Can Corporations Doing Business in China Speak Freely? Can Their News Divisions?

Article by Jim Geraghty in "The National Review":


When we see headlines like this one from NBC News . . .

NBC News ✔ @NBCNews

U.S. reports 1,264 coronavirus deaths in over 24 hours.

Meanwhile in China, where the pandemic broke out, not a single new coronavirus death was reported.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, said on Monday he was "cautiously optimistic" that the worst projections could be avoided "if we keep our foot on the accelerator" — referring to social distancing policies in force throughout much of the country.


. . . and articles such as the one on NBCNews.com that do not mention that the Chinese government may not be a reliable and trustworthy source for information — and in fact uses state-run media as the source of conditions in Wuhan . . . it becomes difficult to believe that the editorial judgment of NBC News is not being shaped in any way by the parent company Comcast’s significant investment in and ties to China.
 
From the company’s largest and most expensive theme park they’ve ever built, Universal Beijing Resort, to Universal Pictures access to Chinese moviegoers, Comcast has enormous incentives to stay on the good side of the government in Beijing.

 

On February 27th, China’s consul general Huang Ping visited Comcast corporate headquarters in Philadelphia. He sai:, “We hope that Comcast continues its efforts to cooperate with China, enhance people-to-people exchanges, and contribute to the Sino-U.S. relations based on coordination, cooperation, and stability.”


Universal Parks and Resorts chairman and CEO Tom Williams said in September:

Part of the key to doing business in China, he said, is to avoid talking politics.

“You don’t start talking about the leadership in China. You would be crazy to bring up Hong Kong, Taiwan,” he said. “You would never start talking that way. You just focus on what you are trying to do.”

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