Presentation of China in online West European media: More fairness and accuracy required

Abstract

This article focuses on the presentation of China in online West European media and examines reporting on China in British, Dutch and Belgian online newspapers and weblogs. Through concrete case studies he uncovers the reasons for the predominantly negative coverage of China-related topics in the above-mentioned sources, in particular, to explain the inaccuracy, bias and partisanship. It further studies the complex relationship between journalism and activism and presents a number of analyses that shed light upon the process of construction of an unfavourable opinion about China that the attitudes of the media industry have contributed to. By showing the weaknesses in the coverage of China of the West European media such as distortion of the information or self-censorship, the article criticizes the absence of objectivity in reporting, and proposes a number of measures that both European and Chinese journalists could take so as to overcome the imbalance and prejudice in reporting and move towards more fairness and accuracy.