MCLC: public opinion analysts

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: public opinion analysts
***********************************************************

Source: SCMP (10/20/13):
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1335417/web-opinion-analyst-class-ma
y-draw-journalism-grads-some-are-wary

Web 'opinion analyst' class may draw journalism grads, but some are wary
By Raymond Li 

A joint initiative by People's Daily and the Ministry of Human Resources
and Social Security to provide accredited courses for "public opinion
analysts" is likely to be welcomed by thousands of mainland journalism
graduates struggling to find a job. But the move is raising unease in some
quarters amid Beijing's heightened controls over the internet.

A unit of People's Daily Online specialising in public-opinion studies
recently began recruiting students for the first class for accredited
opinion analysts.

Students are charged 3,980 yuan (HK$5,030) for a five-day course plus
3,920 yuan for exams and accreditation.

Announcing the programme in September, the vice-president of People's
Daily Online, Luo Hua , said that as the internet had gained such a
prominent role in the interaction between the authorities and the public,
its significance had drawn greater attention from government.

"So studying the public reaction to certain issues in the press has become
a highly sophisticated and demanding job that only trained professionals
are capable of doing," Luo said.

As part of its efforts to control the internet, the central government
employs thousands of people to post comments online that are favourable to
the Communist Party or reflect Beijing's position on global issues. They
are known as the "50-centers", an anglicisation of the 0.50 yuan they are
rumoured to receive for each positive posting or tweet.

Parents on September 11 wrote an open letter calling on some mainland
universities, including Sichuan University, to stop recruiting "opinion
analysts" on campus to snoop on fellow students and look for
"unconstructive comments".

A student was summoned four times within a day in March by Sichuan
University authorities for complaining on his microblog about illicit fees
for exam passes.

The student told a blog he was shocked by how closely school authorities
were able to follow him online with the help of student spies.
Discussions of the emerging industry have become so contentious that
People's Daily Online censored a speech made by one of its managers from
the public opinion research unit during a launch ceremony for the
accreditation programme.

But according to The Beijing News, Shan Xuegang , a deputy section head of
the public opinion studies unit at the People's Daily Online, said the
main job for public-opinion analysts was to gather and assess online
opinions for decision-makers at government agencies.

The media coverage of the abuse of child workers at unlicensed kilns in
Shanxi province in 2007 was a watershed in the development of
public-opinion analysis, as mainland authorities were caught unprepared by
the overwhelming public reaction on the internet.

Qiao Mu , a communications expert at Beijing Foreign Studies University,
said that because of fast-emerging technologies, authorities were barely
able to control the internet in the same way as they controlled
conventional media.

"Without the help of trained professionals, they might not able to keep up
with the pace of information flow over the internet, not to mention make a
timely response," Qiao said.

However, he said authorities needed to be careful to avoid a backlash.

Wang Xing , a senior journalism student in Beijing, said that while people
like her were experiencing greater difficulty in finding a decent job
because of oversupply, the fees for the accredited classes were too
expensive for a college graduate like her.

She said she and her classmates were also worried about the perception
that the public-opinion analysts colluded with censors in manipulating
public opinion.

"I don't want to end up as a 50-center after spending four years studying
journalistic impartiality and objectivity."