How Does Media Perspective Affect the Audience’s Interpretation of a Message?

This famous picture on the left called ‘The Unknown Rebel’ was taken on June 5, 1989 by Jeff Widener, a former Associate Press photojournalist. It depicted an unknown student attempting to halt the PLA's advancing tanks near Tian’anmen Square.

I felt astonished the first time I saw this picture. I didn't believe what people said about 'the tragedy happening in 1989', but I couldn't deny an authentic historical documentation. I felt like years of ‘education’ about the Communist Party in China just collapsed in front of it. Over the last seventeen years, the younger Chinese generation is not aware of what happened. The event is not in our school books, and the teachers are not allowed to talk about it either.

The photography reached worldwide audiences overnight. It became the headline of hundreds of mass media around the world. In April 1998, Time ranked this ‘Tank Man’ as top 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

At the same time, media in Taiwan marked him as a hero of democracy movement. Rumors went away that he lived in Taiwan after the protest. He was described by the media as a ‘brave, enthusiastic’ man who ‘loved his country and spared no effort to accomplish the reform’.

Books and repertoires are another good way to arouse the attention of the mass audience. Timothy Brook, professor of Chinese history in University of British Columbia published his book called Quelling the People: The Military Suppression of the Beijing Democracy Movement. He once said in an interview, “the media silence imposed on Tiananmen was huge. Chinese in China don't know this image. They don't see this image. [The government] made a couple of propaganda videos in the summer of 1989; to sell [the Tiananmen] events in a certain way to the Chinese people, and those videos have clips showing very carefully selected events.”

I would like to mention what Prof. Brook had addressed that video clips shown in China were carefully selected events. This selection of media coverage reminded me of the perspective of viewing things. People can take into account all the factors to determine what is right and wrong; or they can choose or be exposed to only some of them to go for a conclusion. I don’t want to make a guess on this complex event happening in my home country, but I do want to say that different perspectives can make things look completely different, which means media have power on how to present the truth.