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Virginia Radio Station Broadcasting Chinese Propaganda (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: An investigation by Reuters has uncovered a radio station located just outside Washington, D.C. that broadcasts dedicated Chinese propaganda to the U.S. capital and the surrounding area. In 2009, under new ownership, Virginia-based station WAGE erected new broadcast towers, amplifying its signal by ten times, and changed its call letters to WCRW, for "China Radio Washington." All WCRW programming shares a common theme, with newscasts that avoid any criticism of China and are critical of Beijing's political enemies; for example, a report on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong last year did not explain why people were in the streets, and said only that the demonstrations had "failed without support." WCRW's American owners claim they have no input on content and are only rebroadcasting programming provided to them by a state-sponsored Chinese company to which they lease the airtime. U.S. law requires that anyone seeking to influence American policy or public opinion on behalf of a foreign government must register with the Department of Justice, but according to Reuters, government officials didn't even know WCRW existed until Reuters told them about it.
"U.S. law requires that anyone seeking to influence American policy or public opinion on behalf of a foreign government must register with the Department of Justice, but according to Reuters, government officials didn't even know WCRW existed until Reuters told them about it."
Like anyone in Washington does their job.
The government is not even monitoring the radio waves in/near the capitol? Thats what I took from reading this. that is not a very smart thing
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Dummies, if you want to influence Washington, you don't put up radio stations, you bribe politicians directly. The Supreme Court made doing so legal.
Table-ized A.I.
They're just prepping us for our Chinese-speaking future.
The article is talking about a private sector company not complying with the law to register with the government. Not about the Do Nothing Republicans in Congress.
Government officials didn't even know WCRW existed until Reuters told them about it. Nor did anyone else, it's a terrestrial radio station for god sakes.
- critical of [Washington's] political enemies - CHECK
- for example, a report on pro-democracy protests in [New York and nationwide] [in 2011] did not explain why people were in the streets, and said only that the demonstrations had "failed without support"
On the other hand, one key difference is that the Chinese propagandists claim they're just passing along government propaganda, whereas the American ones deny they are.
The sudden rise in the D.C. of take out orders for Mandarin cuisine since 2009.
Oh sure, and everyone was shocked to discover Voice of Russia radio stations happen to trend pro-Putin.
In the real world, Napoleon was the greatest general in the world not because he won every battle, but because he bought every newspaper. Please remember that almost every news story you read is propaganda of one sort or another--we've developed a whole ecosystem of it.
Is the station owned by an American? Did they pay their FCC licensing fees?
If so, then who cares? Free speech, bitches. Anyone who has a problem with this doesn't deserve to live here.
This sounds like a twist on the old international broadcaster model -- Radio Free Europe and VOA are still running long after the cold war, and they used to pump information to countries behind the Iron Curtain. The difference is that China is buying up transmitter facilities in the target countries as opposed to blasting shortwave from a remote location.
Realistically, I doubt this will have much local effect. It's not 1965 anymore, and there are much more effective ways of distributing propaganda. It just sounds like the Party is trying to cover all their bases and sees an easy way to do so.
That said, in my opinion, stuff like this is why China will probably win long-term. They have authoritarian control combined with a semi-market economy and a huge population advantage. There's no such thing as a government shutdown because a group doesn't agree with state policy. And, an authoritarian regime is able to do whatever is necessary to achieve its goals.
How is this any different than the broadcasts that Voice of America does all over the world? If these broadcasts are objectionable, then the government should jam them. Oh, but we get so upset when other countries jam VOA......
Would be good to have a website that gauged (with examples for their criteria and reasoning) all the biases and clear editorial intents of various media sources:
NBC - Democratic Party 110%
Fox - Republican Party 89%
CNN - Democratic Party 77%
ABC - Mostly Democratic Party 62%
WCRW - Chinese Communist Party 110%
New York Times - NSA/Pentagon/Democratic Party 22%/22%/87%
Yes, the FCC is monitoring radio waves in the capitol and the rest of the country, but is less likely to monitor the content broadcast on the radio waves unless here is a complaint.
Well then, what's up with the NSA and the CIA?
Perhaps they already knew about it and were monitoring the station for clandestine messaging? Just because the Department of Justice "says" they didn't know about these people doesn't meant that's a true statement.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
I think the government agency that didn't know anything about the RADIO station was the FCC. That's, uh, the FCC's job, and they weren't doing it. Last time I checked, the FCC was run by Democrats.
Last time I checked, the FCC was run by Democrats.
That tend to be the case when there is a Democratic Administration in office.
The Roberts Supreme Court has ruled they are eligible for far more than that. The owners, if they are US Citizens, will /should be able to make unlimited campaign contributions and also able to seek relief from any US Law that imposes substantial burden on their practice of religion.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
More likely, they've known about it all this time and are using this as a bargaining chip for something else entirely, like, say, having an aircraft carrier not far from the Syrian proxy war. You simply can't trust any of the corporate media to not primarily represent its own interests.
/. -- the Free Republic of technology.
Convince the station owners to sell to that guy that bought the drug company and raised all the prices 2000 percent. Then let him charge for the propoganda. Profit!
Not about the Do Nothing Republicans in Congress.
Partisan much? I keep hearing about how Obama will not negotiate with the Republicans, and how he will veto everything they put on his desk, and it makes me wonder what job he expected the President to perform if it wasn't to negotiate for what he wants and sign bills that the people want even if he doesn't.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Also, which country recently repealed its ban on propaganda targeted at its own people and ruled that "news" publishers can confabulate all they like?
Pathetic Exceptionalism is pathetic. Go cry to mommy or something, but keep it out of here.
