cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/52948969
Over the past decade, China has significantly expanded its influence in the Caribbean, including within the media sectors of Grenada, Jamaica and Guyana. Journalists in these countries report being invited on Chinese government-funded trips presented as training programs, while local newsrooms face pressure to publish ready-made opinion pieces and articles produced by Chinese authorities without editorial oversight.
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“Our passports were taken by the handlers as soon as we arrived, and they made it clear they didn’t want us reporting on anything we saw during the trip. I think they knew that once we were back home, they wouldn’t be able to control the narrative,” one journalist [said]. He was one of several Jamaican reporters who accepted a free trip to Beijing paid for by the Chinese government in 2018. “I believe it was a great opportunity to take, since China is such a significant part of the Jamaican economy, " he said.” He described the experience as “beautiful,” but acknowledged that it also gave him insight into China’s “significant restrictions in the media.”
The strict limitations placed on the visiting journalists gave them a small taste of the repression their Chinese counterparts face every day. The state subjects media workers to harassment, pressure, and mistreatment and the only newsrooms permitted to operate are those working under the close supervision of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), disseminating its propaganda.
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In a white paper published in 2016, the Chinese government outlined its policy on media and press freedom in the Caribbean, which included facilitating “the signing of bilateral agreements” on radio, film and television, “encouraging exchanges” and the “co-production” of press-related programmes and festivals in both countries, and strengthening media technologies in the region. The document also placed particular emphasis on supporting “the exchange of resident journalists,” joint interviews, and staff training sessions. Seven years later, another white paper published in 2023 that reflected back on a decade of the Belt and Road Initiative, noted that “media and think tank cooperation has yielded fruitful results.”
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One journalist from Grenada — who, like all the journalists interviewed in this article, remains anonymous to protect their privacy — told RSF that they had been invited to visit China several times but had refused out of personal conviction. Such resistance appears unusual. The same journalist believes “probably 90 or 95 percent of all working journalists [in Grenada] have now visited China.” The Chinese government may be taking advantage of a lack of educational opportunities for young journalists. “In Grenada, many people who enter this profession come straight out of secondary school, with no experience, no knowledge, no theoretical training in international relations, etc.” Another factor is likely the low pay and lack of professional and economic opportunities that have long plagued the island’s journalism industry. Free travel and training may simply be too attractive to pass up.
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The Chinese government is also exporting its own media to the region. Guyana’s government was criticised in 2013 for granting spectrum licenses to the Chinese state media China Central Television (CCTV). “I sincerely believe that this is another type of war in global politics, but they are trying to change perceptions of the Chinese political system and ideology,” a Guyanese journalist said. "It starts with how the media presents their policies and ideology to their own people” Despite all this, the journalist says they would not rule out visiting China if given the opportunity.
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Representatives from Chinese embassies have published numerous opinion pieces in Caribbean media. These embassies have also organised seminars on the media, which have been reported on by local outlets, demonstrating the value of the Chinese government at the local level. Government officials even try to impose their content on journalists.
“[The Chinese government] wants you to publish the articles it writes itself,” concluded the journalist. “So when it sends them to you, it simply wants them to be published word for word, without you using them as a source of information, nothing else.”
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China ranks 178th out of 180 countries in the RSF 2025 World Press Freedom Index, placing it third to last.
maybe, but it already has happened in america and the government lets you protest because they know they have control. they are happy to let you have the illusion of freedom because they know you’ve lost it via meta, google, twitter, apple and the media. unfortunately americans are completely boxed in by their techbros and the only way out is revolution using analog technology.
And the people in China? Are they 'boxed in'? By whom?