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Superstorm Sandy made landfall Monday evening on a destructive and deadly path across the Northeast.
BEIJING – As Hurricane Sandy barreled down on the Eastern Seaboard this week, a nation's eyes were glued to the extensive media coverage of the storm.
We're talking about China, of course.
Yes, the major American networks gave viewers non-stop updates of the storm's movements and the damage left in its wake, but Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) was also in the game.
With already more than 150 employees in Washington, D.C., alone – about a third of them Chinese nationals – CCTV boasts the means to provide extensive coverage of major events outside of its home country.
However, just because CCTV can offer wall-to-wall coverage of Sandy – already being called the costliest storm in U.S. history – doesn't mean its audience is prepared to watch.
Certainly not at the cost of local stories that Chinese viewers want to hear about.
Trending topic
As the storm played out and CCTV provided near-continuous coverage, comments on China's popular Twitter-like service, Weibo, exploded – over 6 million at this point, making it easily the biggest trending topic on the site. Many were overwhelmingly negative and criticized CCTV's handling of superstorm Sandy.
Their complaint: CCTV was so singularly focused on coverage of the American storm that the Chinese state broadcaster had stopped covering news in China, ironically transforming instead into what many here called mockingly "the conscience of the United States."
Or as a popular online cartoonist who goes by the pen name "Murong Aoao" sardonically put it: "CCTV is an excellent American media company."
Courtesy Murong Aoao
Murong Aoao's cartoon about Chinese TV coverage of Sandy.
In a cartoon that has been shared more than 50,000 times on Weibo, Murong paints what appears to be a CCTV reporter or government employee pointing to what is assumed is the United States while calling out, "Look! His house is on fire!" all while he himself is ablaze.
Asked why he drew the cartoon, Murong simply told NBC News: "It wasn't a big deal, it was just a way to ridicule the coverage."
The cartoon encapsulates the anger that has been laced through much of the online dialogue over CCTV's coverage.
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Much of the frustration conveyed in Murong's cartoon is rooted in the fact that CCTV's reporting on the storm and other American disasters in the past often superseded local stories here in China that netizens believe demand coverage. Most noticeably, a week-long protest in the eastern city of Ningbo over local government plans to build a controversial chemical plant there has been ignored.
In the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo officials have halted the planned expansion of a chemical plant, following days of public protests. ITN's China Correspondent Angus Walker reports.
State media was allegedly warned not to cover the story and when thousands flocked to the streets of Ningbo to peacefully protest the plant, only foreign media could be seen in the city reporting on the gatherings, sparking applause from grateful locals.
"CCTV sends lots of correspondents to the U.S. to report on Sandy," complained one irate user. "Why don't they have time for Ningbo, but plenty for America?"
"Because the leaders' relatives are in the U.S., they care!" went the chorus of replies to the poster.
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Indeed, this notion that CCTV's Sandy coverage was more for the benefit of Chinese government officials – many of whom are known to have their family members and financial assets in the U.S. – than everyday people was a persistent joke underlying many of the posts in recent days.
Aerial footage reveals devastation from New York City to North Carolina's Outer Banks in the wake of superstorm Sandy.
"CCTV is not to blame, there are so many leaders' children and relatives studying and working in New York and the East Coast," wrote one Weibo user. "If CCTV does not report on these huge hurricanes when they happen, how will the leaders who don't speak English find out what's going on with their loved ones?"
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Despite the biting cynicism, frustration and humor conveyed by Web users about CCTV's Sandy coverage, the overwhelming message on Weibo was concern and support for those who had suffered due to the storm.
One day after Sandy slammed into the East Coast, NBC News' Lester Holt reports on the record-breaking hybrid storm system that swamped neighborhoods, paralyzed the nation's biggest city, and left millions of families from the Carolinas to Ohio without power.
Messages from families and friends attempting to reconnect with loved ones in the affected areas and heartfelt posts of support for Americans coming out of the storm were continuing well into Wednesday.
They reveal a friendly, empathetic connection between China and the United States that all too often is lost in the often daily rounds of political bashing from both sides of the Pacific.
