NYT: influencing the influencers

Dear friends,

I couldn’t leave the China beat without one last story about how Beijing is using Western social media as a propaganda megaphone for the wider world.

This one is about Westerners living in China who speak up on YouTube for the Communist Party’s policies — and sometimes get money or clicks from state entities in return.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/13/technology/china-propaganda-youtube-influencers.html

And, in case you missed it last week, I had a story about a humble chemical in short supply and what it tells about the slightly insane clockwork interconnectedness of our modern civilization.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/business/urea-fertilizer-food-prices.html

Regards,

Ray