Mainstream Media (May 17th, 2022)

(17/11/2018)

The following is a true story. In 2005, I was introduced to a gentleman with a historical background in China. His name is Sidney Rittenberg.* He is an American who had spent thirty-eight years in China since 1945, sixteen of which under wrongful incarceration, mostly in solitary confinement.

​Sidney said that he was invited to a foreign correspondent gathering in Beijing. They invited him because they thought he would stand on their side in their campaign against China. Sidney went and listened to how these foreign 'journalists' discussed and coordinated their actions to smear China. 

The foreign journalists were not very thorough in their assessment of Sidney Rittenberg. His autobiography "The Man Who Stayed Behind" was rather clear on where he stood. Sidney never blamed anyone for his being caught up in the turbulent currents of the times. Despite everything, he still loved China. On the other hand, he expressed disdain for these foreign journalists, who were not in China to report the news truthfully. Sidney confirmed what I had for some time suspected. The freedom of the Western Press is really about their freedom to prevaricate, equivocate, and obfuscate. Sidney wondered aloud why these people were allowed to hold this kind of gatherings in Beijing right under the nose of the Central Government. In any case, I would afterwards always read Western mainstream news reports carefully, and I would always do more research if I want to understand the events being reported. 

On the other hand, people who have cultivated a biased view from a lifetime of consuming BS will be happy to believe in any lie as long as it reinforces their prejudice. It will be very hard to convince them that there is a different reality beyond the lies, and therefore I will not try.

​* Read Sidney Rittenberg Obituary