Speech at the Work Conference for News and Public Opinion

An Important Speech delivered by Xi Jinping at the Work Conference for News and Public Opinion of the CPC held in Beijing on February 19, 2016.

Xi Jinping stressed that doing well in Party’s news and public opinion work concerns the banner and the path, concerns the implementation of the Party’s theory, line, principles and policies, concerns the smooth progression of all undertakings of the Party and the country, concerns the cohesion and centripetal force of the entire Party, the entire country and the people of all ethnicities, and concerns the future destiny of the Party and the country.

The media should grasp the position of Party’s news and public opinion work by starting from the overall picture of Party work, ensure that they give high regard to ideology, and are meticulous and powerful in their work.

Xi Jinping pointed out that, under the new circumstances of the times, the responsibilities and missions of Party news and public opinion work are: holding high the banner, leading the orientation, focusing on the Centre, serving the bigger picture, uniting the people, enhancing troop morale, creating decent people, concentrating hearts and gathering forces, clarifying falsehoods, clearly distinguishing right and wrong, linking up China and the outside world, and communicating with the world.

To bear these responsibilities and missions, they must put their political orientation first, grasp the principle of the Party, firmly persist in the Marxist view of news, firmly persist in the correct political orientation, and firmly persist in putting positive propaganda first.

Xi Jinping stressed that Party news and public opinion work persists in the principle of the Party nature, which at its most fundamental level means upholding Party leadership over news and public opinion work. The media run by the Party and government are the propaganda battlefields of the Party and government, and must be surnamed Party.

All the work of the Party’s news and public opinion media must embody the Party’s will, reflect the Party’s standpoint, safeguard the authority of the Party Centre, safeguard Party unity, and must love the Party, uphold the Party and be fore the sake of the Party; it is necessary to strengthen a mentality of emulation, and to maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Centre in terms of ideology, politics and conduct; it is necessary to persist in the unity of the Party nature and the people’s nature, and turn the Party’s theories, line, principles and policies into the conscious behaviour of the popular masses, timely reflect the creative experience of the popular masses and the real circumstances they face, enrich the people’s spiritual world, and strengthen the people’s spiritual forces.

The view of news is the spirit of news and public opinion work. We must deeply launch education on the Marxist view of news, guide the broad news and public opinion workers to be the disseminators of the Party’s policies and standpoints, the recorders of the winds and clouds of the times, the promoters of social progress, and the warders of fairness and justice.

Xi Jinping stressed that unity, stability, encouragement and putting positive propaganda first are the basic principles that must be followed in news and public opinion work.

To do positive publicity well, attraction and infectiousness must be strengthened. Truthfulness is the lifeblood of news. We must describe reality on the basis of facts, both accurately report on specific matters and grasp and reflect the full picture of events or things at a macro level. We should grasp that public opinion supervision and positive publicity are unified.

News media must directly face up to problems existing in their work, directly face vile social phenomena, eliminate the bad and exalt the good, remonstrate against the problems of the times, and at the same time public critical reports, in which facts must be accurate and analysis objective.

Xi Jinping stressed that media competition concerns talent competition, and the core of media superiority is talent superiority. We must accelerate fostering and bringing up a line of news and public opinion work teams with firm politics, exquisite professionalism, a good work style, in whom the Party and the people can put their trust. Xi Jinping pointed out that strengthening and improving Party leadership over news and public opinion work is the fundamental guarantee for the smooth and healthy development of news and public opinion work.

All levels’ Party Committees must consciously take up their political responsibility and leadership responsibility. Leading cadres must strengthen their ability to interact with media, and be good at using the media to propagate policy standpoints, understand social circumstances and the popular will, discover contradictions and problems, guide social emotions, mobilize the popular masses, and promote concrete work.