Chinese government uses hacking scandal to promote cause for censorship

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION: Alexis Madrigal educates us on the history of the pizza box.

DENG PRAISED: Rupert Murdoch's wife Wendi, who rose quickly to provide an ' agile slapdown' (as the Guardian described it) of the British comedian who hurled a foam-pie at her billionaire husband, has been hailed by bloggers as a "tiger woman," and someone who gave a lift to "the image of Chinese women." The Guardian reports:

The celebrity focus on Deng by bloggers contrasts with the political approach of the state media, who have tried to use the hacking scandal to score points against the western media. "This incident directly exposes the inherent money-seeking nature of western media today, and the false nature of the concepts of 'freedom', 'impartiality' and 'human rights' that they have long bandied about," noted Xinhua news agency in an opinion piece. "As the scandal has continued to develop, it has become a major assault on the model of media supervision and control in the west."

You must admit: her response was nothing short of awesome, and I find myself in agreement with the sentiment of the wider blogosphere on this one. It upsets me that the story is being used as a tool by the Chinese government in criticism of media regulation in the west. The fundamental difference is that, at the very least, a member of the free press is held accountable by its peers; whereas a propagandistic model of biassed information faces, as the newspaper rightly points out, "less scrutiny, accountability and competition." Exactly.