Power of public opinion on the Internet
In the face of biased Western reports, netizens act rationally even though they are angered by the reports. They collected facts, through means including blogs and video images, that prove the Western reports are wrong and distorted.
An article on the Internet with 11 pictures strongly criticized the distorted reports and then many media carried the article together with the pictures.
A video footage named "Tibet is part of China both in the past, at present and in the future" on the famous video website Youtube received 1.2 million hits and 72,000 pieces of comments in different languages in three days after it was published. It also sparked widespread debate in many countries about the Tibet issue.
Another video image called "Tibet riots: the true face of Western media" also received record hits.
In the same time, netizens on domestic websites also strongly chided the distorted reports. Traffic of the anti-cnn website exceeded 200,000 five days after it was set up, with more than 2,000 netizens providing various proof. CNN’s news reporting has become the synonym of disinformation and garbling that run counter to the true values of news reporting. "You cannot behave like CNN" soon became a catchword in the Internet.
Apart from the anti-cnn website, netizens also applied to establish anti-BBC and anti–VOA websites. Many netizens think CNN is only part of the Western media that have deep-rooted misunderstanding of and prejudice against China and it is necessary for them (netizens) to make truths known.
As a media commentary goes, "Chinese netizens’ rational opinion and love of their country are becoming 'weapon of criticism' that foreign media have to face up to.”