In a lecture he gave to a group of journalism students last month, a top official at Xinhua, the state news agency, said that the [Shenzhou 5] mission was not so picture-perfect. The official, Xia Lin, described how a design flaw had exposed the astronaut to excessive G-force pressure during re-entry, splitting his lip and drenching his face in blood. Startled but undaunted by Mr. Yang’s appearance, the workers quickly mopped up the blood, strapped him back in his seat and shut the door. Then, with the cameras rolling, the cabin door swung open again, revealing an unblemished moment of triumph for all the world to see.

- New York Times

It’s difficult for me to judge just how Orwellian China’s carefully groomed, state-run news coverage is: in America, coverage of the news is centered around the image of the news program or network; not the state.  I do follow the BBC, therefore state-run media is not entirely out of my experience; but the BBC news website has not reported this story…

Jacobs’ article finishes with what is meant to be a hopeful note: perhaps those who leaked the lecture and have kept it on the Internet despite the government’s best efforts are China’s hope for journalistic integrity.  Unfortunately, I find their point to be smug at best.  Granted, the New York Times is not some sort of Hearstian conglomerate, rife with sensationalism and personal politics; however, it’s no secret that the past 5 years have been very difficult for the Times financially.  Their most recent financial report showed a profit, but they are hardly out of the woods.  Is fighting the good fight a losing battle?

What about the rest of American news—the media that does seem to follow the infamous designs of Mr. Hearst (who inspired Citizen Kane and supposedly the character Gail Wynand in The Fountainhead).  News networks may not employ textbook Yellow Journalism (except Fox News and their weepy demagogue Glenn Beck), but they essentially take a day’s worth of attention-grabbing news and filter it through a variety of different personalities.  The news is tailored to various demographics, and each network has a different image: MSNBC, “the leader in breaking news,” provide news for people who want today’s news yesterday; CNN, “the worldwide leader in news,” is for the people who appreciate the weight and the legacy of CNN as a world news “leader”; Fox News is “fair and balanced” for people who think the other news networks have a far-left bias.  American news is not run by the state—it is run by the bottom line.  The news citizens need takes a back seat to the news citizens will buy, and the news the program’s/network’s advertisers and corporate sponsors will buy.

Journalistic integrity is important.  I hope this leaked lecture inspires Chinese journalists to want to expose the truth and fight ignorance in their country no matter what.  And maybe it will rub off on American news media.