NBC News' Yanzhou Liu and Johanna Armstrong contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
This reminds me of the time I asked a Canadian acquaintance on a forum about their national election that happened to be going on at the same time as the infamous California recall election some years ago. She confessed that all the new outlets were devoting so much time to our recall election that she had forgotten all about it.
It's hilarious and just slightly ominous at the same time.
It just isn't in foreign countries. Why did some networks have to show reruns or Dateline type shows about the storm damage when they had something else scheduled? All they were doing was showing the same footage that was just already on. I understand reruns of the DailyShow and Colbert they are shot in NYC. I watched enough of the news to know exactly what was going on I did not need a addition 3 hours of the same stock comments and footage. Is it really 24 hour news when it is the same cr@p on a endless loop?
There is a fascination with America the world over and sometimes it's not so good. I don't know what it is. You can't take your eyes off the train wreck.
I assume that networks that cover a big story constantly do so because they're more afraid of people tuning in and seeing that they're missing a big story than they are that people will get upset that they're ignoring a smaller one (as you're doing now).
Likewise I always thought that the foreign focus was kind of like the way that popular media likes to give details about celebrities' lives. If they were talking about a normal person/country, then it would be boring and no one would care, but the aura of riches and fame makes the whole thing somehow exciting.
Either way, the media should give it a rest.
Don't China have FACEBOOK to keep them busy?
Wow... Watta rant!
Hey, MSNBC BANS...If you want to know why your posts are disappearing, try re-reading the last few sentences of your post. I'm sure NBCnews.com (there is no longer an MSNBC.com) would be happy to leave your rant on here were it not for those last few lines. You shot yourself in the foot.
No, OBAMA shot him in the foot, or at least allowed it to happen (isn't that the same?) by not providing him with armored shoes.
There there, msnbcbans, it'll be ok. Have a tax cut; it'll make you feel better.
At least they don't have to see the insipid political commercials in between the wall-to-wall coverage of Sandy.
you're not kidding man. nbc evening news just ended. litterally EVERY single commercial aired durring breaks were political attack ads.
i was getting my license renewed last week, she asked me if i wanted to setup the motor voter , told her i was already registered. i also said im to the point where i almost wish we had a king or dictator that actually cared about the people just so i dont have to deal with all this election crap. this election cycle has easily been the worst one yet. im so sick of it all that i cant wait to vote just so its over with.
american - Benevolent Dictatorship is probably the best form of governance, other than the fact that it won't last long, even with the right guy making the calls. No man is up to this task.
Someone above mentioned a train wreck, and I agree that America is exactly that, unfolding before our eyes. Interesting times ahead folks.
Be safe out there!
The Chinese aren't the only victims of our excessive media coverage. Remember the all-day OJ chase or the days devoted to Michael Jackson's death, while Mother Teresa's got maybe half an hour. Endless speculation about Zimmerman or Sandusky with little-to-no actual information. Our media is so narrowly focused and saturated with opinion, it barely counts as news.
AG99-I also recall when Princess Diana and Mother Teresa both died in the same week. The attention paid in our country to each by newspapers and other media, was quite striking disproportionate between the two. One living in the lap of luxury while the other among the poorest on earth.It seems no matter where one looked, that is all one saw in the news. Then there was the 9/11 attacks that every news media source covered for days while the rest of the world seemed forgotten
We have the technology and scientific advances needed to easily access any information from around the world today.Allowing nations to become self focused, flooded with local news covering every possible angle at times. Plus throwing in infomercials.Perhaps leaving one feeling burnt out, anxious, depressed and overwhelmed. I would venture it is always important to remember ones neighbors to keep a healthy perspective and empathy. How easy it would be for the giant nations to step on the little guys.Of which so many are gems in their own right.
Nobody gives a flying F about China either. When their monsoons come and villages wash downstream I make sure to filp quick to Wheel of Fortune. They will always rebuild and add another billion people every 5 years.
It wasn't that they didn't care, it was all that was shown at the expense of news that might have actually impacted the citizens of China.
How would you like it if all your news programming was taken over to show a disaster in China and they weren't giving you any news about the US?
