QUESTIONABLE SOURCE
A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing to credible information, a complete lack of transparency, and/or is fake news. Fake News is the deliberate attempt to publish hoaxes and/or disinformation for the purpose of profit or influence (Learn More). Sources listed in the Questionable Category may be very untrustworthy and should be fact-checked on a per article basis. Please note sources on this list are not considered fake news unless specifically written in the reasoning section for that source. See all Questionable sources.
- Overall, we rate the Beijing Review as Questionable and Mixed for factual reporting due to the use of poor sources and the publication of state propaganda through bias by omission.
Detailed Report
Reasoning: Poor Sourcing, State Propaganda
Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: China
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: TOTAL OPPRESSION
Media Type: Magazine
Traffic/Popularity: Minimal Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY
History
Launched in 1958, Beijing Review, formerly known as the Peking Review, is China’s National English weekly news magazine headquartered in Beijing.
According to its about page, the Beijing Review provides coverage of “social, political and cultural affairs, world events, and politics” It also offers an “in-depth analysis on major regional and international events and provides consulting and information services.” Its online editions are published in Chinese, English, French, German and Japanese. Currently, Wang Gangyi is President and Editor-in-Chief of Beijing Review.
Read our profile on Chinese media and government.
Funded by / Ownership
The Beijing Review is published by China International Publishing Group ( CIPG), which is owned by the Communist Party of China. Revenue is partly derived from subscriptions; however, the USA and Canada subscription links do not work at the time of this analysis.
Analysis / Bias
Reporters without Borders report states, “President Xi Jinping has succeeded in imposing a social model in China based on control of news and information and online surveillance of its citizens. At the same time, he has been trying to export this oppressive model by promoting a “new world media order” under China’s influence” According to their 2023 report, China ranks 179 out of 180, which equates to almost zero press freedom.
In review, most articles pertaining to the Communist Government are favorable with zero criticism of President Xi Jinping. In other words, the content you find on the website is generally factual and neutral in tone. Still, the consistent bias by omission makes Beijing Review a factually Mixed propaganda source. For example, “Xi’s Focus: Xi Jinping on Ethnic Unity” and “Xi underlines winning anti-poverty battle during Ningxia inspection.” Further, when sourcing, they typically utilize the factually mixed Chinese state-run press agency Xinhua News Agency and China Daily (English-language daily newspaper owned by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party) and Western news sources such as HuffPost. When reporting news pertaining to the USA, Beijing Review utilizes emotionally loaded words in their articles. They present a negative tone towards the former Trump administration “Trump administration politicizes pandemic for electoral gain.” In general, the news is reported factually; however, it is misleading due to strong censorship of anything negative toward China.
Failed Fact Checks
- An IFCN fact-checker has not fact-checked them.
Overall, we rate the Beijing Review as Questionable and Mixed for factual reporting due to the use of poor sources and the publication of state propaganda through bias by omission. ( 8/16/2016) Updated (M. Huitsing 12/02/2023)
Source: http://www.bjreview.com/
Last Updated on December 2, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check
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