Global Apocalypse, Nightly
According to CCTV, the world outside China is always on fire. Best to stay at home.
Every night at 7 pm, millions of Chinese viewers tune in to watch CCTV’s nightly news program, Xinwen Lianbo 新闻联播.
The bulk of this nightly 30 minute program is dedicated to Xi Jinping’s cult of personality. But the last three minutes are generously reserved for everything beyond Xi.
And as it turns out, that-which-the-light-doesn’t-touch is just a pile of burning garbage. A planet in freefall. A world figuratively and literally on fire. Nearly every night, producers manage to find and present news of an actual fire burning, somewhere.
There is, however, one city on a hill where things remain safe and beautiful. A shining, stable beacon in the East. The one and only Middle Kingdom.
This is propaganda at its finest. It is smooth and subtle, with all the trappings of legitimate news. It requires a discerning eye to even identify the elements of persuasion. It signals its messages through the imagery, the choice of topics, the subtle word selection, the bias of the interviewees, and the amount of time dedicated to favored themes. The desired beliefs form in your brain effortlessly, without the producer having to articulate them to you and break the trance.
A world of chaos
CCTV has been an excellent student - and mirror - of Xi’s darkening world view.
It’s a world of chaos, as Xi says. He told a seminar of high-level Communist Party officials in January 2021 that “chaos is the defining characteristic of the world”.1 But he actually sees this as a useful development, presenting an opportunity for the PRC to accumulate power while the enemy is disoriented. Xi has said that “‘China's governance’ stands in stark contrast to ‘Western chaos’”.2
So to reflect this global strategic outlook, the world according to CCTV is burning. Flooding. Earthquaking. Shooting. Warring. Erupting. Whereas tranquil scenes of peaceful and magnificent rural China provide the foil.
The message is clear: The world has nothing better to offer than right here inside our borders. Support and accept the Party’s leadership as superior while discrediting and rejecting alternative systems.
Here’s how it plays out on screen.
The week in review - fires, fires, fires
July 27
After briefly addressing Ukraine and Gaza, on to the juicy stuff:
An American Airlines plane caught fire on the tarmac at Denver airport. Passengers are practically falling from the emergency slide - it’s chaos.
July 29
Another standard daily brief on attacks traded in the Ukrainian and Gazan wars, then:
Five people are killed in a shooting in downtown New York City. Danger and lawlessness lurk.
July 30
The wars outside China’s borders continue.
Europe is so hot that it’s burning. Apocalyptic scenes abound.
July 31
Russia’s coast is falling into the sea from hundreds of earthquake aftershocks.
The seals are disturbed by the dark and stormy seas.
The earthquakes also caused - you guessed it - fire, via volcanic explosion.
Now on to the U.S.
Something is burning on the horizon in California. What could it be?
Oh good, an F-35 strike fighter jet in flames. The perfect symbolism of American military inferiority.
August 2
The U.S. feature today brings us to Montana.
First, a map to orient viewers. Chinese citizens who have never heard of Montana or think this is insignificant, sober up and listen carefully. This is what you need to know about the world today.
A shooting in Montana killed 4 people. American carnage.
Now to Indonesia for our daily inferno because there was a volcanic eruption.
The night sky electrified and aflame.
August 3
First to the United Kingdom, where protests broke out against immigration policies. Chaos in the streets.
Elsewhere in the western world, fires rage in Canada and the United States.
Yet another volcano erupts in the Kamchatka region of Russia.
Perhaps it’s related to the earthquakes? Remember Russia fell into the sea a few days ago. Here’s a replay of that footage in case you forgot the dangers of the world.
Don’t forget the seals were distressed.
Even our Ruskii friends aren’t spared. Only in China can you truly be safe.
August 4
The only news worth covering in the U.S. today is a shooting in Seattle that killed two.
It’s not an American street on CCTV unless there’s a police cruiser with lights on.
August 5
Forest fires still rage in Canada.
The air is unbreathable. Smoke spills into the U.S.
Luckily for the producers, Russia’s volcanos continue to erupt.
August 6
There’s a brief bit on the EU suspending tariff countermeasures, but then…
Europe is still so hot that it’s burning.
California is also aflame, to include this biblical-looking bush.
Russia’s Kamchatka region earthquakes are the gift that keeps on giving to CCTV producers. Another earthquake off the coast caused yet another volcano erupting. MORE FIRE.
And on that cheery note, the hosts sign off. Thanks for watching, see you tomorrow for more of the same!
We have been longtime fans of Phil Cunningham’s CCTV Follies. His knack for cutting through the propaganda with levity has nurtured our lighthearted interpretation of CCTV programs.
求是网 [Seeking Truth], 习近平：把握新发展阶段，贯彻新发展理念，构建新发展格局 [Xi Jinping: Grasp the new development stage, implement the new development concept, and build a new development pattern], April 30, 2021. https://archive.ph/ItGpU
求是网 [Seeking Truth], 时与势在我们一边 [Time and momentum are on our side], May 2021. https://archive.ph/jluhL