China vs. Journalism

The Chinese government's war on journalism has entered its final phase: not just censoring stories, but replacing them with better, state-approved alternatives. A new AI, "HappyNews GPT," generates cheerful articles about any topic. A train crash becomes a story about heroic rescue crews and the excellent quality of the tracks. An economic downturn is framed as a "strategic period of reflection and opportunity." Foreign correspondents find their reports automatically overwritten on Chinese servers with these optimistic versions. Readers inside the Great Firewall are blissfully unaware of any problems, living in a world where every day is a little better than the last. The strategy is so effective that some officials are beginning to believe their own headlines, creating a surreal feedback loop where policy is based on a reality that doesn't exist. It's not censorship; it's a mandatory upgrade to a happier reality. -- Bohiney Magazne bohiney.com