After fire, anger at Chinese network
BEIJING - Even before it was revealed yesterday that an illegal fireworks display organized by China Central Television caused the spectacular fire that destroyed one of Beijing's new glass-and-steel landmarks, the state-run broadcaster was already the subject of its own firestorm on the Internet.
BEIJING - Even before it was revealed yesterday that an illegal fireworks display organized by China Central Television caused the spectacular fire that destroyed one of Beijing's new glass-and-steel landmarks, the state-run broadcaster was already the subject of its own firestorm on the Internet.
The inferno at CCTV's new, still-unoccupied headquarters complex laid bare a simmering anger and resentment toward the network for spending public money on grand construction projects and for continuing to broadcast government propaganda.
"As long as there aren't any injuries, let it burn," wrote one typical anonymous poster at the popular news portal Sohu.com. "They don't need so many buildings [in] the first place."
Jeremy Glodkorn, editor of a Web site that tracks Chinese media, said that among the young, educated and urban, the stodgy network had long been a subject of ridicule because of its low production values and propagandistic news coverage.
But the fire - which engulfed what was to be the Mandarin Oriental hotel, a dramatic, angular tower that stands next to the now-iconic CCTV building - provided a new touchstone for critics, prompting the government to move quickly to mute the outrage.
By yesterday morning, Beijing's propaganda ministry had ordered all Chinese media to stop reporting their own versions of the fire story and to use only the account provided by the official New China News Service. Newspapers were told not to use photos of the fire, and to do none of their own in-depth reporting.
Beijing authorities said an investigation was continuing, including a review of CCTV's own videotapes of the incident. CCTV vowed to cooperate. According to city fire officials, the blaze erupted after CCTV's large fireworks display, which had not received government permission, erupted into a fireball, sending flames down the face of the nonsymmetrical building.
State-run media also released additional information on the lone firefighter to die, Zhang Jianyong, 30, saying he was among a small group that arrived first to the scene and died of smoke and gas inhalation.
