China-based blogger mocks CNN's China coverage

Danwei, a China-based blogger, mocks a recent CNN story about doing business in China. He writes:

It appears that journalists writing for CNN's website have been doing their research by buying cheap "Doing Business in China" guidebooks at some of Asia's less reputable airports.

What Danwei doesn't realize is that this calibre of reporting is actually prefered by CNN's management. Soon before resigning from CNN, I was told that my expertise about the region was "getting in the way" of doing the kind of stories they wanted, and that I should cover my beat (mainly Japan at the time) more from a tourist's perspective.

Comments

[OMIH]

Living in Vietnam I don't have much else to watch other than CNN and it drives me mad. For starters: "Talk Asia", consists of an Asian American interviewing someone who is usually western (recently Elton John).

How less Asian could this show be?

My personal favourite was a poll during the election coverage asking whether, like Iraq, it was okay for the USA to make pre-emptive strikes.

Of course, glossing over completely, the fact that, as it turned out, Iraq was not a pre-emptive strike as it turned out there were no WMDs after all.

A very subtle way to re-write very recent history.

Personally though its the golf obsession that really gets me. Golf has very little to do with worldwide news and everything to do with hitting the right target markets for advertisers.