All the news they would want to see in China though is generally censored by Chinese officials. And since those that run the stations don't want to be put in jail, that is what China gets. They should be directing their anger at their government for not allowing freedom of the press, but then they would be put in jail themselves and the cycle continues.
You mean like the Haiti earthquake?
5 deleted, Lance Cheatstrong with some old-school language-mocking racism. Banned, rereg of multiple accounter Tranquil Nihilist.
Many people not in the U.S. were pretty outraged, actually. I do this weird thing where I check international news headlines after a big event in the U.S. (election night - pretty much ALL international news websites had Obama on the front page when he was elected in 2008, mass shootings, natural disasters, etc.) to see how much coverage they receive.
The U.K.'s Independent had Hurricane Sandy on the front page. Scrolling down to the comments, many locals were questioning why it was front page news in the U.K. They insisted that there were more pressing, relevant stories and made it known that they were not pleased.
Another reason is that they believe our media doesn't cover other countries much, so why should their media cover ours to such great length?
It's open to debate.
Oh God I feel so sorry for them having to listen to their own state-run broadcast all day long which soaks up and exploits American culture.
Hey China, EAT CRAP!!
Imagine if the situation was reversed and you were watching "wall-to-wall" news coverage about a Chinese disaster while Sandy was going on and the news networks weren't even mentioning Sandy.
Try to imagine this from someone else's perspective. I know it may be hard for you based on your evident self-centredness.
If the citizens of that asian nation don't want to know about our news - begging pardon - who gives a flying fig?
Ironically, our news thought this too was more interesting than the Ningbo protests.
"Just in case you didn't hear enough about Sandy, here's what OTHER countries think about their media's coverage of Sandy!"
Those poor poor Chinese victims. It most be so hard for them to watch people lose their homes, pets, livelihoods, and lives. Thank goodness the Chinese are a strong resilient group of people and I truly believe they will make it through this horrible and challenging time. Stay strong Chinese because if you can make it through your television programming crisis, just maybe it will inspire East Coast to get through the stuff they have going on.
Funny how when huge natural disasters occur all across the world, including recent earthquakes in China, that American aid groups such as the Red Cross show up to provide aid and the American people donate their own money to help. But when the U.S. gets hit by a natural disaster the Chinese say "we don't care, get it off our TVs we are outraged!!!!"
The Chinese government does not want their citizens discussing things that go on in China....they only want them to accept it...
Stories like Sandy are welcomed in places like China, in that they provide extensive time slots without any danger of Chinese anti-government propaganda coming into play.
Well, of course there was media coverage in China of Sandy. They want to know what's going on with their investments.
Bingo! They have well north of $1 TRILLION invested here, so they're just watching their investments. We'll probably borrow another $100 BILLION to cover the damages. Just wait until they start calling in their loans. All the Federal land in the U.S. will become the property of the People's Republic of China.
Defaulting on the debt would do no such thing. It would simply crash the value of the dollar.
People on here are honestly dumb. They act all aghast that the Chinese wouldn't want to watch "wall-to-wall" coverage of an American natural disaster while serious news is going uncovered in their own country.
I never thought that narcissism could be a national identity. But seriously, what is wrong with most of you?
typical ethno-centric America.....it's not a new problem, it's been that way since the end of WWII. Being on top for so long has made people arrogant and lazy. I hope it doesn't bite us in the a$$....
An absolute disaster to the East Coast. Wonder how many foreign countries will be coming to our aid?
They bitch about watching our problems on their news but their hands are out looking for relief if they are the victims.
I bet no country offers aid. And if Myth were president neither would we help our own.
Why exactly would any other country need to offer disaster relief to the richest nation on Earth? If Bill Gates' home was hit by a meteor, would you start a charity run to help him out?
We could probably pay to repair all the damage with a bare fraction of our defense budget. Put that money to some actual use.
Maybe this will explain the quality, or definite lack thereof, of Chinese TV programming. If they prefer to watch coverage of a disaster in the US, maybe it also shows what they really are hoping for.
I've been living in China for 2 years now. I'm American. I see China from the inside and and I see the US from the outside now.
The more I see two sides of the coin, the more arrogant and backward some of the comments sound.
