Two Billion Eyes

by Ying Zhu

“Up until Two Billion Eyes ,” wrote the Los Angeles Review of Books , “the view of Chinese media has often been limited…[Ying] Zhu expands the periphery of our vision.” Acclaimed in hardcover by experts on China, Zhu's brilliant dissection of China Central television (CCTV) is the first book to look at the dynamic modern media conglomerate and official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, with an audience of over 1.2 billion viewers globally, including millions in the United States. With “cogent analysis and penetrating insight” ( Publishers Weekly ), Two Billion Eyes tells the groundbreaking story of this hugely influential media player.

“A fascinating window into the emergence of a Chinese public sphere” (Fredric Jameson) and “an indispensable guide to the Chinese media landscape ( The New Inquiry ), Two Billion Eyes explores how commercial priorities and journalistic ethics have competed with the demands of state censorship and how Chinese audiences themselves have grown more critical. A “unique window” ( South China Morning Post ) into one of the world's most important corporations, this is a crucial new book for anyone seeking to understand contemporary China.

Genres: China, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2012

About the author

Dr. Ying Zhu is a Professor in the Department of Media Culture at The College of Staten Island of the City University of New York (CUNY). She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin.

In addition to her books, she also produced documentaries for Netherlands public television: Google vs. China (2011) and China: From Cartier to Confucius (2012).

Reviews

[Robert Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is now quite dated, but still well worth reading. Published in 2012 it now provides a time capsule of a certain time in Chinese broadcasting and world politics. The book is constructed out of detailed, surprisingly frank, interviews with a range of Chinese journalists who work in front of, and behind the camera in China. China Central Television began as China's main television outlet, and has persisted through the advent of competition from other channels and the internet, and at least four or five very different political dispensations. 10 years after publication, China has already moved on to a very different dispensation.

The period covered in this book, more or less the first decade of this century, was a much more hopeful time. Most of the journalists Zhu talks to seem to believe that more openness and rigorous work is on the way. They are people who all saw incredible positive change over the course of their lifetimes, both in terms of financial growth, and the sophistication and subject matter breadth of Chinese journalism. In the 2000s, most of the interviewees believed they could speak openly to a US academic about their dissatisfactions with censorship. I doubt that would be the case today. There's a real optimism about China, and its future that I no longer see as much of. One thing that this book got very wrong is the idea that the internet was going to be a force for liberation in Chinese media. Those hopes faded long ago.

This book is valuable because it undermines the image most Americans have of China as this vast unthinking monolith. Yes, state censorship of media is a real issue in China. But the people working within these institutions, even the censoring ones, are human beings, attempting to make things work. Many work tirelessly to provide worthwhile content, sometimes against, and sometimes within the constraints that the government has set up. In truth, it's not all that different from the strictures that the slightly more market based system in the United States lays down. This book is an aid to understanding between the countries, and is still worth reading because of it. Even though the world it describes may have largely vanished.

[daffaakbar om · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the book's age being in its teens, I could still agree with its takeaways; most importantly that CCTV's dynamics reflect the overall influence of China internationally. We can see that with the establishment of China Media Group and CGTN, further consolidating the state media's international presence just years after taking on the global attention for its coverage of events such as the handover of Hong Kong, the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, and the 2008 Summer Olympics. Glimpses of how some other significant news stories, positive and negative, were covered, are also given.

The book also diligently highlights how the generational transition that happen(ed) along with China's transition to market economy is also reflected in the (1) overall operations and management of CCTV, and (2) the work ethics and outlook of different generations and groups of CCTV employees, with some of the most prominent of them interviewed in this book.

Lastly, it also touches on the rising scene of provincial/private TV stations sprouting across China's regions, navigating the economies of TV business without the restrictions of CCTV as a state media as well as CCTV's state-endorsed dominance itself, giving the stories a balancer.

A great read (and a rare inside look, indeed) despite the time it took me to chew the book; mind you, I should say, that it's quite heavy on the interviews, so prepare yourselves for some "raw" answers and insights from the concerned insiders themselves. Would be great to reflect this book upon the Chinese media and political landscape of today, for its ever-so-fast dynamics.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the main TV station of the country with the largest number of population in the world, China Central Television, or CCTV is indeed an unique entity which represented the rise of People’s Republic of China’s itself, as a country with a liberal economy and paradoxically, authoritarian political system, which compel it to seek profits to keep it afloat, while at the same time being the communist government’s largest mouthpiece. The journey and transformation of CCTV was presented in this book through the eyes of Executives, Hosts and Celebrities who were contributing directly towards the making of CCTV today in many aspects, from domestic and foreign news, entertainment, education and also documentaries.

[Joshua Pulsifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a phenomenal book on Chinese television pre-2010. I would absolutely love an updated edition, however the information encapsulated in the text remains highly relevant for anyone looking to understand the scope of contemporary Chinese media. Highly recommend.