Articles

Dark clouds over Beijing

In a speech delivered to “China Matters” called “Re-thinking China with Bill Birtles” [1], Birtles explains how, when his reporting on China failed to deal in hyperbole or drama, was cajoled by his producers at the ABC to report differently, putting a negative spin on China that would, they might assume, please Australian audiences better, or at least the ABC board. A peaceful or content China is not newsworthy for an Australian audience, for ABC producers and journalists searching for reasons to disparage China.