Time for Chinese media to come of age

A message board on a Chinese website reads: "To our domestic media: can you do anything other than lighting candles?" Such complaints are all over Chinese websites because the Western media have been providing most of the key information on the missing Flight MH370, with the Chinese media playing second fiddle.

The complaints are not groundless. The case of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, missing since the early hours of March 8, is just one example of how deficient the Chinese media are. Chinese media outlets seem to lag behind their Western counterparts, especially when it comes to timely coverage of big global events.

There are obvious reasons for the huge gap between the Chinese and top global media outlets. The New York Times website proudly says "founded in 1851". In contrast, the majority of China's mainstream media outlets were born in the 1980s.