China's main news agency Xinhua (New China) has launched a 24-hour news channel in English for foreign consumption, the China News Channel or CNC World, as reported by the BBC. What should be pointed out is that this is not the first channel of its type from China as Chinese Central TV (CCTV) already broadcasts around the world 24 hours in English on CCTV9. However, CNC is specifically pitched for international audiences, while CCTV9 is shown with a more domestic Chinese market in mind.
The market for worldwide 24 hours stations has been rapidly increasing in the past decade, ever since the initial success of CNN, BBC World, Germany's Deutsche Welle TV and especially Al-Jazeera prompted other governments and media providers the power and profitability of such a medium. 24-hour news channels have effectively taken over from short-wave radio, following the increase and accessibility in satellite TV worldwide. In recent years countries like Russia, France, Iran and even Kazakhstan have launched such news channels in multiple languages, with the Arab, Spanish and Persian markets in particular attracting the most interest. No matter how much any of these stations claim to be impartial, including CNN and BBC World, are perceived to be propaganda tools of their respective governments, presenting their world view. It's best to have that in mind when watching any of them. I once heard a report back in the early 1990s on Radio Netherlands when I used to listen to shortwave that when Kenyan students in the 1970s were asked who they listened to for news, a majority said they listened to Voice of America and Radio Moscow, then they would make an equilibrium from the extreme points of view presented from these sources to gain a more realistic interpretation on world news. That analogy still applies here, only that the range of viewpoints are more multi-centred and than before.
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