CGTN
TypeState media
CountryChina
Broadcast areaWorldwide
NetworkChina Global Television Network
HeadquartersCCTV Headquarters, Beijing Central Business District, Beijing, China
Programming
Language(s)Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Russian
Chinese (via SAP)
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 576i/480i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
OwnerChina China Media Group
(Government of the People's Republic of China)
History
Launched20 September 1997 (1997-09-20)
Former namesCCTV-9
(1997 - 2010)
CCTV News
(2010 - 2016)
Links
Websitewww.cgtn.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Digital TV (DTMB)
(China)		Digital channel number varies by area.
Digital TV
Hong Kong		Channel 35 (HD)
Digital TV
(Macau)		Channel 73
Digital terrestrial television
(United States)		Channel 13.4 (Chicago)
Channel 32.2 (Santa Barbara)
Oqaab (Afghanistan)Channel 31
UHF Colombo-FTA (Sri Lanka)Channel 29 (SD)
DStv (Sub-Saharan Africa)Channel 409
Zuku TV (Kenya)Channel 550
AzamTV (Africa)Channel 238
True Visions (Thailand)Channel 794
Streaming media
CGTN Livewww.cgtn.com

CGTN is the English-language news channel of China Global Television Network, based in Beijing, China. It is one of several channels provided by China Global Television Network, the international division of Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), under the control of the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.[1][2][3]

CCTV-9 was launched on 25 September 2000, rebranded as CCTV News on 26 April 2010. On 6 February 2012, CGTN America. On 8 October 2019, CGTN Europe was launched, with a schedule of daily programming originating from a production center in Washington, D.C.[4] On 11 January 2012, CCTV Africa was launched in Nairobi, Kenya.[5] All channels and divisions in the CCTV International group were rebranded as CGTN on 31 December 2016.

CGTN currently has four studios: Beijing (headquarters), Nairobi, Washington and London as well as 70 bureaus around the world.

History

CCTV began considering English-language international news programming on 1 January 1979, at the start of the Chinese economic reform period. English news bulletins began on CCTV-2 in 1986 and became available to overseas viewers when they moved to CCTV-4 in February 1991. CCTV-9 began broadcasting across China on 25 September 2000, becoming the country's first all-English television station.

On 1 January 2003, CCTV-9 entered the United States cable market, as part of a deal that allowed AOL, Time Warner, and News Corporation access to cable systems in Guangdong. In its early years, CCTV-9 broadcast English language news bulletins and cultural interest shows for most of each day, and aired mostly reruns during the overnight hours in China. One of its biggest projects was covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Until 26 April 2010, CCTV-9 was a mixed general interest channel featuring news, travel programming, and language training. On that date it was rebranded as CCTV News, a 24-hour English-language news service.[6]

Relaunch

The channel name of CCTV-9 was changed to CCTV News on 26 April 2010.[7] Some shows were rebranded while other new programs were added. The English website is managed by China Network Television (CNTV), a web streaming service of CCTV. On 1 January 2011, the channel's former name CCTV-9 was taken over by CCTV's two documentary channels.

CGTN

On 31 December 2016, the channel was rebranded again as CGTN, and new programs debuted, with the first being Global Watch, anchored by Rachael Ruble.

Ofcom license revocation

On 4 February 2021, Ofcom withdrew CGTN's UK broadcaster license. Ofcom concluded a company called Star China Media Limited held the broadcast license for CGTN but "did not have editorial responsibility", and thus it did not meet legal requirements. The programming is claimed to be controlled by a company called China Global Television Network Corporation. The regulator said it was unable to transfer the license to that company because it is "ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, which is not permitted under UK broadcasting law".[8] In most of Europe, distribution of the CGTN channel was permitted because it held a UK license, and unless CGTN obtained a license in another European country it had to go off air across most of Europe.[9] The channel eventually obtained a new license through the French broadcast regulator CSA in March 2021.[10] In response to the Ofcom revocation, China banned BBC World News from airing in mainland China, which was soon followed upon by RTHK withdrawing distribution of BBC's content in Hong Kong.[11]

CGTN Africa

CGTN Africa is CGTN's African news productions center which was launched in Kenya on 11 January 2012. CGTN Africa produces daily news, business and culture shows, including Africa Live, Talk Africa, Global Business Africa and Faces of Africa, which are broadcast through CGTN's English news channel.[12][13]

CGTN America

CGTN America is the Americas division of CGTN that began broadcasting on 6 February 2012.[14] It is based in Washington, DC and runs bureaus in North and South America. The service employs American and Chinese journalists and produces Americas-based programs for CGTN and CCTV.