Our relationship with other countries could be a lot better except for our arrogant "F*#4^ You" attitude.
I usually say, "A bad day in Beijing is when 1 Billion Chinese are pissed off at their government and they are coming to get them with meat cleavers".
A bad day for the US is when the REST OF THE WORLD is pissed off at you and they hack your infrastructure, threaten you militarily, economically and culturally...until you are dead.
On top of that, domestically, the US is in general decline...a long term decline... based upon arrogance, laziness, greed - not just the bankers but the citizens who took advantage of the mortgages to get cash out for enjoying a false sense of wealth. ( I was in financial services in the US and it was sickening to see the greedy, arrogant attitudes of my clients...even average, everyday people)
Last night, I walked down the street of a city in the interior of China. Seven PM kids are running out into the street happy and excited. School was over for the day - at SEVEN PM. At age 14, they often live at school because they don't have time to go home to their families and still do all of the homework.
Two blocks later, I noticed a building with lots of beds in it. At closer look, it was a school. Six kids to a room that is smaller than my bedroom; Only enough room to sleep, use a laptop in the bed and a shared table for homework, lasting until until 10:30 PM.
These are the 'underdogs' - one/two generations away from abject poverty, like our ancestors - who are QUIETLY and POLITELY going to "clean your clock" in the next generation.
To the Chinese, country comes #1 above self. Everything they do to improve themselves is to improve the country as well. That also means their standing in the Global Community. They never forget that. Never.
The best businessmen in the world, the most aggressive, the most cunning all come from China. They keep their heads down and their mouth shut while letting you foolishly open yours.
Every time you open your mouth to make an ignorant remark, it's an opportunity to display a weakness to be exploited.
The Chinese study American culture, learn English and Spanish and travel to the US. Chinese generally admire the US and what it stands for.
It should be an 'honor' to be thought of so highly by an aspiring nation, but so many of you piss on it until one day, that admiration turns into hatred. One day, your worst nightmare will be 1.5 Billion highly educated Chinese, who speak your language, understand your culture...own you.
That is what your stupid, ignorant and LAZY ways of thinking are going to bring you, your children and grandchildren.
Many of you live in a wonderland of self deception. The world of a fool.
The world is changing incredibly fast. History proves that NO country remains #1 forever...and NO country will....my dear motherland, the United States of America.
Countries and corporations go from visionary, to builder, to "managed and slowing" on to bureaucratic/ineffective, then into decline until death and rebirth of a new cycle.
China is in the Building phase of the life cycle and the US is in the Bureaucratic and decline stage.
The Chinese people DO speak out about their government...YOU just never hear about it. They WILL create change because no force in the world can stop 1.4 Billion PASSIONATE human beings with a vision...and the Chinese ARE passionate when you piss 'em off and they've stopped being polite with their heads down.
Open your eyes. Wake up, because...."what goes around", comes around and "pay back's a mother!"
While somewhat enlightening, your incredibly optimistic opinion of the Chinese ignores their own arrogance and shortcomings. Their people are incredibly hard-working, true, and their educational drive is impressive. However, I find it laughable to applaud their lack of individualism and the strength of their propoganda-driven nationalism as strengths. In addition, their politics encourage elitism and corruption, and in the same way we "piss 'em off" with our arrogance and exploitation, they do the same to their neighbors and the nations they invest in. It turns out that being #2 is plenty reason to adopt a superiority complex of your own.
I also find it hard to take the "Chinese threat" seriously when we're speaking about business and economics. Economics is not a zero-sum game. If China becomes the richest country, that does not necessarily mean the United States suffers as a result. Quite the opposite, actually; our economies are so closely tied that we're likely to profit handsomely as well.
So I suppose my point is that if you or the Chinese think they can do better than us, let them try. After hearing the same kind of predictions about Japan fall totally flat, I'm sure we can use a real challenge.
Yes and do not forget that a lot of Americans here are Chinese Americans who have relatives in China and families here.Some have been here for hundreds of years and are just as,if not more arrogant than the average American.So yes it goes both ways and our societies are joined together.Maybe not our governments but our cultures very much are and that also may be why they broadcasted so much what happened here ,many over there have a lot of family here,I know I work with one..
