Objectivity is a lie. I want to do a video about this at some point, but in learning to make videos, I’ve learned there’s no way to tell an unbiased story.
That being said, I’ll be the first to admit my videos are biased.
There’s tons of China bashing in the world. Some of it deserved, a lot of it not. There are a lot of very lazy journalists in the world that follow very old narratives about China because they’re too lazy and overworked to go find new ones.
I could choose to follow these narratives and give viewers what they expect to hear about China. But I think it’s far more interesting and useful to the world to talk about the parts people _haven’t_ heard yet. The parts that I think are cool and amazing and exciting. All of that is real and genuine.
I’m also definitely afraid of angering the CCP gods. I’m also careful to not put anyone in harms way because of something I showed in one of my videos. And I don’t think it’s fair to shit all over a factory who has invited me in as their guest.
I feel like I walk a very fine line with what I show. I think there’s more value to be had by continuing to have access to show an authentic view of what China and Chinese factories are like, even if I can’t always directly comment on it.
The alternative is potentially showing one or two really critical things that are already being covered well by more traditional outlets, and then never being allowed back. Which seems like a huge waste of an opportunity to create some good in the world.
As for factories sponsoring videos, I turn down far more than I accept. Those videos are intended to be about how things are made and how factories work, not reviews or advertisements of a given factory. I could make that same video at a number of factories. They offer to pay to be the factory in shoot it at because it gets them a lot of useful visibility. I insist on having full creative control over the video. The only input they have is what’s confidential that I can’t show on camera (usually just customer designs or logos). If a factory is bad, or makes a bad product, I won’t accept the sponsorship. But I’m not going to go to a factory, sponsored or not, and then badmouth them. That’s rude, and would quickly mean I wouldn’t be invited to other factories to make the educational content I’m so excited to make.
That being said, I’ll be the first to admit my videos are biased.
There’s tons of China bashing in the world. Some of it deserved, a lot of it not. There are a lot of very lazy journalists in the world that follow very old narratives about China because they’re too lazy and overworked to go find new ones.
I could choose to follow these narratives and give viewers what they expect to hear about China. But I think it’s far more interesting and useful to the world to talk about the parts people _haven’t_ heard yet. The parts that I think are cool and amazing and exciting. All of that is real and genuine.
I’m also definitely afraid of angering the CCP gods. I’m also careful to not put anyone in harms way because of something I showed in one of my videos. And I don’t think it’s fair to shit all over a factory who has invited me in as their guest.
I feel like I walk a very fine line with what I show. I think there’s more value to be had by continuing to have access to show an authentic view of what China and Chinese factories are like, even if I can’t always directly comment on it.
The alternative is potentially showing one or two really critical things that are already being covered well by more traditional outlets, and then never being allowed back. Which seems like a huge waste of an opportunity to create some good in the world.
As for factories sponsoring videos, I turn down far more than I accept. Those videos are intended to be about how things are made and how factories work, not reviews or advertisements of a given factory. I could make that same video at a number of factories. They offer to pay to be the factory in shoot it at because it gets them a lot of useful visibility. I insist on having full creative control over the video. The only input they have is what’s confidential that I can’t show on camera (usually just customer designs or logos). If a factory is bad, or makes a bad product, I won’t accept the sponsorship. But I’m not going to go to a factory, sponsored or not, and then badmouth them. That’s rude, and would quickly mean I wouldn’t be invited to other factories to make the educational content I’m so excited to make.