Almost every westerner are saying that CNN is a independent media, but why?
Do you know who are controling CNN?
Who are in CNN board?
Can you ensure that who are in CNN board is not controling west world by money or other things?
All are under surface of water!But who can tell me how deep the water is?
CNN can give money to candidate of president!
And officials can join CNN board, they can get money from CNN , and control west world by right!
Westerners can monitor their government, but who can monitor their medias?

I am doing my best to understand west world!
Who can tell me the truth?

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From a western point of view, CNN is neither controlled nor operated by the government. VOA, for instance, is a government controlled media organization. So is Pravda and Xinxua. This does not mean what they say is accurate or inaccurate from a media view point, but they do report the news what the news producers and news anchors think what their audience wants to hear or read. Nor am I saying that government controlled news organizations are less than non government controlled media organizations.

Indeed, I think "independent media" here means merely that the organization isn't controlled by the government. As for the "who can monitor their media" question, the hope is that the different media sources (being owned and controlled by different organizations and individuals) have a direct interest in monitoring each other.
E.G. If CNN is lying about something in their news reports, its in the interests of FoxNews to tell everyone about it because doing so encourages people to watch Fox instead of CNN. Each news sources wants to be seen as the most reliable, and thus each is motivated to expose any unreliability in the others. It isn't that simple, especially since some organizations own multiple media outlets, but that's the general idea.

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To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. -Theodore Roosevelt

Fox can monitor CNN?They are only contending for media market!
For media market of USA is controlling by less and less media oligarchs,
CNN and Fox and other media of USA can make an agreement to control the west world together in private!
From Watergate scandal, I can't almost find any brave journalist to challenge west world!
But in Iraq wars, you can find more and more journalists are making false news for Bush's government!
Who brainwashing whom?
And now so many Americans are defending Bush and CNN!
Fox's news is full of nationalism, more and more Americans are being brainwashed by them!

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Yeah, So , not every censorship event can be censured!
But You are right also that all nations must deal with the problem of a government that might exaggerate or exploit those threats to control its people.
This is aim we Chinese are doing our best to get!
But we don't believe medias controlled by foreign businessman, we need medias controlled by Chinese!
I think you can understand what we are worrying about!

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The "truth" is difficult to find when it comes to figuring out who has power and how they use it. Many people in business (including media like CNN) and government play important roles in American society, and we can't separate the two of them well because leaders in government become leaders in business and back again. Also, leaders in both government and business play roles in so-called "foundations" (large collections of wealth) and in academia (universities and colleges). It is important to notice these connections, I think, and to note that they might pose a legitimate threat to some American values.

However, I find it hard to believe that they are brainwashing me or have much "control" over the Western world or America. The groups above that have a lot of influence are also very different from each other, with different ideas of how things should be done and what policies should be used. Perhaps one of the few things that they agree on is some degree of free markets, which Chinese leaders apparently agree with the past few decades of reform, or "Socialism with Chinese characteristics." Also, there are many free-thinking people (not just in America but in the West) I've encountered in life, whether it is in reality, in newspapers, online, in books, and so on. I cannot imagine any system of brainwashing existing with all these differences in opinion and disagreements with those in power; if such a system doesexist, it doesn't seem to be working.

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No man is an island...
Each man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in Mankind.
And therefore, never send to know
For whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
—John Donne

I do understand, but I'm becoming convinced that the best way to monitor the media is for media owners to be competitive. I don't know how much public debate and open discussion occurs in China, but a situation in which a state is significantly involved in mass media seems dangerous to me. The United States is not free from this worry. There are many relationships between media owners, reporters, analysts, political parties, ideological groups, think-tanks, etc. Still, I prefer this competitive system to one with direct intervention by government institutions.

__________________
No man is an island...
Each man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in Mankind.
And therefore, never send to know
For whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
—John Donne

Some I agree, some I won't!
you can't see agreement in private , or it couldn't be called agreement in private!
Surely west world is more perfect than Chinese society!
This is very true!
But the society of China is evolving , and west world is also evolving!
Your modern society have evolving for a very long time!
China's time is shorter than yours!
I believe we can get to the same level with you westerners!
But We can't believe who are in business and government at the same time!
It's a source of corruption!

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OK!I can tell you that we Chinese have very small chance to be permitted to hold a mass rally!
(
My comments:
If we were permitted, some violence may result in events which may be a pretext for VOA or other west government to censure us!
)
But we can discuss many things on internet, even the most impressible problems, such as 6.4 TianAnMen(Do you know this meaning?)!
Surely we are suffering controlling in many areas!This is not a comfortable things for us Chinese!
But I think I need some, because we need to delelop economy ,not waste time on debate everyday!
We have no so many time to debate as American!We are so poor,you know!

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China: Multinationals Hear It Online
Luap, to read this article!
Our voice not only to MNC, but also to our government!
Nobody can ignore our voice ,but CNN can!
This is why we don't like CNN!

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An agreement on the part of all media owners to act together is unlikely to even occur, and even if it does occur, it is unlikely to last long. I will admit though that it is possible. With the government involved, it can force media owners to cooperate for the purpose of 'brainwashing' and controlling information. With little to no state involvement, though, media owners are more free to broadcast what they want while searching for a corner of the media market.

Anyway, there is little we can do about a relationship between the public and private sectors (the government and business). It is so embedded that a clear different between "public" and "private" might just be an invention of the human mind, and not a description of reality. The connections between private and public are troublesome, but we must learn to live with them, in my opinion.

__________________
No man is an island...
Each man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in Mankind.
And therefore, never send to know
For whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
—John Donne

I'm unfamiliar with 6.4 TianAnMen, what is it?

As for the idea that less censorship and more debate might get in the way of economic development, some thinkers believe that more censorship and less debate are the things that hold back development. Is a discussion on a theory such as this happening in China?

__________________
No man is an island...
Each man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in Mankind.
And therefore, never send to know
For whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
—John Donne

Yes, the Internet is a great thing. Even when a government such as the People's Republic tries to monitor the Internet, it is very difficult to catch everything. The internet is a very democratic tool, for now.

__________________
No man is an island...
Each man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in Mankind.
And therefore, never send to know
For whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
—John Donne

I imagine it refers to the events in Tienanmen Square on and just before 6.4.1989 when the Chinese military/police opened fire on unarmed protesters, wounding or killing hundreds, if not thousands. As I understand it, the events remain a sensitive topic in China and a sore spot in China's relationship with the West.

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To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. -Theodore Roosevelt

Yes, you are right!
But I don't want to discuss this problem in this threads!
If anybody want, he could post a new topic here, and I will join it!
Thanks!

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