Performative Politics and International Media

Abstract

In the fall issue of 1990, TDR published a reader's letter, "No Secret Politics in the U.S.?" from Anthony T. Speranza. Speranza argued, "the opposition you make between the situation in China and the 'power of the media' and government openness in 'the West' misses the mark badly. [...Y]ou contribute to what might be called 'the myth of transparency' in the journalistic monitoring of our government" (1990:15). Although this was a misreading of the Comment's point, which did refer to Western politicians' insincere display with the power of the media at their service, Speranza's term, "the myth of transparency," is extremely pertinent. Unlike the Comment written seven years ago, which focused on the obvious problems of secretive politics, this one addresses the hidden danger of performative politics in the name of democracy, especially as it appears in the international media, which are now connecting more and more countries with TV satellites but not necessarily with true understanding. During the prodemocracy movement in 1989, the Chinese students and their supporters demanded openness and transparency of politics. They equated openness with more media coverage because media was strictly controlled by the government, whereas most Americans had long given up this naive belief of the pre-media age. To the idealistic Chinese, live media coverage, which was rare in China except for sports games, must be true and authentic, something like the picture of the Vietnamese monk immolating himself in front of a crowd in 1963-on the eve of the media age. That image shocked the world with its absolutely authentic truth and sparked organized demonstrations in the U.S. and China against the Vietnam War. To Thic Quang Duc, the martyred Buddhist monk, deception in front of the TV camera was a completely alien concept. Unfortunately, the lesson the world learned from Thic Quang Duc about the power of television just as quickly taught politicians to exploit the media with all kinds of disingenuous acts, creating what Speranza calls "the myth of transparency." Like an effective new medicine, the media has made