<rdf:RDF xmlns:burst="http://xmlns.com/burst/0.1/" xmlns:admin="http://webns.net/mvcb/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:syn="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:taxo="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/taxonomy/" xmlns:owl="http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#" xmlns:cc="http://web.resource.org/cc/" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#" xmlns:swrc="http://swrc.ontoware.org/ontology#" xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#" xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/" xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"><channel rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/burst/user/acf/TV"><title>BibSonomy publications for /user/acf/TV</title><link>http://www.bibsonomy.org/burst/user/acf/TV</link><description>BibSonomy BuRST Feed for /user/acf/TV</description><dc:date>2008-08-21T12:50:14+02:00</dc:date><items><rdf:Seq><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2703faa763e9fc31a7bda0c17a88cbdb9/acf"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/26578714219368dea4e72c45d94ddd7ab/acf"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/256a323249e16f39dea6058381e9aec8c/acf"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/202e95c0ef2bfccb0d8f43ec69db2fb62/acf"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/284dbbac21758e9c090d06bdc6a11ed18/acf"/></rdf:Seq></items></channel><item rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2703faa763e9fc31a7bda0c17a88cbdb9/acf"><title>Local news programming makes inroads against CCTV</title><description>May08</description><link>http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2703faa763e9fc31a7bda0c17a88cbdb9/acf</link><dc:creator>acf</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-01T16:51:41+02:00</dc:date><dc:subject>CCTV TV broadcasting </dc:subject><content:encoded>&lt;span style=&#034;color:#555555;&#034;&gt;Joel &lt;a href=&#034;http://www.bibsonomy.org/author/Martinsen&#034;&gt;Martinsen&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;danwei.org&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;June 15, 2007 1:34 PM20070607. &lt;/em&gt;</content:encoded><taxo:topics><rdf:Bag><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/CCTV"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/TV"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/broadcasting"/></rdf:Bag></taxo:topics><burst:publication><rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2703faa763e9fc31a7bda0c17a88cbdb9/acf"><owl:sameAs rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/uri/bibtex/2703faa763e9fc31a7bda0c17a88cbdb9/acf"/><rdf:type rdf:resource="http://swrc.ontoware.org/ontology#Article"/><owl:sameAs rdf:resource="http://www.danwei.org/tv/local_news_programming_makes_i.php"/><swrc:date>Sun Jun 01 16:51:41 CEST 2008</swrc:date><swrc:journal>danwei.org</swrc:journal><swrc:month>June 15, 2007 1:34 PM</swrc:month><swrc:title>Local news programming makes inroads against CCTV</swrc:title><swrc:year>20070607</swrc:year><swrc:keywords>CCTV TV broadcasting </swrc:keywords><swrc:abstract>The 13th Shanghai Television Festival concludes today. The festival&#039;s
	Magnolia Forum (白玉兰论坛), which brings together industry professionals
	and academics from a number of countries, issued a Report on the
	Chinese TV News Program Market 2007-2008. The report, edited jointly
	by the Shanghai TV Festival and CCTV Softres Media (CSM), follows
	earlier papers on other areas of programming. 
	
	As might be expected in today&#039;s regulatory climate, the report warns
	news programs about stretching the bounds of taste, and looks to
	the most recent crop of reality talent shows for lessons.
	
	
	However, the Mirror finds evidence of a major change in the television
	news landscape:
	
	
	During the last year, news programs have become one of the leading
	formats for attracting advertisements. CCTV holds 3/4 of the market,
	but in regional markets CCTV has met with unprecedented challenges
	from local stations.
	
	
	In 2006, news programming amounted to a total of 640,000 hours. General
	news made up half of programming; arts, sports, and legal news showed
	growth. General arts and entertainment news made up more than 10%
	of programming. Viewers watched an average of 22.8 minutes of news
	every day.
	
	...
	
	The Report says that in the future, the country&#039;s news programming
	will exhibit a few changing trends. 
	
	
	CCTV, using its advantages of position, resources, and policies, occupies
	a leading position. Minority cable stations use financing, technology,
	and innovation to compete with CCTV in certain time slots.
	
	
	In regional markets, local stations have used &#034;locally-targeted news&#034;
	(民生新闻) to break out and occupy a relatively large share of the viewership.
	The Report predicts that in the next few years, &#034;locally-targeted
	news&#034; will become a major player and may approach or even replace
	the traditional broadcast position of CCTV&#039;s news.
	
	
	CCTV has its own spin on this: Wang Lanzhu, general manager of CSM,
	said:
	
	
	A program that could run for two years has too serious a problem with
	homogeneity, and if it is broadcast too frequently, it may be scuttled
	in a very short time. A classic example is the &#034;locally-targeted
	news,&#034; because some cities have run too many repeats, leading to
	declining ratings; exhaustion occurs very quickly.
	
	
	This article from the Washington Post in March is also relevant.
	
