| One of the possible consequences of global warming is____ .climate change
an increase in diseases
an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
the Gulf Stream could slow down
an increase temperature by 0.8C
China boasts the largest TV audience in the world, thanks in part to a communist infrastructure that saw TV as a means of direct communication with a vast population. Today, state broadcaster CCTV claims an audience of more than 1 billion; content comes courtesy of some 200 stations, offering viewers a total of 2,900 channels. And as the Chinese economy whips itself into ever better shape, TV is becoming increasingly commercial, says Chris Gelken, a UK journalist who has recently completed a three-year stint in the country as news anchor with English-language station CCTV9. "Competition for advertising dollars is driving a fierce ratings war," he says, referring to an industry reportedly already worth $3.4bn a year.As a result, where once the programming agenda was dictated by an ever-shifting party line, these days program makers are far more attuned to ratings - and consequently, sandwiched between old war movies and news reports from the factory floor, glossy melodramas now document the movements of the new urban middle class, playing out their lives over branded cups of Nescafé. "With this rolling commercialization come opportunities for foreign talent", says Claire Conceison, a professor of drama at Tufts University and author of Significant Other, a study of images of foreigners on the Chinese stage. "Why do Chinese TV makers like to feature foreign talent? In part for novelty value," she says. "Outside the cities, many viewers may never have met a foreigner in the flesh, and TV can feed their curiosity - although the way foreigners are depicted on screen does little to challenge accepted stereotypes about the west. And, of course, as any savvy Shanghai ad agency would tell you: in modern China, foreign skin sells.
Date: 2014-12-22; view: 1736
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