Eric's Beijing Diary

The Sekai Report is a news and analysis program presented by Beijing Diary and nosted by Eric.

Newscasting has changed so much since I was a kid. But even since the 90s, there has been a major shift. When I moved to Beijing from Arizona in 2004, there was no Twitter, which was probably a good thing, because I ended up spending a lot of time reading Chinese media—mainly the China Daily, and also watching the news on CCTV. I used to ask media types what they taught in journalism school, because I noticed that government media outlets tended to mix editorializing with reporting. Never could I have imagined that the American media would become as bad or worse in their complete abandonment of even a pretense of objectivity.

I think I know when it started. It was Rush Limbaugh. He was able to get on the radio for three hours a day and express his opinion about anything and everything. The opposite end of the political spectrum had nothing to counteract his friendly, humorous, hugely popular presentation.

I heard Rush Limbaugh a lot, because I was a truck driver in those days. When you’ve got a load from Chicago to L.A. with nothing but miles and miles of road in front of you and nothing to do but listen to the radio, or to books on tape, a show like his is pretty welcome.

Fox News started just as I was leaving the road at the end of 1996. News as entertainment, with an emphasis on ratings. It one sense it was a refreshing relief from and balance to the well institutionalized lack of objectivity in the traditional media. But it sparked a backlash that was not good, because it just seemed like everybody threw news to the wind and focused on stroking the prejudices of their respective audiences.

When I talk about issues, I am not a disinterested party. I try to be fair, but not neutral. Why not? Well, because an issue is, by definition, a conflict of values. If everybody had exactly the same values, there would be no issues.

But we don’t. We have differences. Pretending those differences don’t exist is not the answer. We need to face them squarely and try to understand how they came about—how I came to believe this and you came to believe that. I have values—I can’t pretend to believe that I do not. And I try to be patient with those who have different values, and I try to understand how they could feel that way.

But there is one thing of which we must be ruthlessly intolerant: That is deliberate attempts to perpetrate falsehood. I can try to understand a journalist who says something I do not believe. But I have nothing but contempt for a member of the media who says something that he or she clearly does not believe to be true, just to push an agenda.

But unless you are persuaded that the person with whom you are arguing is not sincere, you must try to see things from where they are standing. You must stop talking, walk around to where your counterparts are, and try to see things from their point of view, because you’re never going to see what they see from where you are standing.

Issue	Date	Title	Description
10	16 December 2023	10 Sekai Report: Why Israel Keeps Having Trouble Saturday Dec 16, 2023	The violent invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7th started another war and provoked international controversy. In this podcast, I help to clarify the issues for you. This cannot be the end of your study—you have a lot of work to do if you really want to understand this. But it will be a good starting point I think. Special Guest: Donald Grey Barnhouse
09	22 November 2022	09 Sekai Report: Why Roe v. Wade Had to Go	There were three reasons Roe v. Wade was doomed to be thrown on the ash heap of history. The moral reason, the legal reason, and the practical reason. In this episode, we focus on the legal and the practical. Ruth Bader Ginsburg and I agree on one thing: Trying to force abortion down people's throats with a SCOTUS decision was a very bad idea. Special Guest: Ruth Bader Ginsburg
08	5 October 2022	08 Sekai Report: Why Queen Elizabeth Matters	My life intersected with the British Empire at three specific places. In this podcast I try to explain the significance, not only of the monarchy, but more specifically, of the life of a very noble person who gave herself to serve the people. We should never whitewash the injustices that came with colonialism. But there were good things to, and it does not do justice to history to ignore them.
07	11 June 2022	07 Sekai Report: Kavenaugh, Ukraine, Sussman ＞＞ ”Be sure your sin will find you out.”	"Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
06	4 June 2022	06 Sekai Report: Law of Unintended Consequences / Biden on Taiwan, Media on Biden	Today’s podcast starts with a discussion of the Law of Unintended Consequences. There is a pithy statement from the Old Testament that exemplifies this principle: “For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7) We also discussed reaction to Biden’s statement about Taiwan (PRC vs. ROC), which I think was a bit sensationalized. Perhaps it wasn’t the best, but it also wasn’t that bad, and I agree with Gingrich that it should not have been walked back. Coincidentally, today is the anniversary of Tiananmen, which is not mentioned at all on the mainland, but used to be commemorated in Hong Kong. I do not talk about that event in this podcast, because I have addressed it elsewhere.
05	28 May 2022	05 Sekai Report: Guns DO kill people / Twitter back and forth between Beth Moore and Allie Beth Stuckey	More and more we are coming to realize that something must be done about the ease with which young people can access semi-automatic weapons. It is pure insanity to allow 17 and 18 year old young people to carry around a semi-automatic weapon without any supervision. Americans are being forced into the realization that guns DO kill people.
04	20 May 2022	04 Sekai Report: Bezos on Biden, Inflation, Ukraine, Baby Formula	What is the cause of inflation? Why can't the government just print more money if they want to spend more? What can Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 teach us about the consequences of an ill-fated conflict? The way I have heard it expressed in China is, "History has never been kind to an emperor who wages war without an honest justification."
03	13 May 2022	03 Sekai Report: 2000 Mules, AP’s Fake Fact Check, Victory Day in Russia, Steve Bannon, Mark Levin	Our discussion today centered around Victory Day in Russia, where long range nuclear weapons were displayed in Red Square, and the new film "2000 Mules," documenting organized crime in the 2020 election. [UPDATE]
02	8 May 2022	02 Sekai Report:Russia’s territorial expansion, ”Denazification”, Supreme Court leak, 14th Amendment	What is the history of Russia's territorial expansion? I talk about this and about Russia's determination to celebrate some sort of victory on Monday--the anniversary of victory over the Nazis. Also, the legal foundation for Roe v. Wade, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg's dislike of it.
01	06 May 2022	01 Sekai Report: Mariupol Steelworks, Lack of moral focus, Crybully, and Sinn Féin	The war in Ukraine. In this episode I discuss the lack of moral focus on the part of the Americans. And the problem seems to be more profound in the right than on the left. Also, why does Taylor Lorenz attack someone for telling the simple truth? The Bible says, "to punish the just is not good (Proverbs 17:26)."