China’s Page Three Girl Test Causes No Aftershock
HOW does the media respond to disaster?
In the UK, a tabloid rating of any disaster can be correlated to the appearance of Page 3 women: the bigger the disaster, the bigger the hiatus between shots of Zoe and Amiii.
In China the earthquake caused the government to temporarily close down cinemas, karaoke bars and other leisure venues.
The difference, of course, is that in the UK, the media is to a large degree self-regulating. Page 3 is the barometer of grief because the tabloids want it that way. The girls could wear black bras and a garter about their arms, but the message that the organ cares may not come across.
Over in China, New Travel Weekly, a small lifestyle magazine, marked the earthquake by running photos of sultry models in their underwear amid the debris. The issue hit the stands on Monday – the first of three days of national mourning.
The press and publication department of the southwestern city of Chongqing, where the magazine was based, has decided to close the magazine down for “rectification”.
The department says the magazine “seriously violated propaganda discipline and went against social morals” and the report constituted an “extremely evil social influence.”
“If the outcome of the rectification is satisfactory, it is possible to reopen the magazine,” an employee of the press and publication department with the family name Cai tells AFP.
The Shanghai Daily says the report “contains little significant content. The frivolous photos have no aesthetic value and are visually jarring”. The Shanghai Daily News points to what a rectified publication sounds like.
Xinhua, China’s official news agency, says the magazine’s managing editor, editor and deputy editor have all been dismissed.
And can any one see them working in their industry again?
Posted: 21st, May 2008 | In: Tabloids Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
