By a Falun Gong practitioner in Europe

(Clearwisdom.net) Many Falun Gong practitioners working on NTDTV do not want others to know they practice Falun Gong. They think people may develop a bias against NTDTV. Actually, in Western society, anybody can start a media company and be a reporter for it. It is common to see media members who are Christians or have certain political backgrounds. This is all legal and appropriate. The media companies started by Falun Gong practitioners were a means to help inform the public after the persecution intensified. The opinions expressed in these media do not represent Falun Gong. Falun Gong owns no enterprises. It is purely a cultivation way.

Falun Gong practitioners live and cultivate within ordinary human society. We shouldn't let our practice stop us from opening a restaurant, doing business, being a doctor or a lawyer, running for office, or becoming a reporter. When doing these ordinary jobs, we should not feel obligated to hide the fact that we practice Falun Gong. Many Christians are reporters or work in other professions. Perhaps the reason we feel hesitant to tell people about our faith is because many of us grew up under the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party with no freedom of press or freedom of belief; we did not understand our rights. This is not an issue with just one or two regions or individual practitioners. Many incidents related to this issue have occurred over the years. Some of our reporters were singled out and denied entry when reporting on the United Nations and at other news events. Eutelsat has yet to sign a long-term contract extension with us. Aren't such incidents related to our lack of understanding on this matter? It should be OK to tell people that you're a reporter who also practices Falun Gong. It would be a good lead into clarifying the facts. We have nothing to hide.

Of course, we must observe the rules of journalism. We should not go to extremes. In other words, we don't have to first state that we're Falun Gong practitioners before each interview. It is not required to carry out this job. We conduct the interviews as reporters, not as Falun Gong practitioners.

Ordinary media are muddled and have all kinds of information. In the midst of exponentially increasing information, people are exhausted and have become numb. Many just go with the flow. As Dafa disciples, we understand the moral standards required at the human level. When we are involved in media work, we strive to keep this morality in first place. This is bound to benefit society. Why shouldn't we do it with dignity, and let the muddled media and Chinese government's slanderous media do whatever they want in the world? In particular, during the persecution, the people of the world have been poisoned by the Chinese Communist Party's slanderous media. Our media, on the other hand, can save sentient beings and lead them into the future. News media are a form created in human society for the Fa. Why can't we adopt it to assist Master in Fa-rectification? We are using it with compassion and righteousness. We are only doing it for the sentient beings, not pursuing anything among ordinary people.

When the Abu Ghraib prison scandal broke, the United States government paid immediate attention to it. This shows that in a normal society, everybody cares about human rights and condemns human rights abuses. In contrast, the Chinese government has persecuted Falun Gong for six years, yet no United Nations officials or government leaders have openly and strongly condemned the persecution. The so-called independent media in the West are also silent when their own interests are involved. Only the media Dafa practitioners work for are truly independent from any government or economic interests. On the issue of human rights, especially on the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese government, they fairly report information banned by the CCP, giving a voice to those persecuted by the CCP. They are a great asset to the Chinese people and the international community.

Posting date: 6/5/2005
Original article date: 6/5/2005
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/5/25/102582.html

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