The Chinese bloggers featured in the new documentary High Tech, Low Life insist they are not breaking any laws. Their New Media reporting, however, casts a light on the country’s distrust of freedom that routinely draws the attention of state officials.Director Stephen Maing’s film, available now via iTunes and slated for a July 22 broadcast via PBS's POV documentary series, follows two bloggers whose work fills in the gaps left by the state-controlled media. The pair expose government malfeasance, exploited workers and other issues ignored by the country's mainstream journalists.
Maing says he knew right away after meeting “Zola,” a 20-something blogger with a charming smile and zest for publicity, he had found a ripe subject for a documentary.
“I was surprised that no one was making something about him,” Maing tells Big Hollywood.
For both Zola and "Tiger Temple," a 57-year-old blogger with a strong connection to China's history, the documentary offered a chance to broadcast their actions to the world while protecting their efforts. Maing says Chinese officials operate in an understated but still powerful manner when it comes to those who share information online.
State workers will often pull folks like Zola and Tiger aside for tea, interrogating them in a less forceful manner than some might think. It’s part of a state-wide effort the director describes as a way to influence the flow of information without stifling it completely. Officials understand that it helps their cause to let citizens express themselves in some capacity, a way of blowing off steam or allowing a semblance of independent thought.
They don’t want to make a “really harsh example out of them,” he explains of the featured bloggers.
In the film, Zola insists he is not a journalist even though he helps break news.
“It’s a system they don’t want to associate with … what they’re doing is telling a counter-narrative,” he says.
Maing says the High Tech subjects are affecting change in China, albeit one small story at a time. They also want to change their fellow citizens.
“Everyone has a responsibility to speak out against injustice whenever they see it,” he says. “You need to use the little sources of capital you possess and not be complacent. This is a new era, and the technology of social media and the internet are new kinds of tools.”
In a New Media age, even people in countries where freedoms are closely monitored can be heard. It's a message the High Tech bloggers want the world to know.
"One of the biggest forms of censorship is self-censorship," he says. "People can speak out more than they realize."
Reported by Breitbart 4 hours ago.