The Daily Stern

The Daily Stern

: CHAIRMAN POWELL’S CULTURAL REVOLUTION: Paul Frankenstein sends us a story from the South China Post (no link) about content regulations for TV that sound like they’re coming out of the FCC:

NO HAIR DYE, NO SPITTING, AND NO FOREIGN ELEMENTS…

Mainland television presenters have been told to tone down their already

tame performances or they will be taken off the air.

Appearing on television with dyed hair, dropping English words into

sentences and imitating expressions used by Hong Kong and Taiwanese

presenters are examples of going too far, according to the State

Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

As part of a new drive to “clean up the screen”, the administration has

issued a 30-clause circular that greatly limits what presenters can look

like and how they can say things while on air. Officials say they are

concerned about the influence the presenters might have on the nation’s

youth, and want to “help them form proper ideology and ethics.”