Party Congress a dizzying ordeal in the media

Working for the largest state-run radio outlet in China, hosting a political current affairs program, I knew this week was going to be trying. In fact, the headaches began even before the CPC's 17th Congress even opened up!

The tension and pomp and circumstance a couple of weeks before the Congress began became increasingly palpable. From the increased meetings of the station leadership, to the inclusion of a second set of PLA guards in the entrance to our offices, to the 'gussying up' of the office itself with banners and the like, one could tell that we were going to have an interesting time of it.

When the CPC took over government here in China in 1949, it decided to copy the media design laid out by its socialist sponsor, the Soviet Union. As such, propaganda replaced opinion and actual journalism. It was that same propaganda that helped cultivate and nurture Mao's cult of personality and the Cultural Revolution. Unfortunately, even after Mao's death and the realization within the party leadership that personality cults and the Cultural Revolution were disasters, the propaganda continues. Now granted, some days it doesn't seem so bad. This government has come to the realization that in order for it to show the outward appearance of increased transparency, it can't all be sunshine and roses about the Chinese government. As such, you are seeing more and more examples of this government being critical of its own problems. Even on my program, which is heavily scrutinized and vetted, I'm sometimes surprised at what I can talk about. Maybe five years ago, the idea of even talking about corruption within the CPC was unheard of. But these days, you can get away with it (within certain limits, of course). And in actual fact, there are days when I will do an interview and walk away afterward feeling that the questions and responses that were brought forth weren't that far off from actual journalism. But throw all that out the window this month!!

Rarely am I told what I can or can't ask. I'm not so naive as to believe that I have free reign. But I know, for the most part, where the line is, and I will rarely step over it. It's not as though I don't want to sometimes, but there's really no point, because the program will just be edited afterward anyway, and I don't get a say in that. But the past few days have been particularly annoying. Because of the uber-political environment this week, the leadership within the state-run media organs is on high alert, because they don't want to be seen as making a mistake. As such, the daily directives that come down from the government about what we are or aren't allowed to talk about are being interpreted by the management to the strictest of levels. The one that really sticks out for me was before the Party Congress even began!

We were preparing to do a program about French President Nicholas Sarkozy meeting for the first time in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pretty tame stuff when it comes to controversy. In fact, the trip turned out to be so boring that it barely made a splash on the international headlines. It was a non-starter, and seemed pretty safe for us to tackle...or so we thought. After conducting one interview with an academic in Europe, I ventured out for a bite to eat while I waited for my second interview to be lined up. Upon my return, I could see the disturbed look on my steadfast producer's face. Something tells me I wish I wouldn't have asked what was wrong, though it really does provide some insight into the mindset of the media organs in China at present.

As it was explained to me, we were going to have to rebroadcast an old edition of the program (given the fact there wasn't enough time left to set up new interviews) because the Sarkozy-Putin meeting was deemed to be too politically sensitive. No, not because it may offend either the Russian or French Embassies (which is actually a major concern at this radio station). No, the reason we couldn't broadcast this particular story was because of Chechnya. During Sarkozy's visit, there may have been brief mention of the would-be break-away Russian republic between himself and Putin. As such, this topic was to be a non-starter on Chinese radio at this point, because it might remind someone in the CPC about -- wait for it --Taiwan! The structural engineers who built the Golden Gate Bridge had an easier time making that connection than I did to this particular line of reasoning.

All I could do was shake my head, try to console my producer with a quick joke, and go home. And the ironic footnote to the whole story came when we got in the next day and were told that the former edition -- which was perfectly acceptable in the spring -- was also not a good choice at this time because it focused on food safety.

This Party Congress can not be over fast enough!!!