For more news visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com
Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision
Add us on Facebook ☛ http://facebook.com/NTDTelevision
China's State-run media agency, Xinhua, has switched on a new LED screen in New York's Time Square. The advertisement went up this Monday, attracting protests from Tibetan activists and concerns from passersby.
Times Square New York—a popular tourist destination and one of the most desirable locations in the world for advertising.
The most expensive advertisements sell for up to 400-thousand dollars a month.
And here is the latest addition to Times Square's famous panorama of advertising.
[...]
The 40 by 60 foot LED screen is replacing an HSBC ad, which had been there for ten years.
The president of Sherwood Outdoor, the company that manages the signs, told the New York Times that Xinhua plans to be there "In excess of six years."
And it isn't just a sign, Xinhua also opened offices in the square last year.
Not all New Yorkers saw Xinhua's screen as just another advertisement.
Students for a Free Tibet gather under the new billboard to tell New Yorkers just how they feel.
[...]
Tourists passing by the protest share their views of what Times Square stands for.
[José Medina Cepeda, Ecuadorian Tourist]:
"It's a space of freedom where the youth can speak to the world, to New York, to the United States, to the world."
Foreign visitors also share their views of the Chinese regime's sate-run media.
[...]
For Tenzin Dolkar the Xinhua sign strikes a personal chord.
[Tenzin Dolkar, U.S.A. Grassroots Director]:
"As a Tibetan I know how much lies that Xinhua spreads inside Tibet and in China and Xinhua is a state run propaganda, you know, pro-censorship agency, and it should just not be here in New York City."
Xinhua's new board is part of the Chinese regime's expansion into Western media markets and will potentially be seen by one-and-a-half million people per day.
Holly Kellum, NTD News, New York
