How China is the difference between journalism and public relations

China has, of late, been fighting many a war.

First of the many wars is what may be called the 'people's war' -- the Wuhan virus.

Another is the territorial war to usurp land it doesn't control -- the new security law imposed on Hong Kong. 

The third and the most important war is the narrative war -- against anything that challenges its endeavours. Or what the world popularly calls -- propaganda! 

Now this propaganda has a very interesting mechanism -- the macro-polo. It's a think tank that decodes China's so called 'road to rejuvenation'.

The Chinese Communist Party has an entirely separate wing dedicated for it. It's called the Central Propaganda Department or CPD.

This department was established way back in 1924. 

The CPD, just three years younger than the CCP, supervises every information domain in china -- and abroad.

And it is under the direct control of President Xi Jinping.

The president has put his loyalists in this department -- from top to bottom.. 

STRUCTURE

There are four separate wings --

- Print media
- Broadcast media
- Book publishing
- Internet

PRINT

It is controlled by the CPD news bureau.

An offshoot of this bureau is the CCP national newspaper system....

BROADCAST

It is managed by the state administration of radio and television.

This is a ministerial level government agency under the direct control of the state council. This body controls the likes of CCTV and other local subsidiaries.

BOOK PUBLISHING

It is managed by the CPD press.

INTERNET
 
It is controlled by the cyberspace administration of China. This is the central propaganda department's ecosystem.

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This, in a nutshell, implies that the Communist Party wields decisive control over every media activity in China. There is no such thing as the free media. 

The Communist Party controls the narrative.  And the tools to shape it. 

Every major media house in China reports to the Communist Party. 

There are several party agencies at different levels that control the media.

At the ministerial level, the Communist Party controls the Xinhua news agency.

Then there's the People's Daily -- the largest print media group in China.

At the vice ministerial level, there's CCTV. 

At the bureau level, the Communist Party controls the Global Times. 

The Study Times is managed by the Central Party school.

At the division level, the party controls southern weekend -- Beijing News, managed by the Beijing Municipal Propaganda Department.

With this hierarchy, independent thinking goes for a toss. There is no mention of the regime's crimes. 

The media only exists to convince the world about the Communist Party's legitimacy.

What the world calls Journalism is Public Relations in China.