Newspapers

When we first went to China, the newspapers were interesting.  They did not have stories like we are used to seeing.  Of course, I know they are government controlled.  I remember one story was about a dog that committed suicide.  The owner had left the dog on a balcony.  Sensing the owner was not coming back, the dog decided to jump to its death.  One theme I noticed was the heroic citizens that saved people or reported issues. 

After the first trip, the next trip saw a change in the papers.  The stories seemed more serious or like news.  I guess this might have come about due to the Olympics.  The third trip the papers had more of a look of what we are used to in America.  Minus stories about the government.  They did have stories about our government.  There were editorials about things that were going on in the international theater.  It was always critical of others and praiseworthy of the Chinese. 

The news we saw at the hotels had English speaking newscasters.  It was interesting to see what was going on in the country.  When it came to sports, they did  not say much about American Football or Baseball.  It was more about soccer and cricket.