros and cons to who controls the media, its just a matter of fact that which one is the better choice. We share similar insights that the government should control the media! I really pray for Hong Kong as the chaos really does disrupts the well-being and the state of the country.
You did well during the presentation! Even though your slides might contain slightly more words, I find it informative! I am sure with the upcoming presentations we have you will be able to practice and gain more skills and confidence so that you will do well for the final presentation.
Good things take time, so just trust the process! 🙂
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Hi group mate! I loved reading you blog post because it was contented and had ample of information but in an understandable format. Using a country you know well has made it easier for you to explain and for us to understand you. The main part of your post that I like is the images you have used. This has given your post life. I like how you were very honest in your reflection. As your group mate I feel that your input was great. Presentation is a skill that you can learn with practice. I wish you all the best for that. Eager to read more of your posts in the future.
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