China Admits New Tainted-Milk Case Is Older - Essay Example

Media Uses China Admits New Tainted-Milk Case Is Older This story in New York Times highlights the conflict between manufacturers of tainted milk, the public, and the consumers. The newspaper reveals that Chinese regulators had reprimanded three executives and demanded a shut down of dairy companies that sold the contaminated product. According to the New York Times, the chemical in question was melamine. The regulators took these stern actions after the media reported death of six children who had consumed contaminated milk. Public outcry that about 300,000 kids fell sick after taking milk with the formula that had tainted melamine. New York Times continues to point out that enquiry into the Shanghai Panda Dairy Company started about two months before Chinese regulators arrested the culprits. According to New York Times reporter David Barboza, doctoring of milk came to attention of news and China regulators back in February the year 2009. According to Shen Weiping, one of officers at Fengxian District prosecution officer, the apprehension of executives from Panda Dairy occurred in the April in the year 2009 (Barboza, 2010: 1). This story continues to reveal that Mr. Shen took a lot of time to alert the public about contaminated milk from Shanghai Panda Dairy. Mr. Shen did not inform the public about the closure of the dairy factory in question. This created unwanted tension in the public arena. Actions of this prosecution officer contravened China’s safety law, which it enacted in June 2009. The law demanded that food producers should notify businesspeople and consumers of grave food safety troubles. To aggravate the conflict between Shanghai Panda Dairy, consumers, and the public, the government of China maintained silence on the matter. It did not report on whether the contaminated milk at stake had caused sickness to any citizen (Barboza, 2010: 1). The only information that came from the government concentrated on confiscation of poisonous milk. According to this story, the report of prosecutor about contaminated milk became public after 21st Century Business Herald reported it. This daily paper pointed out that enquiry about suspected unhygienic condition in Shanghai Panda Dairy began many months before regulators apprehended the executives. The actions of media houses to reach the dairy hit a dead rock. The factory did not answer any phone call that emanated from outside source. To aggravate this grave issue, the General Administration for Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine did not reply to the appeals of media for an interrogation. This prompted legal experts to declare the delay to report the contamination of milk to the public and consumers a troublesome case (Barboza, 2010: 1). Wang Xixin, who is a professor of constitutional law at Peking University, claimed national and local quality supervision bureaus contravened China’s law for failing to report Shanghai Panda’s case to the public. According to the professor, the government of China concealed important information thereby putting the health of Chinese at stake. David, writer with New York Times, reveals that executives at Shanghai Panda convened a meeting in December 2008, after the public demanded a recall of melamine-tainted milk powder (Barboza, 2010:1). According to this story, the executives come to a decision to re-sell the tainted milk. The management disregarded public outcry and did not mind the health issue of Chinese. Mr. Shen disclosed that Panda Dairy blended contaminated elements with other safe products and resold it. Media in China was instrumental to bring stories of outraged parents who claimed that their children suffered from melamine-related disorders. This prompted government of China to stage a countrywide crackdown on melamine-contaminated milk. According to New York Times, China inspection agencies found that 22 huge dairy companies processed milk that contained high levels of melamine (Barboza, 2010: 1). The stories of the sale of unhygienic milk in China created big debates not only in China but also in the whole of Asia and worldwide. This story in about tainted milk brings out controversy and conflict among the executive of Shanghai Panda Dairy, the audience, consumers, and the public. David Barboza, the writer of the story, reports candidly about the contamination issue of the milk without any bias. The author use language which the audience can understand to highlight the real issue at stake. The story does not have its basis in on opinions but presents facts as they are in China. The writer concentrates on issues that have societal alienation. The writer recognises that the audience are key concept in media. The story in this article gives the audience enough space to interact with its subject matter. The story highlights plainly the issue at stake and paints it as dire and dangerous (Barboza, 2010: 1). This is to give the audience adequate space to interrogate and analyse the article to reach an informed decision. The writer makes the article credible through providing convincing evidence to the audience, public, and consumers. The article does not rely on assumptions and therefore informs the contemporary society in China about the case of adulterated milk. The role of the media is very evident in this subject of contamination of milk. It brings out the wanting situation of China’s contaminated milk. This report generates interests among the consumers of adulterated milk; who also constitute the public (Barboza, 2010:1). This is after realising that audience has rich cultural connection to events happening in China. After interacting with the text, the dominant audiences and consumers will voice in their voices to advocate for government of China to take the necessary action. The media in this case does not only address social issue but also enlightens the public and the world about health issues that may result from taking tilted-milk with melamine. Moreover, media in this matter seeks to integrate societies to recognise that the dangers of taking melamine-containing milk affect all the children in China regardless of culture. The story in this case study demonstrates the role media as an intermediate between the public and the producers of milk in this case (Ross and Nightingale, 2003: 135). The story looks at the government failure to inform the citizens about the closure of the Shanghai Panda Dairy. Similarly, the media reveals the ignorance of the executives of the dairy factory to consider the health implication of selling contaminated milk to the public. Media criticism of the selling of harmful milk compels the government of China to take stern measures to arrest the senior officials of the dairy factory. In this way, the media seeks to create active audience, which advances the ills of the milk processing industry. Through the article, the strength of social interaction is evident. Consumers of the article are likely to over-react to silence on the part of the government and management of Shanghai Panda Dairy. David Barboza, the writer of this article, addresses real audience. It is a communication of dangers of Chinese taking contaminated milk. The writer interacts with the audience through highlighting how different stakeholders in the issue of milk containing melamine have failed to alert the public about its presence in the market. Media seeks to influence its audience to intervene solidly through understanding the situation in China’s adulterated milk. Media recognises the audience can learn from understanding the world around them (Ross and Nightingale, 2003: 130). This activated thoughts of the audience and consumers to overreact to the tilted milk. The instance of parents expressing their anger to the government in this story was enough depiction of the power of media. The story reveals key concepts of the media in relation to culture of China to buy contaminated foods. Illumination of tilted milk sought to alert the government of China that her quality control agencies displayed many deficiencies. For instance, many food regulators lacked necessary skills, equipments, and willingness to conduct their work and fix things back into order. The slow move to take swift action to make sure Shanghai Panda Dairy was a depiction of government laxity. This created a lot of tension and fear in the parents whose children had consumed milk formula that contained melamine. The explicit way in which David put the matter portrayed that it was a big scandal in food manufacturing in China. This was a move of the media to make society adopt a new way of approaching things and thinking. Usually, dominant groups in society conform to central desires, which society perceives it benefits them (Ross and Nightingale, 2003: 125-140). Failure of the government of China to take controls over food manufacturing may have emanated from its stand on consumer lobby. China discourages powerful consumer groups. This is a strategy to ensure that consumers do not agitate for change. Similarly, the country did not have laws that punish wayward producers before June the year of 2009. This made that the citizens of China consumed foods, which they were not sure of its safety. After the media in China, highlighted people might have felt that no food was safe in China for their consumption. The attempt to request for an interview with prosecution of China displayed very important aspect of media to collect enough information for its audience. This was a move to get first hand information to communicate it candidly to the public (Ross and Nightingale, 2003: 125). This is quite crucial for media to relay information to its consumers without any bias. Bibliography Barboza, D. (2010) China Admits New Tainted-Milk Case Is Older. New York Times. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/world/asia/07milk.html [Accessed 10 June 2012]. Ross, K. and Nightingale, V. (2003) Media and Audiences: New Perspectives. Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp. 120-143. Read More

 

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