OUTSIDE HELP?

Census Bureau Pays Chinese State Media to Advertise to Americans: Report

Chinese President Xi Jinping has asked Chinese media outlets to pledge “absolute loyalty” to the Chinese Communist party.

The 2020 Census, which includes a paid media campaign to gather statistical information on the U.S. population, is paying a Chinese state-run broadcaster to reach Chinese Americans, Axios reported Wednesday. That outlet, CCTV4, broadcasts in Los Angeles but is a channel of the China Central Television (CCTV). The Census Bureau employed marketing firm VMLY&R to conduct the nationwide media campaign and TDW+Co, another firm, was hired to engage with Asian Americans. “The paid media campaign goal for all audiences is to maximize efficiency through unique reach, reducing multiple media vendors that reach the same people,” said Tim Wang, founder of TDW+Co. Sky Link TV, Phoenix TV, and China Press are reportedly among other outlets that are tied to the Chinese government and have contracts with the bureau. Chinese media outlets are known to be strictly censored by the government, which controls the entirety of their content and publishing. Chinese President Xi Jinping previously asked media outlets to pledge “absolute loyalty” to the Chinese Communist party in terms of “thought, politics and action.”