Exhausted medical workers with faces lined from hours of wearing goggles and surgical masks. Women with shaved heads, a gesture of devotion. Retirees who donate their life savings anonymously in government offices.<\/p>\n
Beijing is tapping its old propaganda playbook as it battles the relentless coronavirus outbreak, the biggest challenge to its legitimacy in decades. State media is filling smartphones and airwaves with images and tales of unity and sacrifice aimed at uniting the people behind Beijing\u2019s rule. It even briefly offered up cartoon mascots named Jiangshan Jiao and Hongqi Man, characters meant to stir patriotic feelings among the young during the crisis.<\/p>\n
The problem for China\u2019s leaders: This time, it isn\u2019t working so well.<\/p>\n
Online, people are openly criticizing state media. They have harshly condemned stories of individual sacrifice when front-line medical personnel still lack basic supplies like masks. They shouted down Jiangshan Jiao and Hongqi Man. They have heaped scorn on images of the women with shaved heads, asking whether the women were pressured to do it and wondering why similar images of men weren\u2019t appearing.<\/p>\n
One critical blog post was titled \u201cNews Coverage Should Stop Turning a Funeral Into a Wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beijing is tapping its old propaganda playbook as it battles the relentless coronavirus outbreak, the biggest challenge to its legitimacy in decades. The problem for China\u2019s leaders: This time, it isn\u2019t working so well. https:\/\/t.co\/35OVxf3H51<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The New York Times (@nytimes) February 26, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n