“外媒称……”

[Demonic_Duck]

Example (one of many): http://china.cankaoxiaoxi.com/2015/0328/721886.shtml

 

I really dislike this type of wording, as if every media organisation in every foreign country (or at least the west, seeing as “外国” = “西方”... if it was Japanese media they'd say “日媒”) speaks with one voice. Why don't they just mention the specific name of the publication? It's only in the second paragraph that they mention it was 美国《商务周刊》网站.

 

Actually, “日媒”, “法媒”, “英媒” or even “美媒” (the latter of which I've never seen... maybe because “外国” = “西方” = “美国”) are all almost as bad really, the only excuse for using this kind of wording would be if the story had been repeated by the majority of mainstream news publications in the country in question; as for “外媒”, the only reason I can think of that a story would be carried in the majority of mainstream media throughout the world with the exception of China would be if the story had been censored within China itself. But of course, in that case the censorship would prevent them from reporting on it anyway.

 

So... this is more of a rant than a question. Though I'd be interested to know if there's a reason for this phenomenon... any theories?

[oceancalligraphy]

Bad journalism practice?

 

I see the same phenomenon when I read Taiwanese news about news sites outside of Taiwan reporting on Taiwan. The news source is only mentioned when it's a major publication of that country (ie NY Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, etc.). I feel that the same thing happens around the world though - it's easier to generalize to "foreign media" when reporting about other countries' reports about what happened in that country.

 

I don't like that it's up to the reader to find the original report. Isn't that the whole point of citations?

[tooironic]

Looks like a weasel word, something which media organisations both inside and outside China are guilty of. I disagree that 外媒 and 日媒 imply that all the respective media organisations speak with one voice. I rather see it shorthand for what the majority of mainstream organisations are saying.

 

As for the reason behind it, surely it's because Chinese culture has always been pervaded with a sense of "us and them", "inside vs outside", "domestic vs foreign", right? They use this kind of wording, and in turn Westerners find it jarring when they come across it. So it's also a cultural difference, and a different way of looking at the world. Whether you see it as a good or bad way of thinking is a matter of opinion.

[oceancalligraphy]

 

As for the reason behind it, surely it's because Chinese culture has always been pervaded with a sense of "us and them", "inside vs outside", "domestic vs foreign", right? 

 

I don't think this is exclusive to the Chinese culture. It's in every culture - or at least it's spread through every country's media. I put in "foreign media" into google news search, and plenty of news sources from different countries came up.

[Demonic_Duck]

I can't remember ever reading a report in English-language media that starts with "foreign media state..." or "foreign media claim". Maybe I just never noticed it?

[Lu]

I don't think I've ever seen it used in Dutch media, be it newspapers or television. I think the main reason is that 'buitenland' (foreign countries) is a very big place and that to Dutch people, it includes such diverse places as China, Russia, Africa, the US, the rest of Europe, and other places - usually too diverse to generalise. I agree that in China, often 外国=西方 and in Taiwan, 外国=美国. Dutch media do use 'Russian media' and probably also 'Chinese media' and 'American media' and such. Americans might use 'European media', not sure if they do but that wouldn't surprise me.

As to why Chinese media do this, it's probably a combination of seeing 外国=西方 as one big place opposite China, lazy/shorthand journalism, and perhaps some sensationalism: 2 local American newspapers say it => OMG foreign media!

[Kenny同志]

It may just be bad practice but the possibility cannot be ruled out that such vague terms are used on purpose in the interests of the government.

 

In a country where all media are controlled by the government, 外媒 would be a very convenient term to incite nationalism when needed. If a single US newspaper said something bad about China, that would be 外媒 said it, and equate to the whole West saying it. Naturally it follows that all the western countries are a bunch of bad guys and we 中國人民 must fight against them, with few of us realising that we are not fighting for China but for the shameless CCP.

 

混淆概念是匪黨之慣技. Another example is equating 黨 with 國. Thanks to decades of propaganda, most people today are unable to distinguish between the two terms. They say ‘我愛國家, 可是國家愛我嗎？’ and ‘國富民窮’. If they have not been brainwashed, they would never make such nonsensical remarks. Instead, they would say 赤匪竊國，我愛國而國不能庇我，痛心哉 and 黨富民窮

[Angelina]

Right. 国外 and 国内, us and them, it's like a mantra in China. 国外 is the new East.