Restricted Media In China

For spring break this year, my mom and I took a 9-day trip to China. As we all know, China is a communist country and governed by a strict dictator. Almost every aspect of China is controlled by the government. Their media is no different.

On this trip, we were given two tour guides, both China residents. The tourists asked many questions about their government, including what they thought of their dictator and their views of past events that had gained global attention.

One response we received was "I found out from a friend who works for the police." The Chinese government is very selective as to what it allows the Chinese people to see and hear. Many of the "unfavorable" events that occur in their own cities are never mentioned on the news and China residents are either oblivious to these events or they find out from leaks in the government.

Here is a link to the Council on Foreign Relations that discusses media censorship in China: http://www.cfr.org/publication/11515/

I never could have imagined a place that didn't have public relations until I visited China. Maybe they have public relations but all of their practitioners are working for the government. I really don't know. I loved China but I could never work there.

Revised Wiki Assignment

Propoganda in America- meet Edward Bernays. Edward Bernays was the man behind “Torches of Freedom.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZYTrFokPHY


“Torches Of Freedom” During the women’s liberation movement the tobacco industry planted debutantes with cigarettes in the Easter parade. These women smoked their “Torches of Freedom” during the parade and thus ending the taboo against women smokers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_public_relations


Toxic Sludge is Good for You is a book by John Strauber and Sheldon Rampton. It is somewhat of an expose on governement organizations pretending to be “grass root” organizations to deceive the public. John Strauber also has a web site called prwatch.org.
http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy.html


COSCA- a front group created by Pagan International. The Coalition of South Africans was made to create a false sense of community so that legislation would be passed in Shell’s favor.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_for_Southern_Africa


















Wal-Marting Across America – a travel flog about an RV making its way across the country staying Wal-Mart car parks. The blogger was sponsored by Wal-Mart and its PR agency, Edleman, to create viral marketing. Revolution Magazine

LINK - http://www.brandrepublic.com/login/News/754401/

Reference: "When Consumers Bite Back." Revolution 27 Oct 2007: 38.


McDonald’s – said to be written by a security guard who was fascinated with a McDonald’s ad campaign. The site was sponsored by McDonalds as one of its marketing campaigns and was later revealed to be the work of its PR agency. Revolution Magazine

LINK - http://www.brandrepublic.com/login/News/754401/

Reference: "When Consumers Bite Back." Revolution 27 Oct 2007: 38.


Sony’s alliwantforxmasisapsp.com – a flog established to promote Sony’s play station console. The site was said to be written by two young boys to convince one of their mothers to buy him a PS3 for Christmas. Visit PRWeek archives

LINK – www.prweek.com

Reference: "Blog Myths Exposed." PR Week 09 Feb 2007: 22


LonelyGirl15 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonelygirl15