Thread by @joejgoodman

Journalist and broadcaster Isabel Hilton OBE is giving tonight’s James Cameron memorial lecture, “Journalism with Chinese characteristics: reflections on media in the new era”. #CityCameron19 @isabelhilton @openDemocracy @chinadialogue @cityjournalism @CityUniLondon

@isabelhilton @openDemocracy @chinadialogue @cityjournalism @CityUniLondon Isabel Hilton OBE is founder and editor of chinadialogue.net, a bilingual news site under the tagline "China and the world discuss the environment". Between 2005-07 she was editor-in-chief of OpenDemocracy.

@isabelhilton @openDemocracy @chinadialogue @cityjournalism @CityUniLondon Early in her career, she was blacklisted from working for the BBC because of her role as secretary of the China-Scottish association as a graduate student at Edinburgh University.

@isabelhilton @openDemocracy @chinadialogue @cityjournalism @CityUniLondon She was later removed from MI5’s “Christmas Tress” list and presented The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 from 1995-8, alongside contributions to The Guardian and The Independent.

China’s October 1st parade this year marked the 70th birthday of the longest living communist state in the world. Today, the state of China is more ideological than it has been since the 1970’s.

On the world stage, the Chinese state seeks to control it’s own population as well as populations outside its borders. The Chinese propoganda department closely controls what can be reported and how it can be reported inside China.

For example, "Any news about Trump must be handled carefully; unauthorised critisicm of Trump's words or actions is not allowed" (January 13 2017)

China ranks 176th out of 183 countries on media freedom - the great firewall of China being just one symptom of this

In 1989, journalists marched in solidarity with student in Tiananmen square carrying banners aimed at Xinhua, the national news agency, saying “No More Lies”.

Many were later arrested and lost their jobs, but for a time this was considered a golden age for press freedom.

Xi Jinping’s reign marks a return to heightened nationalism, increased party-control and cult of personality, with amplified restrictions on press freedom.

Publications carrying the state-sponsored ‘China Watch’ insert include the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times. The Daily Telegraph is reportedly paid £750k a year to carry the insert each month. #CityCameron19 @isabelhilton @chinadialogue @cityjournalism

@isabelhilton @chinadialogue @cityjournalism This piece goes into greater detail about Chinese state media’s reach outside its own borders theguardian.com/news/2018/dec/…

China Daily and CGTN, Chinese owned media, have spent $20m since 2016 cultivating China’s appearance through US PR groups including sponsoring documentaries and op-eds in the US

Some efforts are more successful than others. This is a promotional clip for the Belt and Road Initiative. #CityCameron19 @isabelhilton @chinadialogue

In August, Twitter took down 900 accounts that they believed were backed by the Chinese-state and were attempting to manufacture division in Hongkong.

Sowing doubt about trust and truth is a game the party have played from the beginning, but under Xi Jiping economic, military and diplomatic strategy are increasingly aggressive.

Incidentally, children's character "Winnie the Pooh" fell into China's internet black hole after this comparison threatened to soil Xi Jinping's reputation. #CityCameron19 @isabelhilton @chinadialogue @cityjournalism @CityUniLondon

Good journalism can exist in China and it can exist here. Propoganda can exist in China and it can exist here. If the Chinese case is good for anything it is useful for making us think about what it is we are defending. @y_alibhai #CityCameron19 @isabelhilton @chinadialogue

@annamckane @isabelhilton @chinadialogue @cityjournalism @CityUniLondon I don't see it personally...