4 ms·

Up till now, Twitter labels foreign missions / media as warning (though biasedly, i.e. CGTN is labelled state media where BBC is not) To be fair, when's the la

Up till now, Twitter labels foreign missions / media as warning (though biasedly, i.e. CGTN is labelled state media where BBC is not) To be fair, when's the last time a sitting PM asked for "absolute loyalty" from the BBC [0]? My impression is that while both are state-funded, the Beeb is much more free in its editorial voice [1]. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/xi-jinping-tours-chinas-top-state-media-outlets-to-boost-loyalty https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/xi-jinping-tou... [1] https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/27282/why-shouldnt-bbc-have-to-register-as-a-foreign-agent https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/27282/why-shoul...

dirtyid 6y ago
Many diaspora from the global south, who grew up in countries with state media, but now lives in the west will tell you even the free-est western fifth estate is prone to manufactured consent that is frequently indistinguishable from state propaganda. IMO perfunctory rationalization extends into this labelling as well. Of all media sources, state media is probably the easiest to identify. Presumably that's what Twitter's labelling is for, unless it's actually a wiki style reliable source list, in which case it should be advertised as such. If not then BBC / CBC is government funded state media and should be labelled as such.
- neartheplain 6y ago
  I agree. At the same time, the BBC and CGTN fall into materially different categories with respect to editorial independence. So does PBS, for that matter; while they're funded in part by the taxpayer, their coverage of the Trump administration has been anything but subservient, and indeed at times quite critical [0]. Putting these organizations in the same class of media bias seems to erase some important, and measurable, distinctions. [0] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/january-6-2021-pbs-newshour-full-episode https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/january-6-2021-pbs-newshou...

dirtyid 6y ago

Many diaspora from the global south, who grew up in countries with state media, but now lives in the west will tell you even the free-est western fifth estate is prone to manufactured consent that is frequently indistinguishable from state propaganda. IMO perfunctory rationalization extends into this labelling as well. Of all media sources, state media is probably the easiest to identify. Presumably that's what Twitter's labelling is for, unless it's actually a wiki style reliable source list, in which case it should be advertised as such. If not then BBC / CBC is government funded state media and should be labelled as such.

neartheplain 6y ago
I agree. At the same time, the BBC and CGTN fall into materially different categories with respect to editorial independence. So does PBS, for that matter; while they're funded in part by the taxpayer, their coverage of the Trump administration has been anything but subservient, and indeed at times quite critical [0]. Putting these organizations in the same class of media bias seems to erase some important, and measurable, distinctions. [0] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/january-6-2021-pbs-newshour-full-episode https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/january-6-2021-pbs-newshou...