MCLC: Under the Dome doc on air pollution (1)

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Under the Dome doc on air pollution (1)
Source: Caixin Online (3/2/15)
Media Watch: Former Star Reporter Causes Stir with Smog Documentary
Film on China’s air pollution problem is a mix of emotion and science, and has prominent fans and critics
(Beijing) – There’s probably no better combination for generating publicity – or whipping up controversy – than a former star TV news reporter and a pressing environmental issue.
Chai Jing, who used to host a popular news program on China Central Television, released a documentary about China’s air pollution on February 28, sparking heated discussion in traditional media outlets and on the Internet.
The documentary, titled Under the Dome, discusses China’s worsening air pollution woes, asking what smog is, where it comes from and what the public can do about it. It was viewed nearly 100 million times within the first 24 hours of its release on several video sites.
The Beijing News newspaper reported that the new minister of environmental protection, Chen Jining, tried calling Chai on March 1. When he could not get through, he sent her a text message to express his appreciation.
“Chai Jing deserves our respect for drawing the public’s attention to the environment from a unique public health perspective,” he told the newspaper.
The online version of People’s Daily said Chai started a necessary discussion. “It is not only an effort to provide the public with basic science about smog, but also an endeavor to reach out for efforts to address smog,” it said.
Bloggers have paid tribute to Chai for her efforts to raise awareness of air pollution and the harm it does to public health. Blogger He Caitou said Chai had caused social media – where links to the film and discussion of it is common – to become a platform for the public to discuss solutions to the smog problem. “To me, this is even more important than Under the Dome itself,” he wrote.
The documentary starts on a personal and emotional note, with Chai recounting in front of the camera of how she grappled with the news that her unborn daughter had been diagnosed with a benign tumor that later required surgery. She said this prompted her to take action.
Chai told People’s Daily that the project took her and her team a year to make and she spent 1 million yuan out of her own pocket to produce the 103-minute documentary.
The linking of her daughter’s sickness to smog has sparked controversy. Some journalists who knew Chai blogged that she is a smoker and had her daughter at age of 38 in 2013, factors that could have contributed to the tumor.
Online commentators challenged Chai on a number of views she presented in the documentary. The film has been challenged over how helpful renewable energies would be in replacing dirtier sources of power and death figures Chai linked to air pollution.
Some commentators complained the documentary stops short of holding the government to account for air pollution. The release of the documentary also comes just ahead of the annual sessions of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which starts on March 3, and the National People’s Congress, opening on March 5.
“Smog is not a result of lack of oversight by the government, but a lack of oversight of the government,” wrote novelist and blogger Hao Qun, who uses the pen name Murong Xuecun.
Cui Yongyuan, another former host of CCTV, told the Paper news outlet he supported Chai’s work. However, Cui said the film would do little to improve the air in the country’s cities.
“The issues Chai Jing has raised as well as the conclusions are things regulators know all too well,” he said.
Officials often say they can do nothing about the problem or must pursue GDP growth, Cui said. “I think this attitude that we can do nothing condones pollution.”
(Rewritten by Li Rongde)
by denton.2 at osu.edu on March 4, 2015
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