/. -- the Free Republic of technology.
Apparently it is difficult for them to separate Chinese communist propaganda and lies from the normal content coming out of DC.
The FCC makes money by fining people when they slip, not by putting them out of business. The FCC does not "notice" either, they field complaints from people and verify complaints after the fact. Which should tell you why Radio Stations record everything.. they have to by law.
That is not to defend the FCC or Chinese broadcasting. I figure it remained on the air because exposing it may cause people to question the US propaganda machine.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
This sounds like the setup for a quest line in Fallout 3.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
The House Republicans can't even negotiate with themselves because a vocal minority of 40 members putting ideology purity over practical compromise. That former Speaker John Boehner requires Democratic votes to get anything done is telling. You can thank Nancy Pelosi for delivering those votes.
An investigation by Reuters has uncovered a radio station located just outside Washington, D.C. that broadcasts dedicated Chinese propaganda to the U.S. capital and the surrounding area.
If it takes an investigation by Reuters before anyone's even aware of your radio station, you're not doing a very good job.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
where you are not free to have or speak certain political opinions.
Funny, last time I checked it was ran by lobbyists for the cable and wireless industry. Which tends to be the case no matter which fucking party is in power.
Pretty much these days government has been completely co-opted by corporate interests, and governments are merely tools to protect profits.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Seems physical goods are more influence than some radio waves......
government officials didn't even know WCRW existed until Reuters told them about it.
I guess all our security is focused on the Internet and phone system.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
There is a long history on the shortwave radio bands where stations setup for religious or cultural purposes ended up leasing air time to foreign broadcasters. Back in the late 1980s. there were several relay stations (i.e. paid stations just like this one in D.C.) in Canada and a large one in Okeechobee Florida. Among others, Radio Taiwan aka The Voice of "Free" China", Radio Japan, DW from Germany, the BBC World Service and others used them to target North American listeners.
Nobody raised an eyebrow.
Sig for hire.
I think the government agency that didn't know anything about the RADIO station was the FCC.
Don't be silly. The FCC knew about the station. It has an FCC issued authorization to build and operate the station. Check Wikipedia for info and links to the FCC database on them.
What the FCC didn't pay any attention to was the content of the station or who was paying for it. Do you want them to regulate what format and content your local radio stations can air? I don't think so.
That's, uh, the FCC's job, and they weren't doing it.
The FCCs job is to make sure they operate within the FCC regulations as to technical and other standards. They were doing that. Its the FEC and other agencies that deal with people acting on behalf of foreign agencies for political purposes.
The only radio station I could get while out in Northwest Nevada for a few days was KCFJ out of Alturas, CA. The China Radio International parts were pretty pro-China, on the new islands in the South China Sea for example. Reminds me of how RT (the "Putin channel") is so strongly pro-Russian on the Syrian bombings. KCFJ aired some Chinese language lessons, I had fun out in the high Nv desert practicing Chinese again.
...it ain't going to achieve much. China has an official English-language TV channel, which screens in at least some parts of China, is carried on satellites and is streamed online. It is unwatchably dull.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
Rupert Murdoch's propaganda outlets do much the same in multiple countries.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
You mean the Republicans who got their seats because they gerrymandered their districts. When that happens, any old dolt can get elected. There is a reason Obama got elected twice, you cannot easily gerrymander the Presidential contest. And heartily disapprove of Obama, mainly due to Biden's foreign policy of bend over and pray they don't stick it in too hard.
The FCC does not license stations for content; they merely license the station. So there is no concept of a station being "set-up" for anything here; the license is literally just that, the license to operate.
It has always been that way though. A radio station can flip it's format/affiliation at any time without having to change license. Sometimes when a station "reinvents" itself; they request new call letters...but that still isn't tied to anything like what they're set-up for.
The FCC licenses broadcast facilities and assigns frequencies; that's it. IF they started to limit the content by a license...there would be a lot of people getting angry. Also, saying it's about money is false. Some broadcast stations do solely broker time; but there's nothing that says a radio station *has* to make money. I know of one station that's currently making no money...it's also looking for a buyer. There are also restrictions on how time can be brokered.
At the same time, most people over here think the BBC is actually the government entity that controls broadcast; and a lot of people feel all your media is actually government-run. I mean, I know it's not...I did take some time to study the broadcasting system over there (the lack of call letters bothers me).
I think we have two CCTV channels broadcast over-the-air. I've never seriously watched them becuase they're part of a 5-channel multiplex and look really bad.
That same broadcaster also carries NHK World, Bon, RT, France24 News, TeleSUR, Ukraine Today, and VTC10. It's actually 12 digital channels carried by two broadcasters.
You mean gerrymandering required by law? That gerrymandering that the Democrats forced on the Republicans?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Those districts that are being pointed out as gerrymandering in for instance North Carolina are being demanded by the voters rights act to allow the minority voters to have their own districts so as to prevent dilution.
I have seen many attempts to attack the Republicans for Gerrymandering, but when the Democrats passed a law requiring gerrymandering of districts to pack all the minority votes, what do you expect to happen?
The term gerrymander actually originates in Massachusetts, to describe what the Democrats did to the districts up there to prevent Republican voters from having power. It is a fine tradition continued today in Mass, Maryland, California, Florida, PA, and Illinois. Yet all the Democrats seem to be able to point to and claim gerrymandering is a single district in North Carolina. So, who is the worst at gerrymandering? Also, if Gerrymandering is so powerful for the Republicans, why was a Republican Governor elected in Maryland this past round when it is a state firmly in control of the Democrats?
http://pjmedia.com/zombie/2010...
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?