The United States Department of Justice ordered CGTN America to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), which CGTN America did on 1 February 2019.[15] Registration requires CGTN America to disclose information about its annual budget and ownership structure, and to include disclaimers on broadcasts, published materials and social media identifying itself as a registered foreign agent. On 8 March 2019, after CGTN America registered under FARA, its director general Ma Jing and a dozen other staffers were recalled to Beijing.[16]

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe is CGTN's European division, mainly covering European business and politics. Its offices are at the Chiswick Business Park in west London. CGTN first moved into the office in January 2018 and planned to begin broadcasts by the end of the year, although issues which included "obtaining visas for top managers and setting up technology" eventually delayed its launch to October 2019.[17][18]

Despite Ofcom's revocation of CGTN's broadcast license, a person briefed on the channel's strategy said it "would not impact the production centre, [CGTN] would just need to reorientate itself to produce more content for Europe."[18]

Foreign news anchors

In addition to Chinese anchors, CGTN employs foreigners as news presenters, some of whom have extensive experience, such as Edwin Maher (a former newsreader and weatherman from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation), while others may be recent university graduates just embarking upon their careers.

Former comptroller Jiang Heping defended the policy of putting foreigners on air, arguing that "we feel international on-air personalities boost the credibility of CGTN and befit its image as an international channel. In this regard, CGTN will not restrict the origin of its employees and choose to build its unique identity through its programming."[19]

Another prominent personality in CCTV-9's first decade was Mark Rowswell, otherwise known as Dashan. He hosted Travel in Chinese on CCTV News and has been honored for his work in promoting cancer awareness in China.[20]

On 18 September 2019, Nick Pollard, a veteran British TV executive, resigned from his post as consultant and advisor to CGTN, giving his reason for leaving as being CGTN's failure to comply with Ofcom's rules on impartiality in connection to its coverage of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.[21] He had joined CGTN in December 2018.[22]

Detention of Cheng Lei

In mid-August 2020, Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who since 2012 worked for CGTN as an anchor for a business show, was detained by Chinese authorities and charged in February 2021 with sharing state secrets, with no further information being provided.[23] Soon after Cheng was detained, two Australian journalists working in China fled the country after being questioned by authorities on national security grounds, leaving Australia's media without any journalists working in China for the first time in nearly 50 years.[24] CGTN has deleted all reference to Cheng from its website and social media, and has not made any report or comment on Cheng's detention.

Awards

The channel's Washington, DC based broadcast center, CGTN America, has won a News & Documentary Emmy for Jen Bricker: When Can't is a Four-Letter Word, as well as multiple New York Festivals medals and White House News Photographers Association awards.[25]

Reception

Bias and censorship

Observers have noted that the "aim [of CGTN] is to influence public opinion overseas in order to nudge foreign governments into making policies favourable towards China’s Communist party" through subtle means.[26] Researchers Thomas Fearon and Usha M. Rodrigues argued that CGTN has a "dichotomous role as a credible media competing for audience attention on the world stage, and a vital government propaganda organ domestically."[27]

According to James Palmer at Foreign Policy, the contrasting aims of RT (formerly Russia Today) and CGTN, "mirrors wider strategies: Moscow wants chaos it can exploit, while Beijing wants a stable world order—on its terms".[28] While RT doesn't mind whether it goes to the far-left or the far-right, Chinese state media is permitted to "act from a very narrow, officially approved scope, and the risk of the political extremes is too much," according to journalist Hilton Yip.[29] On the contrary to CGTN's investments in studios and numerous overseas bureaus, "the actual content is a mix of brutally tedious propaganda and bland documentaries. The audience is always the bosses in Beijing, not the average viewer overseas".[29] Yip also noted the growing disillusionment of journalists in China who "are allowed to do little more than parrot the official line", citing a viral video of a journalist rolling her eyes at another reporter's softball question during a ministerial press conference, which "seemed to speak for many in the country who are tired of the charade that local media has become".[29]

Despite a decade of overseas expansion, the redoubling of efforts by CGTN, and to an extension other state media, to push the party's theories and principles abroad is at odds with boosting China's overseas image.[30] CGTN, along with other Chinese state media outlets, is still widely regarded as "editorially biased and full of propaganda, and they still struggle to attract large audiences", particularly in the age of widespread internet use with social media and nontraditional forms of media where the public has become "more averse to clumsy state-run propaganda than ever".[29]

Despite its revamp launching of CCTV America, critics have voiced concerns over the level of censorship exercised by the channel, especially on sensitive domestic issues in China.[29] Philip Cunningham of Cornell University, who has appeared more than 100 times on China Central Television talk shows, noted that sensitive issues such as Tibet and Xinjiang were heavily edited on various programs.[31] Ma Jing, Director of CCTV America defends the channel against such allegations by saying that the channel edits stories the same way other news organizations do. She said: "We uphold the traditional journalistic values. We consider accuracy, objectivity, truthfulness, and public accountability very important, more important than anything else."[31]

