"Clarifying the Truth": Falun Gong's Media Strategies
Enlightened Martyrdom - The Hidden Side of Falun Gong - James R. Lewis
James R. Lewis [+ ]
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
Description
The Falun Gong organization has been mostly successful at promoting itself to the world outside of mainland China as a peaceful spiritual exercise group being unfairly persecuted by the Chinese government. This is partly the result of denying or downplaying the aspects of Li Hongzhi’s teachings that are vengeful, belligerent and violent. However, as James R. Lewis argues in “’Clarifying the Truth’: Falun Gong’s Media Strategies,” this is also the result of a conscious media strategy which involves, on the one hand, creating its own media outlets that focus on persecution and human rights themes, and, on the other hand, deploying a sophisticated media strategy that takes advantage of anti-PRC sentiments in Western media.