Absurdity, Allegory and China

CCTV’s Rui Chenggang, the host of a popular nightly financial news program hates the word “propaganda,” and accurately compares CCTV to Fox News when the GOP held all the cards. According to a feature in the NYT, Capitalism Finds Voice in China,

Because his positions often parrot Beijing’s critiques of foreign journalists, Mr. Rui is asked whether he engages in propaganda handed down by the government. He compares it with Fox News coverage of the White House during a Republican administration. “I hate the word propaganda,” he says.

Hard not to love this portrayal of both Fox News and CCTV, where Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Chris Wallace may someday find a second life once they are finally tossed for younger, meaner and more blinkered political goofballs, perhaps replaced by party-approved Chinese ‘news’ people. I can see a trade in the works. Chairman Murdoch may yet get his shot at China by working out a cross-pond deal. How do you think Mr. Rui would play on Sunday mornings in America? Or Bill O’Reilly in the the new CCTV Building. Underpants, indeed. With skidmarks!