	
	Links and Sources
	
	STVF (Chinese): News should preserve its strengths and be cautious
	about vulgarization 
	
	Mirror via Tom (Chinese): Local news programs may force CCTV to &#034;abdicate&#034;
	
	
	Image from Southern Weekly</swrc:abstract><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="2008.05.30" swrc:key="timestamp"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="[afeld]" swrc:key="markedentry"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="afeld" swrc:key="owner"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:author><rdf:Seq><rdf:_1><swrc:Person swrc:name="Joel Martinsen"/></rdf:_1></rdf:Seq></swrc:author></rdf:Description></burst:publication></item><item rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/26578714219368dea4e72c45d94ddd7ab/acf"><title>Wang Shuo's public complaint against TV censors</title><description>May08</description><link>http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/26578714219368dea4e72c45d94ddd7ab/acf</link><dc:creator>acf</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-01T16:51:41+02:00</dc:date><dc:subject>bribery TV complaint censorship Wang_Shuo </dc:subject><content:encoded>&lt;span style=&#034;color:#555555;&#034;&gt;Joel &lt;a href=&#034;http://www.bibsonomy.org/author/Martinsen&#034;&gt;Martinsen&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;danwei.org&lt;/em&gt;(&lt;em&gt;20070615&lt;/em&gt;)</content:encoded><taxo:topics><rdf:Bag><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/bribery"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/TV"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/complaint"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/censorship"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/Wang_Shuo"/></rdf:Bag></taxo:topics><burst:publication><rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/26578714219368dea4e72c45d94ddd7ab/acf"><owl:sameAs rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/uri/bibtex/26578714219368dea4e72c45d94ddd7ab/acf"/><rdf:type rdf:resource="http://swrc.ontoware.org/ontology#Article"/><owl:sameAs rdf:resource="http://www.danwei.org/media_regulation/wang_shuo_model_citizen_or_sha.php"/><swrc:date>Sun Jun 01 16:51:41 CEST 2008</swrc:date><swrc:journal>danwei.org</swrc:journal><swrc:title>Wang Shuo&#039;s public complaint against TV censors</swrc:title><swrc:year>20070615</swrc:year><swrc:keywords>bribery TV complaint censorship Wang_Shuo </swrc:keywords><swrc:abstract>Wang Shuo&#039;s back in the news - this time for two reasons. First, when
	singer Xie Dong was arrested for drug use, he revealed that Xie was
	actually the son of famed cross-talk performer Hou Baolin, born out
	of wedlock. 
	
	Then he posted an &#034;open letter of complaint&#034; to his Kaila blog, claiming
	that TV censors have accepted hundreds of thousands of yuan in bribe
	money from producers seeking approval for their TV series. He said
	that Ye Jing, the director of Bloom of Youth (与青春有关的日子), a fictionalized
	account about Wang and other 80s figures, could testify about the
	corruption-filled review process. Ye claims that bribery was involved
	in his ill-fated 2000 TV series Laughingstock (贻笑大方).
	
	
	Wang puts the number of TV drama episodes at 20,000 per year, or around
	1000 series of 20 episodes apiece. He claims that typical bribes
	are 30,000 to 50,000 yuan per censor. 
	
	
	In a blog post this morning, Wang Xiaofeng asks some questions that
	are on everyone&#039;s mind:
	
	
	I have a few questions for you all you consider:
	
	
	1. If it is like Wang Shuo says for 20,000 episodes a year, then can
	these few censors watch them all? If they can&#039;t, then what?
	
	
	2. Wang Shuo made a signed complaint. Since there&#039;s been a complaint,
	then it cannot be taken as mere self-promotion. Shouldn&#039;t the government
	make a response to a citizen&#039;s complaint, or issue an opinion or
	something?
	
	
	3. If Wang Shuo makes a TV show in the future, will he face retaliatory
	attacks?
	
	
	Point 2 was elucidated in an op-ed in The Beijing News yesterday that
	called Wang Shuo a model citizen:
	
	
	Wang Shuo deserves respect for making a signed complaint
	
	by Cao Lin / TBN 
	
	The past few days Wang Shuo has once again been the focus of media
	attention. This time it&#039;s not because of his role as a mocker of
	all comers, but rather that of a whistle-blower. He reported that
	the TV series censors of some TV stations used their position to
	exact bribes from production teams. He said that since 1997, there
	were production teams who, in order to pass, paid bribes to the censors
	in the form of film inspection fees. To date, &#034;film inspection fees&#034;
	have reached 30,000 to 50,000 per person. The more rounds of inspection
	there are, the more times fees must be paid; there are basically
	no first-round passes - at least two rounds are needed. He pointed
	to director Ye Jing who could confirm this (from The Beijing News).
	
