Media in the service of Xi Jinping
China’s ruling party moves to remove presidential term limits. Plus, the case and coverage of Palestine’s Ahed Tamimi.
On The Listening Post this week: China‘s ruling party moves to remove presidential term limits – and the media there sing in tune. Plus, the case, coverage and incarceration of Ahed Tamimi.
Media in the service of Xi Jinping
As soon as China’s Communist Party announced its proposal to abolish term limits on the presidency – paving the way for President Xi Jinping to stay in office as long as the party is willing to keep him there – state-owned media outlets, which make up the bulk of the news landscape in China, swung into propaganda mode and any critical reaction online was quickly censored.
Five years into Xi’s rule, the fourth estate are a central component in the cultivation of Xi’s image and the backing of his policies, securing his – and the party’s – hold on power.
Contributors:
Chang Ping, writer and journalist
Deng Yuwen, political commentator
Megha Rajagopalan, China Bureau Chief, Buzzfeed
Dr Wang Yiwei, professor of International Relations, Renmin University of China
On our radar
Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Will Yong about the two biggest media companies in the world both wanting a piece of Rupert Murdoch‘s media empire and the case of a photojournalist from Kashmir that’s prompted an unprecedented reaction from India’s National Investigative Agency.
Ahed Tamimi: One story, multiple narratives
Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories are under the constant gaze of Israeli soldiers, but in the Israeli media, Palestinians aren’t as visible as you might think.
The story of a young Palestinian girl and her confrontation with an Israeli soldier that landed her in prison has got people talking.
Part of what makes Ahed Tamimi’s story different comes down to appearance: she doesn’t fit the Israeli stereotype of what Palestinians look like.
The Listening Post‘s Tariq Nafi on the case, the coverage and the incarceration of Ahed Tamimi.
Contributors:
Honaida Ghanim, director, The Palestinian Forum of Israeli Studies
Abir Kopty, media expert
Oren Persico, staff writer, The Seventh Eye
Assaf Harel, satirist and TV personality, as well as contributor to Haaretz
Manal Tamimi, Nabi Saleh activist and Ahed Tamimi’s aunt