• FortifiedAttack [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    29
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    The reason why this kind of article gets mocked on Hexbear is because very commonly, when China makes some kind of positive improvement, Western news articles have to attach a “BUT…” afterwards, even if the concern is extremely minor.

    The “BUT AT WHAT COST” of the thread name isn’t just a meme, it’s a common occurrence with articles about China. Here are some examples: https://twitter.com/slipknothooh/status/1433496026795630598?lang=en

    An achievement from China can never just stand on its own, it always has to be criticized, whereas achievements from Western nations rarely get this treatment.

    • protist@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      whereas achievements from Western nations rarely get this treatment

      I have to disagree, commercial news loves controversy and the negative, they always pull this shit, regardless of country. Even worse, what we have here is a clickbait headline that isn’t even descriptive of the article

      • GarbageShoot [he/him]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        27
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Come on, you must see a ton of popsci articles like “This invention might end aging forever!” and “School teacher invents new green fuel” and “Why is California leading the world in [whatever]?”

        Their point is that Approved countries get fluff pieces like that while China gets, from comparable material, a source of criticism that is deemed important enough to put in the headline.

      • SunriseParabellum [he/him]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        18
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        When controversy or drama happens in the US it’s just reported as drama. They don’t extrapolate it to the entire nation to help reinforce some narrative that it’s a totalitarian state in decline. They articles don’t usually start with “In the US…”, unlike when anything happens in China.

        • protist@mander.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Sure, US news doesn’t paint the US with a broad brush, but it does paint France, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and pretty much every other country with a broad brush. Internally, commercial media does it to US states, cities, races, religions, political parties, and more

          • SunriseParabellum [he/him]@hexbear.net
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            12
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            France, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Australia,

            Excluding maybe Mexico, none of those other countries get near the same hostility as China, or the Developing World in general.

      • silent_water [she/her]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Even worse, what we have here is a clickbait headline that isn’t even descriptive of the article

        the point is that positive news out of China gets given a clickbait title that plays up the controversy while positive news from the west gets given a clickbait title that oversells the promise of the technology. why is this an observable trend in media, I wonder…