	
	Regardless of how &#034;hooliganish&#034; Wang Shuo is, or how controversial
	his words have been in the past, or how much nonsense he has done,
	this open, signed complaint about corruption among the censors shows
	one citizen&#039;s courage. Although the law stipulates that citizens
	have the obligation to report and testify, because there is no system
	for protection of witnesses in the scope of the law, those who make
	reports are frequently faced with pressure and attacks. This means
	that our corruption-hating compatriots require courage to stand up
	and make reports; signed complaints require even more courage. Putting
	ones name to something demonstrates complete confidence in the facts,
	complete trust in the anti-corruption departments, and a willingness
	to accept responsibility for the complaint. This is commendable.
	Moreover, to be &#034;open,&#034; to expose to the stage of public opinion
	what one knows about inside matters so that the public can easily
	participate and oversee the anti-corruption investigation is beneficial
	to uncovering conspiracies.
	
	
	A citizen not only dared to make a complaint: he dared to sign his
	name to an open complaint. This kind of citizen should win respect
	from the media, other interested parties, the anti-corruption departments,
	and even the departments involved and the target of the complaint.
	One can see from society&#039;s response that he has not received the
	respect he deserves.
	
	
	First, the media has not given it enough attention. I noticed that
	after Wang Shuo posted his letter of complaint on his own blog, the
	media immediately reported it. However, because of Wang Shuo&#039;s position,
	most of the media ran this news item in the &#034;Entertainment Channel&#034;
	or the &#034;Entertainment Pages.&#034;
	
	
	In actuality, this is an important piece of news. It is one citizen&#039;s
	sober action. It is one citizen&#039;s heroic move against corruption.
	
	
	After Wang Shuo&#039;s letter of complaint was revealed, responsible parties
	immediately said to the media, &#034;Wang Shuo&#039;s words are irresponsible,&#034;
	and claimed, &#034;We never received any sort of fees. I think those senior
	comrades did not receive any fees either.&#034;
	
	
	A citizen dares to make a signed complaint against corruption. This
	demonstrates that he is willing to accept responsibility for the
	facts. A signed complaint is shows great responsibility - how is
	it &#034;irresponsible&#034;? From another angle, using &#034;I&#039;ve never accepted
	any fees&#034; to deduce that &#034;those senior comrades never accepted any&#034;
	is less than rigorous.
	
	
	Wang Shuo dared to make an open, signed complaint. If the anti-corruption
	departments respect the words of a citizen, they should make an immediate,
	positive response to his complaint, and make an objective, open,
	transparent investigation to give him an explanation. Only when citizens
	are shown fervent respect can society be cleaned to its core.
	
	
	* * *
	
	Here&#039;s Wang&#039;s original letter (note: there&#039;s another translation by
	Oiwan Lam at Global Voices Online):
	
	
	An open letter of complaint
	
	In response to the Anti-Malfeasance Month initiated by the Supreme
	People&#039;s Procuratorate Anti-Corruption &amp; Bribery and Malfeasance
	Supervision Departments, I hereby make an open complaint against
	the widespread criminal malfeasance in which TV series censors at
	every TV station in the Radio, Film, and TV System accept bribes
	from TV production teams:
	
	
	Since the 1990s, TV stations have set up program censor groups made
	up up retired comrades and so-called senior artists to perform political
	inspections of every TV show about to be aired. This was originally
	a means of strengthening administration and preventing the ever-increasing
	trend toward Hong Kong and Taiwan-style vulgarity, but such absolute
	power corrupts absolutely, and the small groups override the professional
	departments of the stations, and have the power of life and death
	over the broadcast of a TV show. After 1997, TV production teams
	had no recourse but to bribe the censor groups through an inspection
	fee in the hopes of winning approval. To date, this inspection fee
	has reached RMB 30,000 to 50,000 per group member per inspection;
	multiple rounds of inspection require multiple fees. There are essentially
	no shows that pass in one round; at least two round are necessary.
	Even if one ultimately fails to pass, money is not returned. And
	no one dares ask for it, because even if you&#039;ve been shut down this
	time, there&#039;s always next time, unless you will have no more to do
	with them.
	
	
	Nearly 20,000 episodes of TV series are produced every year in this
	country; calculating at an average of 20 episodes per series, this
	is nearly 1000 series. The 30,000 to 50,000 I mentioned is the price
	in Beijing; other areas may be different. Whether or not these 1000
	series are able to be broadcast, they all must be inspected. Using
	the minimum price of 30,000 yuan per person per round times one thousand
	is 30 million times 10 years is 300 million, and after a second round
	this is 600 million. This doesn&#039;t include wining and dining - at
	every round of inspections, the production team must rent a luxurious
	hotel room and invite the censors to eat, drink, karaoke, and find
	girls. This bill is very clear to all film producers. They and all
	TV series directors are witnesses. Ask them and you will understand.
	
