Tea Leaf Nation

The medium is the message. Marshall McLuhan’s famous dictum takes on a stark and disturbing new meaning when pondered in the context of modern China, where the vision of society presented by television often stands in sharp contrast to that painted by its more pluralistic cousin, the Internet.  One popular tweet making the rounds on Sina [...]

Chinese television in recent years has spawned a bewildering array of variety shows, reality shows, dating shows, and dramas on topics ranging from children being sucked into their computers to time-travelling accountants turning into imperial princesses. Now the Chinese agency that regulates broadcasting, known as SARFT, is taking the punchbowl away. SARFT has decreed that, [...]