Sometimes everyone likes jumping on an event for no real reason, and forgets, ignores and generally pretends others haven’t happened. The 太石村 Taishi Village elections spent months in the latter category, with the exception of Chinese bulletin boards and a couple of English language China blogs, and it was only when Guardian journalist Benjamin Joffe-Walt went south with Lu Banglie, and things turned seriously crappy that it made the jump into the world of news. Of course when it became apparent Joffe-Walt’s article was not completely accurate, the account of Lu Banglie’s beating which had more-or-less occluded the real reason Taishi Village was infested with journalists rapidly became not-news.
I’ve been following the Taishi thing more than other political stuff in China mainly because it is occurring in Panyu District, next to Guangzhou, and unlike stuff that happens in, say Anhui Province where I’ve never been, I have a personal connection to Guangzhou and the surrounding districts, and it’s alot more real for me.
So in addition to the other couple of posts I’ve made on Taishi, here is some of the media about Taishi, which was a hugely popular event in the China-blogging world, and for me is a fine demonstration of how blogs can disseminate news faster and more importantly more comprehensively than the traditional static media ever can.
The Blogs:
RConversation: Chinese activist bludgoned to death in front of journalist
Taishi, China: Lu Banglie lives, will his cause die? (UPDATED)- Rebecca MacKinnon :: China Digital Times (CDT) 中国数字时代
Press slammed for coverage of Taishi – SCMP :: China Digital Times (CDT) 中国数字时代
Sun Bin: Taishi and Village Impeachment
AsiaMedia :: CHINA: Press slammed for coverage of Taishi
RConversation: Taishi Village and The Guardian’s big error: Western media discredited in China
…My heart’s in Accra » Lu Banglie lives, story dies?
Simon World: Sunny side down
Simon World: It’s really over for Taishi
EastSouthWestNorth: Daily Brief Comments #46, October 2005
EastSouthWestNorth: Daily Brief Comments #55, October 2005
EastSouthWestNorth: The Taishi (China) Elections – Part 1 (Chronology)
EastSouthWestNorth: The Taishi Village Elections – Part 2 (The KR Report)
EastSouthWestNorth: The Importance of the Taishi Elections
EastSouthWestNorth: Taishi Village, My Neighbour
EastSouthWestNorth: Lu Banglie at Baoyuesi Village
The Press:
Knight Ridder News – Revolt in Chinese village reflects rising tide of discontent.
Reuters – China arrests lawyer helping villagers protest
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Mob attack key Chinese democrat
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | ‘He lay there – his eye out of its socket, his tongue cut, his body limp and twisted’
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Groundswell of protest feared by party officials
Reuters AlertNet – China activist beaten, missing -activists say
Interfax China – Journalists beaten during Taishi investigations, one man killed
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China village democracy skin deep
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Activist found alive after beating by mob
Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | Victims of the convulsions now transforming China
Hong Kong journalists condemn attack on foreign reporters in China – Yahoo! News
Guilt By Association – Newsweek: International Editions – MSNBC.com
NY Times
Interfax China
The village battling the dragon – [Sunday Herald]
A true story about Taishi village incident