	
	Before last year, the total annual box office of China&#039;s movies was
	just 1 billion. These punks - at least three to five people per group,
	600 million times three or five people or even five or six people,
	I&#039;m too lazy to work out what the total is. Senior comrades? What
	scum! Mutiny!
	
	
	Complaint by: Citizen Wang Shuo, 2007.6.10.
	
	
	
	--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	
	
	Wang&#039;s letter starts out as a relatively sober complaint, but his
	tone gradually changes as he gets going, until at the end he resorts
	to non-standard characters (神马老同志 - &#034;Senior comrades?&#034;) to emphasize
	his contempt for the censors. This lends credence to the widespread
	notion that Wang is taking advantage of the Supreme People&#039;s Procuratorate&#039;s
	anti-corruption campaign to keep his name in the news. 
	
	
	Here&#039;s an excerpt from a forum post that illustrates a typical &#034;self-promotion&#034;
	interpretation:
	
	
	Wang Shuo&#039;s action kicked up waves in entertainment circles; industry
	insiders and other people involved expressed their positions on the
	issue, but few responded to Wang Shuo. You Xiaogang, head of the
	North Central Television Art Center said: The situation Wang Shuo
	mentions may have existed ten years ago, when one or two leaders
	had the power to decide - give a bit of money and you&#039;re OK. But
	today, it&#039;s practically impossible. So many hoops to jump through
	with no one person possessing the ultimate power to decide. No one
	can hide the truth on his own. Director Chen Fuqian said: SARFT has
	20 people in its film censor group alone. You can buy off one or
	two people, but you can&#039;t buy off everyone.
	
	
	Everyone can see that Wang Shuo always makes his entrance as a figure
	of justice, possessing the awe-inspiring aura of a righteous hero,
	but in reality Wang never finds much support for his positions. What
	is it that ultimately causes everyone to treat Wang Shuo&#039;s righteous
	displays with such indifference? We should be able to find it in
	the person of Wang Shuo himself.
	
	
	At the beginning of the year, Wang Shuo cursed Sina to ruin, sooner
	or later, because Sina uses writing without compensating authors.
	Actually, apart from those web sites that have signed writers to
	contracts, and a website that pays authors to post on forums and
	blogs, netizens write articles and make posts simply for their own
	pleasure. The government has not issued any clear rules for this
	situation in particular. You&#039;re an author, Wang Shuo&#039;s, and writing
	for money is your skill, so there&#039;s no reason at all to be so flustered.
	If Sohu invites you to blog without compensation, you can refuse.
	If Sina impersonates Wang Shuo, you can sue. This is your right.
	But then Wang Shuo came out and said that he was going to run a paid
	blog on Xu Jinglei&#039;s Flower Village, one mao per click, and immediately
	everyone knew where Wang Shuo&#039;s true motivation lay. The prior vehemence
	was just a way of giving himself an opening.
	
	...
	
	As for Wang Shuo&#039;s &#034;letter of complaint,&#034; there are plenty of legitimate
	reasons to object to bribery and malfeasance that harms the reputation
	of the party and the government....First, let&#039;s look at Wang Shuo&#039;s
	&#034;letter of complaint.&#034; If this can be called a letter of complaint,
	then there&#039;s no reason for the national prosecutors to do anything
	else all day but read letters of complaint that they&#039;ll never finish.
	The important conditions of a letter of complaint - people, times,
	and facts - must be precise and accurate; otherwise, it will be a
	letter of false accusation. In these areas, what facts does Wang
	Shuo&#039;s &#034;letter of complaint&#034; contain? It can&#039;t be simply that the
	censor groups have taken bribes, no?
	
	...
	
	The past few years, Wang Shuo has lived a semi-private life for personal
	reasons and rarely has released any new works. His new work came
	out this year to a lukewarm reception; as the &#034;hooligan literature&#034;
	that first made Wang famous lost its novelty it became less appealing.
	This is entirely normal. It&#039;s understandable that Wang Shuo wants
	to gain profit and mindshare through the Internet, but this one trick
	after another isn&#039;t really natural. A game that&#039;s always exposed
	before it ends isn&#039;t all that smart. While this &#034;letter of complaint&#034;
	can resurrect stale gossip from the depths of his memory, and while
	he can deceive the public about the truth of his words, it really
	can&#039;t stand up under careful inspection.
	
	
	
	--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	
	
	But that&#039;s all in the past, now. Just this morning, mainland media
	reported that Wang claimed in an interview with Hong Kong media that
	the late Chen Xiaoxu had a son that she and her ex-husband kept secret
	for twenty years. The existence of this child apparently throws a
	wrench into the charity fund that Chen&#039;s estate was intended to set
	up.
	
