The annoying thing with social media is that you can’t really control it. If you insist on having a section listing the most-read stories, say, you can’t really fiddle with it without making it pretty meaningless.
The English-language version of the People’s Daily website, for example, doesn’t have any story on Tibet displayed prominently on its front page (at least now; it did before) but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Just check out the Most Popular box near the bottom on the right hand side:
Three out of five stories on Tibet, two of them unpatriotically above a piece on the NPC:
• Tibet regional gov’t: Sabotage in Lhasa masterminded by Dalai clique
• Death toll rises to 10 in Lhasa riot
• Dalai-backed violence scars Lhasa
Of course the stories themselves, let alone the headlines, aren’t exactly paragons of journalistic objectivity, but I’m guessing you don’t read the People’s Daily for that.
It’s kind of funny. I wonder whose idea it was to include a ‘Most Read’ box on the site. And how long it will be before the feature is quietly dropped, or some filters applied.
Many Chinese people around me don’t know much about the Tibet riot. The Chinese media are reporting news about the two conferences in Beijing all day presently, showing that everything goes right in the country.
All nations, and especially the US, should boycott the opening ceremonies. I believe it is the best compromise position. The athletes still get to compete but China gets exposed to the full measure of world displeasure with their horrible human rights abuses.