China's Communist Party seeks to control media messages

The Chinese Communist Party's move to exert direct control over state broadcasters and regulators of everything from movies and TV to books and radio programs shows the party's drive to use the media for ideological efforts at home and to improve its image overseas, analysts say.

The move is part of a push by President Xi Jinping to tighten party supervision over much of Chinese public life as he renews his uncontested rule free of constitutional limits on his terms in office. Much of the civil service has been brought directly under party leadership organizations, affecting functions ranging from accounting to firefighting.

Under the plan announced yesterday by the official Xinhua News Agency, China Radio International, China National Radio and China Central Television, along with its international broadcast arm, China Global Television Network, will be merged into a new body with a name that translates to "Voice of China."
As its name suggests, the new media monolith appears modeled on outlets such as the U.S.'s "Voice of America" or Russia's "Russia Today," now known simply as "RT." Xi has repeatedly stressed the role of state media as the party's "throat and tongue" the equivalent of "mouthpiece" especially since a 2016 visit to Xinhua and other major outlets during which he further reinforced the message by saying such outlets must "take the 'party' as their surname."