	
	Links and Sources
	
	The Beijing News (Chinese): Wang Shuo &#034;blows the whistle&#034; on the &#034;inside
	story&#034; of TV series inspection 
	
	http://ent.thebeijingnews.com/0598/2007/06-12/017@003610.htm
	
	The Beijing News (Chinese): Wang Shuo deserves respect for making
	a public report 
	
	http://comment.thebeijingnews.com/0733/2007/06-14/021@025109.htm
	
	Wang Shuo&#039;s blog (Chinese): An open letter of complaint 
	
	http://blog.kaila.com.cn/user1/wangshuo/?article_read&amp;p=2&amp;a_id=173069&amp;from=1
	
	Lin&#039;an News (Chinese): Exposing the real goal behind Wang Shuo&#039;s made-up
	&#034;whistle-blowing letter&#034; 
	
	http://www.lanews.com.cn/col305/col1003/article.htm1?id=646538
	
	Wang Xiaofeng&#039;s blog (Chinese): Real questions about Wang Shuo&#039;s complaint
	
	
	http://www.wangxiaofeng.net/index.php?p=1162
	
	Sanxiang Metropolis Daily via QQ (Chinese): Wang Shuo reveals Chen
	Xiaoxu has a 20-year-old son
	
	http://cq.ent.qq.com/a/20070615/000086.htm</swrc:abstract><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="2008.05.30" swrc:key="timestamp"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="[afeld]" swrc:key="markedentry"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="afeld" swrc:key="owner"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:author><rdf:Seq><rdf:_1><swrc:Person swrc:name="Joel Martinsen"/></rdf:_1></rdf:Seq></swrc:author></rdf:Description></burst:publication></item><item rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/256a323249e16f39dea6058381e9aec8c/acf"><title>SARFT pulls all commercials at two TV stations</title><description>May08</description><link>http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/256a323249e16f39dea6058381e9aec8c/acf</link><dc:creator>acf</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-01T16:51:41+02:00</dc:date><dc:subject>commercials SARFT broadcasting TV </dc:subject><content:encoded>&lt;span style=&#034;color:#555555;&#034;&gt;Joel &lt;a href=&#034;http://www.bibsonomy.org/author/Martinsen&#034;&gt;Martinsen&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;danwei.org&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;June 23, 2007 12:40 AM20070623. &lt;/em&gt;</content:encoded><taxo:topics><rdf:Bag><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/commercials"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/SARFT"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/broadcasting"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/TV"/></rdf:Bag></taxo:topics><burst:publication><rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/256a323249e16f39dea6058381e9aec8c/acf"><owl:sameAs rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/uri/bibtex/256a323249e16f39dea6058381e9aec8c/acf"/><rdf:type rdf:resource="http://swrc.ontoware.org/ontology#Article"/><owl:sameAs rdf:resource="http://www.danwei.org/tv/sarft_pulls_all_advertising_fr.php"/><swrc:date>Sun Jun 01 16:51:41 CEST 2008</swrc:date><swrc:journal>danwei.org</swrc:journal><swrc:month>June 23, 2007 12:40 AM</swrc:month><swrc:title>SARFT pulls all commercials at two TV stations</swrc:title><swrc:year>20070623</swrc:year><swrc:keywords>commercials SARFT broadcasting TV </swrc:keywords><swrc:abstract>This week&#039;s chengyu is 杀鸡儆猴 - &#034;killing the chicken to warn the monkeys,&#034;
	or punishing one individual as a warning to others. 
	
	That&#039;s the general public perception of SARFT&#039;s order revoking the
	right of two local TV stations to broadcast commercial advertisements.
	The two stations, one in Ningxia and another in Gansu, had repeatedly
	ignored requests from the Administration to pull medical ads and
	misleading infomercials. Ningxia&#039;s station has replaced its commercial
	ads with PSAs about combating piracy and promoting family planning.
	Gansu&#039;s station is not broadcasting any ads at all right now.
	
	
	But they&#039;re certainly not the only ones that have been violating the
	rules; many observers feel that SARFT is just making an example out
	of two insignificant stations to convince everyone else that things
	have gotten serious. The administration has been tightening its truth-in-advertising
	rules through series of regulations and clarifications issued over
	the past year or so. One key notice, jointly issued with SAIC last
	August, banned five categories of ads: weight-loss, breast enlargement,
	and height increase products, and all drugs and medical equipment.
	Some local stations replaced late-night medical ads with infomercials
	for watches, but for many, things did not change at all. Friday&#039;s
	Mirror reported that even after the ban in Ningxia and Gansu, local
	stations in some areas were still broadcasting prohibited commercials.
	
	
	Why? It&#039;s all about money. According to the Mirror, only the top five
	cable channels have filled all of their advertising slots; of the
	remainder, 70% of ad time remains unsold. Late-night TV time sells
	for as little as 1000 yuan a minute or less on local TV; when a company
	buys up huge chunks of time with questionable infomercials, many
	stations figure it&#039;s worth the risk, particularly because the authorities
	haven&#039;t really followed through on their regulatory threats in the
	past.
	
