What If Aaron Sorkin’s “The Newsroom” Were Set In China?

Chinese Newsroom
By TAR Nation and RFH Ed's note: TAR and RFH have diametrically opposed opinions about Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom, starring Jeff Daniels as a news anchor who, in one lapse of honesty, sees his world turned upside-down. Characters sing "arias of facts," as the New Yorker's review put it, which sounds a lot like what news organizations closer to home -- in China -- do. So, TAR and RFH set aside their disagreements about The Newsroom to write a pitch for a show called Chinese Newsroom. TV producers out there: pick this up!

Xinhua Announces: Bo Xilai’s Criminal Charges, Leadership Transition Set For Nov. 8

Xi Jinping and Bo Xilai
Two huge announcements from Xinhua this evening — concerning two men who are more or less intricately tied – impeccably timed for just the moment when everyone’s preparing to start their holiday and stop caring about news. First: Bo Xilai has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and his public office, according to a decision made at... Read more »

Ain’t No Sunshine When Xi’s Gone: The Quest To Find China’s Future President

Is Xi Jinping in Paradise City?
Presumptive Chinese president Xi Jinping has gone missing. He cancelled high-level meetings with Hillary Clinton and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last week, and HOLY CRAP FREAK OFF PANTS OFF. Normally rational media organizations such as the Associated bleepin’ Press have published sentences such as, “More dramatically, the U.S.-based website Boxun.com cited an unidentified source inside Zhongnanhai as saying... Read more »

Attention Overseas Foreigners: You’re Eligible To Win Something By Filling Out This Survey About The CPC’s National Congress

CPC survey
Last month we brought you a draft version of a rather incredible survey called the “Questionaire on the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC)” [sic]. We were told that “exquisite prizes will be presented to 3000 winners selected out of the overseas participants,” which seemed absurd. Were they expecting 10,000 respondents? Even so,... Read more »

Oops! Xinhua: “New Round Of Downfall To Hit Beijing” – Perhaps They Mean The Mayor And Deputy Mayor’s Resignation?

Xinhua headline
Our favorite government mouthpiece has flubbed again with the headline on its latest story (four-plus hours after its posting, it has yet to be changed). Ostensibly about a new round of rainstorms scheduled to hit this afternoon, Xinhua inadvertently draws our attention to the waves of negative reaction to the municipal government’s disaster response, a sampling... Read more »