The state outlet has fallen so far from its perch that editors are embarrassed to wear the CCTV logo in public.

Source: www.foreignpolicy.com

"The increasingly common sight of detained suspects hanging their heads and admitting their guilt on air has earned CCTV the nickname ‘Central People’s Court.’ Repentant convicts wearing prison uniforms, in handcuffs, or with their heads shaved call to mind China’s age-old tradition of parading criminals through the streets.

This seems to be a new model of law enforcement: first suspects are arrested, then they are interrogated, then they are made to confess on CCTV. An online commentator summed up the current legal procedure as follows: ‘[A person is] arrested for Crime A, put on TV for Crime B, then convicted of Crime C.’ I propose a new name for this pattern, in which handcuffed detainees offer televised confessions to arbitrary charges: getting ‘pantsed.’ This is a reference to the popular sobriquet for CCTV’s oddly shaped headquarters, which many Chinese call "the big pants." Some have even joked that CCTV should start a new program entirely dedicated to such confessions."

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