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Is this innocent env. reporting, or Chinese propaganda?

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Is this innocent environmental reporting, or Chinese propaganda?
This is routine environmental reporting. 50%  50%  [ 2 ]
This is cleverly disguised Chinese propaganda. 50%  50%  [ 2 ]
Total votes : 4

MaxE
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01 Jul 2026, 8:46 am

Is this an objective report on a reformation project in China, or was this placed by the CCP to encourage positive thoughts about the PRC?

66 billion trees have been planted in China's Great Green Wall — and they appear to be growing faster than natural forests


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WillTedRose13
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02 Jul 2026, 10:40 pm

Maybe it's propaganda mixed with enough truth to confuse people?



MaxE
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03 Jul 2026, 7:20 am

WillTedRose13 wrote:
Maybe it's propaganda mixed with enough truth to confuse people?

I think most propaganda works that way. Still doesn't prove anything.


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07 Jul 2026, 8:58 am

My general rule is to not pay attention to much of anything that comes from Chinese State Media, even if it is true. Because the CCP is just as good at weaponizing the truth as they are at weaponizing lies.

And frankly I find the recent rise in Westerners conforming to being apologists and defenders of the CCP really concerning.

It's bad enough that we're also dealing with Donald Trump wrecking the US...



exec
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07 Jul 2026, 9:48 am

WillTedRose13 wrote:
...It's bad enough that we're also dealing with Donald Trump wrecking the US...
Agreed 100%


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belijojo
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08 Jul 2026, 8:56 am

Neither propaganda nor harmless reporting. Just a journalist phoning it in.

The “66 billion” number first appeared in The Economist in 2014 — no source, no citation, just stated as fact. WIRED copied it, Live Science copied it, everyone copied it. China’s government has never measured the Three-North program in “trees planted” — they use hectares of forest area. A 2017 peer-reviewed paper (Royal Society) estimated ~50 billion, not 66.

As for the AGU paper, it’s a perfectly normal remote sensing study. Young planted forests grow faster than old natural ones — that’s not surprising, and the authors never claimed it means better long-term carbon storage. The paper has nothing to do with where the “66 billion” number came from.

The problem with this reporting isn’t bias. It’s laziness.


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cyberdora
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08 Jul 2026, 11:50 pm

belijojo wrote:
The problem with this reporting isn’t bias. It’s laziness.


Laziness = lack of time/manpower to check veracity of all sources prior to publishing.



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15 Jul 2026, 3:45 am

WillTedRose13 wrote:
Maybe it's propaganda mixed with enough truth to confuse people?


Successful propaganda can often be entirely based in truth with the framing doing all of the heavy lifting.

belijojo wrote:
Neither propaganda nor harmless reporting. Just a journalist phoning it in.

The “66 billion” number first appeared in The Economist in 2014 — no source, no citation, just stated as fact. WIRED copied it, Live Science copied it, everyone copied it. China’s government has never measured the Three-North program in “trees planted” — they use hectares of forest area. A 2017 peer-reviewed paper (Royal Society) estimated ~50 billion, not 66.

As for the AGU paper, it’s a perfectly normal remote sensing study. Young planted forests grow faster than old natural ones — that’s not surprising, and the authors never claimed it means better long-term carbon storage. The paper has nothing to do with where the “66 billion” number came from.

The problem with this reporting isn’t bias. It’s laziness.


The Woozle Effect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woozle_effect


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15 Jul 2026, 12:04 pm

funeralxempire wrote:

Successful propaganda can often be entirely based in truth with the framing doing all of the heavy lifting.



That's very true, which is probably why I'm skeptical of any news these days. Not just the news that comes from China, but too often our own news sources in the US will slant the truth in a way to get a reaction out of people.

I guess that's why Edgar Allen Poe was credited with saying "Believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see."



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15 Jul 2026, 1:34 pm

WillTedRose13 wrote:
funeralxempire wrote:

Successful propaganda can often be entirely based in truth with the framing doing all of the heavy lifting.



That's very true, which is probably why I'm skeptical of any news these days. Not just the news that comes from China, but too often our own news sources in the US will slant the truth in a way to get a reaction out of people.

I guess that's why Edgar Allen Poe was credited with saying "Believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see."


Aaaahh... but it sounds lovely :D ..hope its true .


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WillTedRose13
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15 Jul 2026, 2:38 pm

Jakki wrote:
WillTedRose13 wrote:
funeralxempire wrote:

Successful propaganda can often be entirely based in truth with the framing doing all of the heavy lifting.



That's very true, which is probably why I'm skeptical of any news these days. Not just the news that comes from China, but too often our own news sources in the US will slant the truth in a way to get a reaction out of people.

I guess that's why Edgar Allen Poe was credited with saying "Believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see."


Aaaahh... but it sounds lovely :D ..hope its true .


I guess that would be the silver lining if we could heal our eco system and grow more trees. :flower: