March 10, 2009
“Audio drugs attack in silence,” reads the top headline of Today Morning Express, a Zhejiang-based newspaper.
According to the article, the “audio drugs” concept originated on I-Doser.com, an overseas website, which sells them for three US dollars and upwards per track. The sounds, which are named after the psychoactive chemicals whose effects they purportedly mimic, are now circulating on the Chinese Internet after causing widespread concern in Korea.
The paper’s reporter rounded up some online comments about the sounds before trying them herself. She says she felt a little dazed after listening for a moment, but “certainly not high.”
The article also includes comments from psychologist who argues against the supposed medical effects of the sounds, and a music expert who remarked:
There are lots of different genres of modern music and we ought to permit people to try things out. However, some of modern music’s explorations have left ordinary people far behind, and some are essentially the Emperor’s New Clothes. We just have to be a little more forgiving.
It is interesting to see a Chinese newspaper take advantage of a marketing ploy for odd sounds by working up its own sensational headline.
The top headlines of two major Beijing newspapers, the Beijing Times and The Beijing News, highlighted NPC Standing Committee chair Wu Bangguo’s speech to the legislative session yesterday. In his speech, Wu reiterated that China would never consider adopting a western multi-party political system (多党制), bicameral legislature (两院制), or separation of powers (三权分立).
Shanghai’s Oriental Morning Post also ran a politically-heavy front page today. Illustrated by an image showing President Hu Jintao shaking hands with a woman in Tibetan dress, the top headline reads: “Hu Jintao: Ensure the stability of Tibet.”
The article denied that the government has been restricting tourist travel into Tibet, and quoted the commissar of the People’s Armed Police in the region as saying that the PAP is ready to deal with any situation.
- Today Morning Express (Chinese): Audio drug running rampant on the Internet, reporter felt dazed after trial
- The Beijing News (Chinese): Wu Bangguo: China will never adopt the west political system
- Oriental Morning Post (Chinese): Ensure stability in Tibet