	
	Translated below are a number of (mostly skeptical) opinions on SARFT&#039;s
	action. In the China Economic Times, Zhou Chengxiong, head of the
	Academic Research Department at Peking University&#039;s Institute of
	Cultural Industry, identified four reasons why local stations risk
	defying SARFT in their advertising practices:
	
	
	First, local TV stations must make a living. Because of continual
	changes in SARFT and local policies, many local TV stations and channels
	are finding it ever harder to survive. Reasons include: CCTV is too
	strong, all of its stations cover the whole country, and the national
	authorities consciously or unconsciously limit competition between
	CCTV and local stations; Many local stations have restrictions placed
	on their own programming and their broadcast times, so their revenue
	space is compressed....
	
	
	Second, punishment of violators has been ineffective. Though SARFT
	has repeatedly issued all sorts of regulations to local stations,
	it has never taken effective steps to punish violators...
	
	
	Third, local protectionism serves as a bodyguard for violating stations.
	We have not seen a single local TV station leader receive any punishment
	from the local party or government for violating advertising broadcast
	regulations. This emboldens local TV stations in their broadcast.
	Local TV station heads eat from the bowl of the local government,
	so there is nothing that SARFT can do to them. Although TV stations
	are not administrative organs, their position is not inferior to
	some parts of the government, for they are not only the voice of
	the government but one industry within developed by the local economy.
	For this reason, when local stations violate regulations, the local
	government typically will not carry out any punishment. When the
	state government issues punishment, the local government will try
	any means possible to protect the station, and some punishments have
	a hard time sticking.
	
	
	Fourth, there is insufficiently strict oversight of TV stations. We
	can see that the current punishment of local TV stations comes from
	the State Administration; the existence of local protectionism means
	that the local radio and TV authorities cannot oversee and punish
	local TV stations. There are several thousand stations of all levels
	across the country; SARFT has just several hundred civil servants,
	and even if they all neither slept nor ate, there would still be
	no way for them to oversee all of the country&#039;s stations.
	
	
	In Beijing Business Today, Fu Kai tried to give SARFT the benefit
	of the doubt:
	
	
	For a TV station, advertising makes up practically its entire economic
	resources. Revoking the right to broadcast commercials is tantamount
	to death by a thousand cuts. It hurts, and you&#039;ve got to keep producing
	programs and paying salaries while your income is gone. SARFT&#039;s really
	going to great lengths here.
	
	
	However, I discovered when reading the Notice that these two TV stations
	received such &#034;cruel punishment&#034; today because several months ago
	they had ignored SARFT&#039;s warnings and punishments. I can&#039;t help but
	wonder - will this &#034;banning order&#034; really be carried out in full?
	
	
	At the same time, I also noticed that SARFT has previously issued
	a whole series of rules regarding the broadcast of advertisements,
	not directed just at the two stations in Ningxia and Gansu, but at
	the whole nationwide audience. But there&#039;s been no shortage of time
	to watch ads for &#034;miraculous cures&#034; and &#034;astonishing breakthroughs.&#034;
	
	
	Particularly in the late-night hours every day, programming on cable
	channels all over is surprisingly identical. Looking at SARFT&#039;s rules,
	it appears that not a single ad should be able to be broadcast.
	
	
	Perhaps killing these two &#034;chickens&#034; won&#039;t be enough to scare all
	of the &#034;monkeys,&#034; if the &#034;chickens&#034; can truly be killed this time.
	Nevertheless, we still welcome the murderous intent that has exploded
	out of SARFT this time.
	
	
	The Qingdao Financial Daily argued that the monkeys ought to be killed
	along with the chickens:
	
	
	Bluntly point, prior instances of SARFT cleaning house ultimately
	fell into a &#034;crying wolf&#034; pattern: a lot of bluster, and an insubstantial
	order sent down. The Notice on Rectifying Radio and TV Medical Information
	Services and TV Shopping Programs issued jointly by SARFT and SAIC
	took effect on 1 August, 2006, and it clearly stated: broadcasters
	that violated the regulations would be temporarily deprived of their
	right to air commercials. But after the Notice was released, out-of-line
	ads maintained their same crazy pace, continuing the same all bark
	and no bite result as in times past. Ten months later, SARFT finally
	made good on its promise, and carried out the punishment of revoking
	two stations&#039; right to air commercials. In one light, this should
	not be taken as an act of desperation.
	
	
	To some degree, the two stations refused to mend their ways precisely
	because the practice of airing the prohibited ads was so common -
	&#034;the law can&#039;t punish everyone,&#034; so they thought their chances were
	good. All TV stations are equal, so since everyone has violated the
	regulations, then the ones who are punished ought to be all of those
	violators. Execution of the law does not just choose easy targets,
	and it doesn&#039;t just make examples. There&#039;s no reason to treat these
	two small, non-influential TV stations as &#034;chickens,&#034; first killing
	them and then giving a warning to the &#034;monkeys&#034; so that they have
	an opportunity to mend their ways. This is unfair.
	