Hey Traveler ,that society used to be us Americans about 170-200 years ago and you are right,we are horribly arrogant and self-centered..
And this is not China's first life-cycle it is about its tenth or eleventh
Yeap, Americans, especially white Americans, are some self absorbed, arrogant, egotistical, narcissitic, morons thinking their sh** don't stink. I am sure China is aware of this.
That was rather racist of you.
starfox- eat the peanuts and corn from my non stinking $h!t. Racist douche
I've been in China for over a year; away from my America, my home. You eloquently speak about China and the Chinese, let me tell you what I see from the inside. There is a huge disparity between the rich and the poor. BMWs, Jags, Ferraris, Benzs, Range Rovers, etc rolling about the French Concession, The Bund, People's Square, Tianzifang, Xintiandi and the likes, while the desolate and sick are sprawled across the pavement, immersed in urine, feces and spit begging for money. I saw the olympic games repeatedly aired on CCTV showing only the Chinese as the winners.
I see Foreign imports marked up excessively and fake American products being sold to the masses for profit. I see going to the bank and only being allowed to purchase $500.00 USD a day while the Chinese can purchase $50,000 over a years time for MY OWN COUNTRIES CURRENCY!
These children you speak of, as if they make such a sacrifice, yes, they study relentlessly to MEMORIZE content and not work cognitively through the content and comprehend what they are being taught. They can not think for themselves, they have limited imagination, and many can not think constructively. They make no more of a sacrifice than our own American-bred offspring, or any other child from any other country!
Let's talk economics: You think America will be usurped by the 2nd World Power of the world? Even the 2nd Largest power is suffering economically. China is in the same pickle as the U.S. and Europe. I am willing to bet the only people with money are in the Middle East. So don't get bamboozled into thinking CHINA AS A WHOLE is doing "so well financially and economically!" because it is not. Their CCTV and media does a wonderful job of covering up that information and hiding the truth from its people.
There is corruption everywhere in China. I can't get through a day without someone TRYING to get over and manipulate foreigners or mainlanders. Whether its at the bank, at the store, buying products, signing a lease, trying to get something fixed, etc.
So while you are here, as I in China, as if you are in Utopia, I beg you to take those rose-colored glasses OFF my dear, and see and accept the truth about China. It is failing at the same rate the rest of the world is failing.
Hey Chinese Communists - just keep pumping out the goods and shut the F up about the USA. Also, keep buying our debt as it is clearly superior to anything else out there. Just stick to your lame censored Weibo, CCTV and get back to work! We need more stuff because of the Hurricane - as you may have heard - that is all.
All the media continuously covered Sandy because it was a way to give cover to Obama for all his screw-ups.
I certainly can see china point as I think the coverage here is over the top.
I checked over on some of the Chinese boards (I worked there as a US expat for many years and can read the language). Interestingly, there are a lot of positive comments too.. crediting our government for how few people died and commenting on how orderly our citizenry was during the storm and how good our national and state officials were about keeping people informed.
I don't know what the Chinese think of their own media, but their coverage was definitely a positive PR event for the American system over there, and that can only be a good thing from our point of view.
that's good to hear! i would hope that people in other countries would see that not ALL the the white people in this country think like Rocky Buddy and Common Man.
starfox7000
Yeap, Americans, especially white Americans, are some self absorbed, arrogant, egotistical, narcissitic, morons thinking their sh** don't stink. I am sure China is aware of this
#18.5 - Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:24 PM EDT
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yea, you're right on, expecially those NBA players.
No, Zheng He, we are not. Please keep in mind that empty barrels roll the loudest.
This story highlights an important thing. In many of the counties where we have somewhat strenuous relationships with, it is only with the Governments and hard-liners in those countries. Most of the citizenry in those nations actually do not "hate" us. Like in Iran. Government there is highly anti-America while the citizenry is just the opposite.
We, with all the BS that is part of being a democratic super power, still have the greatest nation on the face of the earth. Don't forget that.
With great power comes great responsibility, don't forget that either.....
Cry me an effin river.
China is South Park on steroids. What a bunch of baboozes.