In March 2021, CGTN was fined £225,000 by Ofcom for bias in its coverage of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, which was found to have repeatedly breached fairness and impartiality requirements.[32][33]

Accessory to torture and forced confessions

On 23 November 2018, a British corporate investigator named Peter Humphrey submitted a formal complaint[34] to the United Kingdom's government communications regulator The Office of Communications, or Ofcom, maintaining he was forced under duress to confess on air over Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television's (CCTV) network and that, as the confession was subsequently broadcast[35] over the international arm of CCTV, China Global Television Network (CGTN), CGTN itself should be held culpable by Ofcom and denied the right to operate its broadcast service in the U.K. Humphrey's complaint cited two films produced by CCTV and additionally aired in the UK by CGTN, stating that both were scripted and directed by the Chinese police, the public security bureau, while he was a prisoner, in conditions of duress amounting to torture.[36][37] One such confession, staged in August 2013, was filmed by a CCTV crew with Humphrey locked in an iron chair inside a steel cage, wearing handcuffs and an orange prison vest. This was before he had been indicted, tried or convicted of a crime. The second, in July 2014, was once again filmed by CCTV, not in a cage this time, but still in a prison vest and handcuffs, before he had been tried or convicted on the charge of illegal information gathering.[38]

Ofcom said it would investigate the complaint and would "take necessary enforcement action" if rules are determined to have been violated.[34][39] In November 2019, CGTN aired a video of a UK consular employee, Simon Cheng, in captivity "confessing" to consorting with prostitutes. Within a week, Cheng had filed a new complaint to Ofcom.[40] On 8 March 2021, CGTN was fined a total of £225,000 by Ofcom for serious breaches of fairness, privacy and impartiality rules. “We found the individuals (Simon Cheng and Gui Minhai) concerned were unfairly treated and had their privacy unwarrantably infringed,” Ofcom said, adding that the broadcaster had “failed to obtain their informed consent to be interviewed.” It concluded that “material facts which cast serious doubt on the reliability of their alleged confessions” had been left out of its programing, which aired pretrial “confessions” of the two men while they were being detained. Ofcom said it was considering further sanctions.[41]

On 4 February 2021, CGTN had its license to broadcast in the United Kingdom revoked by broadcasting regulator Ofcom after an investigation found that its license was held by Star China Media, which exercised no editorial oversight over CGTN.[42][43] Ofcom subsequently imposed fines on CGTN.[44] An open letter calling for Ofcom to reverse its revocation decision was signed by the editor of the left-wing Morning Star, Ben Chacko, along with journalists John Pilger, Jonathan Cook and Kerry-Anne Mendoza, film directors Oliver Stone and Ken Loach, rapper and activist Lowkey, and writer and activist Tariq Ali.[45]

In March 2021, Australian public broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service suspended news bulletin broadcasts from CGTN and CCTV due to complaints of forced confessions.[46]