	
	Of course, there are so many violators that it is entirely appropriate
	for punishment to be given to some first and others later. So we
	anticipate that the order to halt commercials at these two TV stations
	is just the start of an &#034;advertising storm,&#034; rather than its conclusion.
	
	
	An op-ed at Great Wall Online asked &#034;What happens when SARFT orders
	a halt and things don&#039;t halt?&#034;:
	
	
	This writer noticed that this is a ban issued by SARFT alone. Prior
	to this, what happened after the bans issued jointly by SARFT and
	SAIC? Yunnan and other satellite TV viewers can still see Cheng Fangyuan
	and Hang Tianqi as guests on ads for &#034;Maximum Organ&#034; bust enhancing
	system; the two of them will tell you in all certainty that the bust
	enhancement effect is higher than 98%, the safety coefficient is
	100%, and in general, all foreign women use Maximum Organ. And another
	time, Jiang Shan, on Guangzhou TV&#039;s movie channel, continued to ask
	viewers: why don&#039;t you drink calcium plus zinc syrup? Calcium and
	zinc supplements together - two for the price of one. And the actress
	Shi Ke exclaims on Jiangsu TV: &#034;Flowers and Dream&#034; combines whitening
	with blemish-removal - a success the first time you use it.
	
	
	The notice previously issued by the two organizations when they joined
	hands had these results, so what will the results be when SARFT goes
	it alone to issue punishments?
	
	...
	
	In the past, the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce
	launched an across-the-board overhaul - all medical ads that had
	star endorsement were banned. SAIC declared five types of advertising
	content illegal, and ads for health products and drugs that featured
	stars fell into the scope of the &#034;hard strike.&#034; These are all stringent
	measures; now with one word SARFT has called a complete halt and
	has cut off the financial avenue for these two TV stations - is it
	feasible? No mechanism for implementing punishments, no mechanism
	for finding accountability, no linkage with the normal operation
	of the stations and the performance records of the people in charge
	- just an order to halt. I fear success will be difficult.
	
	
	And a QQ reader picked up by Tencent urged SARFT to be fair:
	
	
	Look at what TV stations are playing today: News! TV series! Variety
	shows! What&#039;s left? Most of it is ads! And the majority of those
	are commercial ads! If you take away their commercial ads, then how
	can they play programs? (even though I detest ads myself.)
	
	
	As for the stations&#039; broadcast of illegal ads, I think that if you&#039;re
	going to rectify things, then the majority of TV stations across
	the country will have to stop broadcasting. Actually, it&#039;s enough
	for the TV stations to strengthen the effectiveness of their advertising
	oversight and editing, and then ad agencies and the companies should
	adopt a responsible attitude toward consumers. But there&#039;s really
	nothing wrong with SARFT&#039;s actions. At any rate the common people
	are the victims, and advertisements to a large degree influence the
	common people&#039;s outlook. However, if you&#039;re going to rectify things
	then the whole thing needs to be rectified. You shouldn&#039;t mess around
	with local TV stations. You should take action against the fake advertisements
	on CCTV first and cut them all.
	
	
	UPDATE (2007.06.26): SARFT issued an order lifting the advertising
	ban at the two station at midnight on 25 June. (link)
	
	
	Links and Sources
	
	Mirror via CE (Chinese): Two provincial TV stations ordered to be
	overhauled; other local station still airing prohibited ads 
	
	http://www.ce.cn/cysc/gg/gdxw/200706/22/t20070622_11893439.shtml
	
	China Economic Times (Chinese): Why are TV stations so bold? 
	
	http://www.jjxww.com/show.aspx?id=6092&amp;cid=42
	
	Qingdao Financial Daily (Chinese): Fairness is important in halting
	TV commercials 
	
	http://news.a.com.cn/News/Infos/200706/22364700568.shtml
	
	Great Wall Online via People Online (Chinese): What happens when SARFT
	orders a halt and things don&#039;t halt? 
	
	http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/5900108.html
	
	Beijing Business Today (Chinese): Can SARFT really scare the monkeys
	by killing a chicken? 
	
