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As I see it | Shanghai lockdown suffering highlights need for greater media freedom in China
- Allowing state media more leeway to report on what is happening in the city would help curb mounting anger
- The 2003 Sars outbreak showed how greater transparency could help contain an epidemic, but the situation has only worsened since then
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“Would things be any different if the media had been allowed more freedom to do their jobs properly and cover the Covid-19 lockdown?” a friend in Shanghai asked the other day.
It is a rhetorical question, but still worth examining amid the widespread anger and grievancesn about the harsh lockdown of China’s biggest and most affluent city, which is now entering its seventh week.
After having been mostly locked down at home since March 20, my friend complained about the scant Chinese media coverage of the hardships Shanghai’s 26 million residents have endured so far. It was both surreal and painful, he said, to see how China’s financial hub has turned into a ghost town for weeks – and yet the most vulnerable and needy residents do not have a voice.
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“It almost feels like the doomsday scenario going through the unverified, well-circulated social media posts and video clips about how people are being affected by the seemingly endless lockdown. Where can we get reliable information about what’s going on in this city?” he said.
“I don’t trust state-controlled media but I don’t have access to overseas media [that are mostly blocked in China].”
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That’s the cruel reality most people living in the Chinese mainland have to deal with, especially in this time of crisis.
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