July 03, 2010

SARFT Spokesperson Calls for a Stop to Sister Phoenix and Other Vulgarities

Translation: 广电总局发言人:凤姐等低俗文化应坚决叫停

Zhu Hong (朱虹), director and spokesperson of the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), visited at Huazhong Normal University a few days ago to head a special topic seminar for teachers as well as students. In this "The Responsibilities of Media" seminar, Zhu Hong said that all vulgar TV programs must end.

Zhu Hong defined how TV programming should be. One type leads to correct high culture. An example would be Chinese Inspiring China (感动中国), a 7-year old "spiritual" CCTV show that yearly compiles a list of 10 Chinese citizens who have touched the heart of China. The other type comprises all the popular shows, like Xiao Shenyang's performances. Outside of this scope, "Sister Phoenix" (or Sister Feng) and other instances of vulgar culture should be resolutely halted to prevent further spread in society. Zhu Hong admits that many problems exist in TV programming presently, one of which is rampant cloning. He used Super Girl and Liu Chen's magic shows to illustrate the point: as soon as one show becomes a hit, other stations fall over themselves copying and emulating. The audience soon tire of watching the same thing.

Zhu Hong also commented on the now quite popular dating shows. Born out of the society's needs, they had positive meaning in the early days. As time went on, however, such shows digressed. One must be vigilant and guard against such deterioration. TV stations should not promote materialism or expose details of private lives just to attract viewers.

When the discussion turn to regulation and censorship, Zhu Hong pointed out that every country has its own department doing the same thing but perhaps in a different manner. The government must be proactive, because if left unchecked, negative culture factors will eventually cause the situations to go out of hand.

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