In our first class of the semester this morning (and my last course toward my degree … but who’s counting?!), we discussed four structures of mass media: authoritarian, libertarian, social responsibility and soviet-totalitarian. I’ve been thinking about the People’s Republic of China and trying to decide whether it should be in the soviet-totalitarian or the authoritarian category.

I know that China is seeking to put on its best “face” in preparation for the Olympics, and I think the national govt would want the world to believe that it is in the authoritarian category — where the media is supervised but not completely under the thumb of the powers that be. A couple of memories came to mind as I thought this through …

1) When I was in China in 1997 (I taught English as a Foreign Language to freshmen & sophomore college students), some of my students told me in confidence (b/c it wasn’t appropriate for them to discuss, much less with a foreign teacher) that their parents did not believe the Tienamin Square massacre ever happened. They did not have access to much foreign media, and what they did see, they did not trust. I was shocked that so many hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people could be literally brainwashed by their national media.

2) I had the opportunity to attend a “Three-Self” government-condoned church while I was in China. It was very interesting and much like our own church services at home, in many regards. There was singing and teaching, and though I didn’t understand the language well enough to follow, it was evident that the Spirit of God is capable of moving His people even in restricted circumstances. One observation is burned in my memory — that of a petite, elderly lady who stood up very slowly after the service was finished, wrapped her Bible in what looked like a brown paper sack that had been cut to fit like a book cover and walked out of the church and down the street. It dawned on me that the most beloved book on the planet had to be wrapped and carried incognito in public.

I think China still has quite a ways to go before I would consider it less tight-fisted than the soviet-totalitarian model.