	http://www.bbtnews.com.cn/mainland/channel/22253.shtml
	
	Tencent (Chinese): Netizen&#039;s comment 
	
	http://news.qq.com/a/20070622/002804.htm
	
	Image from The Beijing News</swrc:abstract><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="2008.05.30" swrc:key="timestamp"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="[afeld]" swrc:key="markedentry"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="afeld" swrc:key="owner"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:author><rdf:Seq><rdf:_1><swrc:Person swrc:name="Joel Martinsen"/></rdf:_1></rdf:Seq></swrc:author></rdf:Description></burst:publication></item><item rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/202e95c0ef2bfccb0d8f43ec69db2fb62/acf"><title>Chinese Language Media cooperation</title><description>May08</description><link>http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/202e95c0ef2bfccb0d8f43ec69db2fb62/acf</link><dc:creator>acf</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-01T16:51:41+02:00</dc:date><dc:subject>news cooperation Chinese_media Chinese_language conference TV </dc:subject><content:encoded>&lt;span style=&#034;color:#555555;&#034;&gt;Yang &lt;a href=&#034;http://www.bibsonomy.org/author/Jie&#034;&gt;Jie&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;CCTV.com&lt;/em&gt;(&lt;em&gt;20080530&lt;/em&gt;)</content:encoded><taxo:topics><rdf:Bag><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/news"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/cooperation"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/Chinese_media"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/Chinese_language"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/conference"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/TV"/></rdf:Bag></taxo:topics><burst:publication><rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/202e95c0ef2bfccb0d8f43ec69db2fb62/acf"><owl:sameAs rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/uri/bibtex/202e95c0ef2bfccb0d8f43ec69db2fb62/acf"/><rdf:type rdf:resource="http://swrc.ontoware.org/ontology#Article"/><swrc:date>Sun Jun 01 16:51:41 CEST 2008</swrc:date><swrc:journal>CCTV.com</swrc:journal><swrc:title>Chinese Language Media cooperation</swrc:title><swrc:year>20080530</swrc:year><swrc:keywords>news cooperation Chinese_media Chinese_language conference TV </swrc:keywords><swrc:abstract>Delegates from many key Chinese-language TV stations in the world
	are in Beijing for a special conference. On the agenda are deeper
	cooperation, closer dialogue, and how to present China to the world.
	Guan Xin has this story. 
	
	
	Delegates from more than 41 Chinese-language TV media outlets from
	22 countries and regions around the world have participated in the
	conference. They discussed how to improve their work and better introduce
	China to the world, especially with the advent of the Beijing Olympics.
	
	
	
	Delegates agreed to cooperate more to increase their global influence.
	They suggested establishing a regular dialogue mechanism to facilitate
	that cooperation. 
	
	
	Huang Jieping, Board Chairman, World Today TV Corp., said, &#034;The Beijing
	Olympics is the best opportunity. When the whole world has its eyes
	on China, we can take advantage of the opportunity to introduce the
	real China.&#034; 
	
	
	Over the past two years, overseas Chinese-language TV media have broadcast
	more than 3-thousand news and feature programs on the lives of overseas
	Chinese people. They have also taken an active part in reporting
	the important events in China today. 
	
	
	The 3-day conference concludes on Friday. </swrc:abstract><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="2008.05.30" swrc:key="timestamp"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="[afeld]" swrc:key="markedentry"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="afeld" swrc:key="owner"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:Field swrc:value="http://www.cctv.com/program/bizchina/20080530/103629.shtml" swrc:key="doi"/></swrc:hasExtraField><swrc:author><rdf:Seq><rdf:_1><swrc:Person swrc:name="Yang Jie"/></rdf:_1></rdf:Seq></swrc:author></rdf:Description></burst:publication></item><item rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/284dbbac21758e9c090d06bdc6a11ed18/acf"><title>Television drama in China: Remaking the market</title><link>http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/284dbbac21758e9c090d06bdc6a11ed18/acf</link><dc:creator>acf</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-04-26T14:09:14+02:00</dc:date><dc:subject>television production read TV dramaturgical_analysis </dc:subject><content:encoded>&lt;span style=&#034;color:#555555;&#034;&gt;M. &lt;a href=&#034;http://www.bibsonomy.org/author/Keane&#034;&gt;Keane&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy&lt;/em&gt;(&lt;em&gt;2005&lt;/em&gt;)</content:encoded><taxo:topics><rdf:Bag><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/television"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/production"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/read"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/TV"/><rdf:li rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/tag/dramaturgical_analysis"/></rdf:Bag></taxo:topics><burst:publication><rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/284dbbac21758e9c090d06bdc6a11ed18/acf"><owl:sameAs rdf:resource="http://www.bibsonomy.org/uri/bibtex/284dbbac21758e9c090d06bdc6a11ed18/acf"/><rdf:type rdf:resource="http://swrc.ontoware.org/ontology#Article"/><swrc:date>Sat Apr 26 14:09:14 CEST 2008</swrc:date><swrc:journal>Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy</swrc:journal><swrc:pages>82--93</swrc:pages><swrc:title>{Television drama in China: Remaking the market}</swrc:title><swrc:volume>115</swrc:volume><swrc:year>2005</swrc:year><swrc:keywords>television production read TV dramaturgical_analysis </swrc:keywords><swrc:author><rdf:Seq><rdf:_1><swrc:Person swrc:name="M. Keane"/></rdf:_1></rdf:Seq></swrc:author></rdf:Description></burst:publication></item></rdf:RDF>