Phil Cunningham Profile picture
金培力 CCTV FOLLIES at https://t.co/Ytx660bYM5 Fulbright, Knight, Nieman Fellow. @jinpeili.bsky.social @jinpeili@ieji.de

Feb 3, 2023, 26 tweets

CCTV offers a master lesson of propaganda in action.

The Feb. 3 broadcast shows CCP speak being implemented in rural Hainan.

It showcases the effects of putting Xi's vocabulary into play, bringing the "good news" of the "New Great Cause" of the "New Era" on a "New Journey"

Maona Village is located in this natural wonderland on Hainan Island.

It's a beautiful location where rice is planted in the terraced fields, tea grown on the slopes of lush hills...

and livestock herded and husbanded in the valley.

But when CCTV comes to town, it's clear that something is missing.
CCTV's big scoop:
Despite the charm, "most visitors just stop by for 20 or 30 minutes and then leave."

As for the city tourists who pass through, it's just a few selfies on the cellphones and they're gone...

That's not the spirit of the "New Era!"
That is not what Beijing wants!
The local CCP boss calls a snap meeting.
The villagers obediently attend, hands on lap, ready to listen.

The party boss has ideas on how Maona can be improved. He even has a map. He speaks in a microphone.
The villagers listen.

He teaches them that city visitors like conveniences, fancy buildings, things to buy, things to watch. Echoing a Xi slogan, he says he wants the village "to get better and better all the time."

If you get the tourists to linger longer, you make more money. Ka-ching!

And when they linger longer you can make more money in other ways.
Work hard at weaving and promote colorful clothing.

You've got to build your brand. Liven up the dull forest roads with red slogans. Slogans that say things like:
"Produce better tea"

"Live more prosperously!"

"I couldn't be more delighted," says this villager, at the moment CCTV shoves a microphone in his face.
"The party really boosts my confidence"

"Our farm is doing better."
(even the fish seem to agree)

And it turns out the tourists really do like dancing girls.
It's important to put on "traditional" entertainment.

Now, when the city people come, they stay longer. They take more pictures than before.

CCTV flies a drone over the village...

Even fruit juice and bananas sell better if the vendor dresses up in picturesque clothing.

Youthful CCP cadre instruct, supervise, and direct.

The party is a big believer in the power of the word. They are very good at signage.
It's a way of branding things.
Make it look more like a Beijing shop.

And don't forget the source of inspiration for all this:

"The report of the 20th party congress made it plain and clear that green development is to be promoted."

The villagers owe a massive debt of gratitude to the CCP with Chairman Xi Jinping at the core.

It is important to adhere to Xi's precepts of ecological industrialization so that one day, little Maona Village can look more like...

...this

Welcome to Beijing!

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