Accusation of antisemitism

In May 2021, Israel's embassy in Beijing accused CGTN of "blatant antisemitism" when it broadcast an antisemitic canard during the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis.[47][48][49]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bandurski, David (22 March 2018). "When Reform Means Tighter Controls". China Media Project. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  2. ↑ Holtz, Michael (9 January 2017). "The TV network at the forefront of Beijing's foreign propaganda offensive". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "China is spending billions on its foreign-language media". The Economist. 14 June 2018. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  4. ↑ About CCTV America Archived 10 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine CCTV America
  5. ↑ About CCTV Africa Archived 20 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine CCTV Africa
  6. ↑ "About CCTV News". Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  7. ↑ CCTV News, Your Link to Asia Archived 12 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine CCTV Press Release, 26 April 2010
  8. ↑ "Ofcom revokes Chinese broadcaster CGTN's UK licence". BBC News. 4 February 2021. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  9. ↑ "Vodafone Germany suspends China TV from cable". Reuters. 12 February 2021. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  10. ↑ Defranoux, Laurence; Franque, Adrien. "La télévision chinoise CGTN sous menace de nouvelles sanctions au Royaume-Uni". Libération (in French). Retrieved 3 May 2021.(subscription required)
  11. ↑ China bans BBC News after UK pulls CGTN's license - CNN Video, 12 February 2021, archived from the original on 16 February 2021, retrieved 17 February 2021
  12. ↑ "About CCTV Africa". Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Homepage, Global Business (Africa)". CCTV.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  14. ↑ About CCTV America
  15. ↑ O’Keeffe, Kate; Viswanatha, Aruna (5 February 2019). "Chinese State Media Giant CGTN Registers as Foreign Agent in U.S.". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  16. ↑ "CGTN recalls staff from US - report". Archived from the original on 25 May 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  17. ↑ Briel, Robert (18 June 2018). "Chinese state TV CGTN to set up European hub in London". Europe/London: Broadband TV News. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  18. 1 2 Nilsson, Patricia (29 August 2019). "China's state broadcaster set for UK launch". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  19. ↑ Jiang Heping (2005). "Window on China and the World: CCTV News" (PDF). In Sucharita S. Eashwar (ed.). Asia Media Summit 2005: Promoting Peace and Prosperity in a Globalised World. Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development. pp. 173–75. ISBN 983-41053-3-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
  20. ↑ Welter, Sophie. "China's Most Famous Foreigner to Receive Prestigious – Mark Rowswell ("Dashan") to be Honoured for Raising Awareness of Cancer in China". Archived from the original on 10 September 2005. Retrieved 4 May 2007.
  21. ↑ Nilsson, Patricia (18 September 2019). "Former Ofcom director quits Chinese state broadcaster". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  22. ↑ Yan, Sophia (11 July 2019). "Chinese state broadcaster hires former Ofcom director amid investigation". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 May 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  23. ↑ "'She's a mother with two young kids who really need her': Family of Cheng Lei speak out". ABC News. 8 February 2021. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  24. ↑ Griffiths, James (8 February 2021). "China arrests Australian TV host on suspicion of spying". CNN. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  25. ↑ "Winners at the 37th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards". Emmy Awards. National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 21 September 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  26. ↑ Lim, Louisa; Bergin, Julia (7 December 2018). "Inside China's audacious global propaganda campaign". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 10 March 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  27. ↑ Fearon, Thomas; Rodrigues, Usha M. (31 July 2019). "The dichotomy of China Global Television Network's news coverage". Pacific Journalism Review: Te Koakoa. 25 (1&2): 102–121. doi:10.24135/pjr.v25i1.404. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30128822. ISSN 2324-2035. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  28. ↑ Palmer, James (1 October 2018). "China's Global Propaganda Is Aimed at Bosses, Not Foreigners". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 Yip, Hilton (23 April 2018). "China's $6 Billion Propaganda Blitz Is a Snooze". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  30. ↑ Palmer, James. "China's Global Propaganda Is Aimed at Bosses, Not Foreigners". foreignpolicy.com. Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  31. 1 2 "China's Programming for U.S. Audiences: Is it News or Propaganda?". PBS NewsHour. 22 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  32. ↑ "Ofcom fines Chinese state broadcaster CGTN £225,000 for biased Hong Kong protest coverage and airing forced confession". Press Gazette. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  33. ↑ "Chinese state TV broke Ofcom rules with biased Hong Kong coverage". The Guardian. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  34. 1 2 "British man seeks China state TV ban for forced confession". AP NEWS. 23 November 2018. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  35. ↑ "UK watchdog may probe China state media's role in extracting 'confession'". South China Morning Post. 26 November 2018. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  36. ↑ "'I was locked inside a steel cage': Peter Humphrey on his life inside a Chinese prison". Financial Times. 30 November 2019. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  37. ↑ Waterson, Jim (26 May 2020). "Chinese state TV broke Ofcom rules with biased Hong Kong coverage". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  38. ↑ "China state TV 'confession': Peter Humphrey & Yu Yingzeng". YouTube. 7 February 2016. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  39. ↑ Moore, Matthew (24 November 2018). "Call to ban Xi's 'propaganda TV'". The Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  40. ↑ "Hong Kong 'torture' victim files Ofcom complaint against CGTN". Financial Times. 28 November 2019. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  41. ↑ "Chinese state broadcaster CGTN fined £225,000 by UK regulator". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  42. ↑ Mathers, Matt (4 February 2021). "Chinese state-owned TV network CGTN has UK licence revoked by Ofcom". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  43. ↑ "Ofcom revokes CGTN's licence to broadcast in the UK". Ofcom. 4 February 2021. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  44. ↑ Tobitt, Charlotte (8 March 2021). "Ofcom fines Chinese CGTN £225,000 for code breaches". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  45. ↑ "Opposing Ofcom's ban on China's English-language TV channel is defending free speech". Morning Star. 9 March 2021. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  46. ↑ Needham, Kirsty (5 March 2021). "Australian broadcaster suspends China's CGTN citing human rights complaint". Reuters. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  47. ↑ "Israel accuses Chinese state TV of 'blatant antisemitism'". Associated Press. 19 May 2021. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  48. ↑ "Israel accuses China state TV of 'blatant anti-Semitism'". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 19 May 2021. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  49. ↑ "Israeli embassy in China blasts state TV broadcaster for 'blatant anti-Semitism'". Times of Israel. 21 May 2021. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
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