BW Online | June 18, 2001 | Curbing the Media Is Bad News for China

U.S. EDITION
Full Table of Contents
Cover Story
Editor's Memo
Up Front
Readers Report
Corrections & Clarifications
Economic Viewpoint
Economic Trends
Technology & You
Books
Industry Insider

Business Outlook
News: Analysis & Commentary
In Business This Week
Washington Outlook
International Business
International Outlook
People
Government
Developments to Watch
Science & Technology

Marketing
Legal Affairs
Sports Business
Management
The Corporation
Finance
Industrial Management
BusinessWeek Lifestyle
BusinessWeek Investor
The Barker Portfolio

Inside Wall Street
Figures of the Week
Editorials

SMALL BIZ SUPPLEMENT June 18 Table of Contents

INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS
International -- Letter From Dublin
International -- Spotlight on Taiwan
International -- Readers Report
International -- Corrections & Clarifications
International -- Asian Business
International -- European Business
International -- Latin America
International -- Finance
International -- Int'l Figures of the Week
International -- Editorials

PREMIUM CONTENT MBA Insider

BW MAGAZINE Get Four Free Issues Register Subscribe Customer Service

ONLINE FEATURES Book Reviews BW Video Columnists Interactive Gallery Newsletters Past Covers Philanthropy Podcasts Special Reports BLOGS Auto Beat Bangalore Tigers Blogspotting Brand New Day Byte of the Apple Economics Unbound Eye on Asia Fine On Media Green Biz Hot Property Investing Insights Management IQ NEXT: Innovation NussbaumOnDesign Tech Beat Working Parents TECHNOLOGY J.D. Power Ratings Product Reviews Tech Stats Wildstrom: Tech Maven AUTOS Home Page Auto Reviews Classic Cars Car Care & Safety Hybrids INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads

BW EXTRAS BW Digital BW Mobile BW Online Alerts Dashboard Widgets Podcasts RSS

RSS Feeds

Reprints/ Permissions Conferences Research Services

JUNE 18, 2001

INTERNATIONAL -- EDITORIALS

Curbing the Media Is Bad News for China

STORY TOOLS

Printer-Friendly Version

E-Mail This Story

INTERNATIONAL -- EDITORIALS

Curbing the Media Is Bad News for China

Toward a More Continental Britain?

Marxism is battling the market in China's rough-and-tumble media world. And Marx is taking a beating. State-owned radio stations, TV stations, and newspapers are competing to capture audiences as their government handouts are whittled back. Better-educated and wealthier customers demand more than the gray fare of a state press that says life in their country is good and always getting better.

Give China credit for gradually loosening boundaries, and for seeking advice on reform from abroad. The partly privatized Hunan Radio, TV & Film Group is giving Beijing's China Central Television stiff competition. In the wealthy southern province of Guangdong, Southern Weekend's exposes of corruption have made it a commercial success. Caijing, a financial monthly, blew the lid on a stock-pumping ring run by most of the country's government-owned mutual-fund houses.

But the ghosts of Marx and Mao are fighting back. In late May, the top editors at Southern Weekend were sacked. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists last month named Chinese President Jiang Zemin to its enemies-of-the-press list, noting that 22 journalists were in jail in China at the end of 2000, more than in any other country.

China is riding a tiger. Its increasingly knowledge-based economy needs a freer flow of information. Yet freer information will undermine the Communist Party. China's best bet is to pursue evolutionary change, as South Korea and Taiwan have. That means a more consistent policy of media freedom. While that may cause trouble for the Chinese Communist Party, it can only be good for the people of China.

Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds. XML

Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed.

Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video.

To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here.

Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page