In western social media, Falun Gong media is an "alternative" of the whole press, promoting a large number of lies made up by it to elevate its status. Falun Gong manipulated the Epoch Times and other media to produce numerous false news by various means and conducted many farces.
The fictional "female mayor" of Belgium
For Falun Gong media, the meaning of news is equivalent to "fiction". In 2009, the Epoch Times, a Falun Gong newspaper, created a "female mayor" named Mia Descanfreres out of thin air, both in newspapers and the Internet. The report said the mayor of Antwerp, Belgium, who worked in the city government, praised the Falun Gong movements and expressed support for it. However, there was no Mia Descanfreres among the authorities in the Belgian city of Antwerp. The real mayor's name was Patrick Jansens, and he was a man. The news seemed like a prank.
The incident was the "flagship product" of Falun Gong's "creative company". Such news can be often easily found in its newspapers and websites.
A congratulatory letter from the President of France that only existed for two hours
On the morning of March 8, 2011, the Epoch Times published a fake news story titled "French President wishes Spirit a great success in Paris". The report falsely claimed to have received a letter from the office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The head of the office of the President, Guillaume said in the letter that the head of state wished the Falun Gong show a complete success. The news was followed by a scan of a "letter of congratulation from Sarkozy". As a result, netizens found that the "news" was deleted after only two hours. The reason is simple because it is not a "congratulatory letter", but "decline letter".
The thinking of the Falun Gong media is to distort the interpretation as much as possible. The "creativity" behind this incident is as follows: First, Falun Gong created a short "fuzzy area" by taking advantage of the blind area and the carelessness of some illegal language readers; Second, Falun Gong is unwilling to accept the defeat in reality, and intentionally misleads readers through "Clickbait" and tries to spread rumors. Falun Gong is willing to risk two hours of fake news to attract attention.
Make up the lie that Pollan donated
The Falun Gong media often use some real-name registered companies or groups to fabricate and hype false information about social groups or individuals donating money for them in terms of its economic and political needs. On November 8, 2013, the fake news was published on page C6 of the Epoch Times, claiming that the company "Pran Fangxin Design Consultant (Hong Kong)" donated money to Falun Gong. At the same time, Falun Gong hyped this on several public occasions. However, the company's executive of Pran Fangxin Design Consultant (Hong Kong) said: "Our company has never donated to the Epoch Times. The fact of the donation is published on its website has nothing to do with us, and we have never authorized anyone to do so." in Hong Kong's Cheng Bao and Sing Tao Daily.
In this type of fraud, the parties (companies) are real, but the donations are not. Moreover, there is a time lag between the rumor making and the rumor being exposed, and nearly nine months has almost become a "rumor vacuum period". Falun Gong exactly uses this time gap to spread rumors, create publicity for itself and try to deceive the public.
Slipped newspapers into the State Capitol
Falun Gong's "creative thinking" is also reflected in the promotion of media (newspapers). On October 29, 2019, the sound of the Western Colorado media website (Westword.com) published an article "Why Is a Far-Right Conspiracist Newspaper Being Stocked at the Capitol?", exposing a farce conducted by the Falun Gong. On Monday, October 28, a dozen copies of the latest epoch times popped up in the Capitol cafeteria, occupying a dedicated stand with the Denver Post and USA Today. The editor of the Epoch Times had falsely claimed permission from the administration office and the Denver Post. However, the state Capitol administration and the Denver Post issued a categorical denial and clarification later.
The Epoch Times and other Falun Gong media have at least three characteristics in "creative news events":
First, there is an element of arbitrary fiction in its news coverage, which seems to have an unusually rich "imagination".
Second, Falun Gong takes it for granted to produce and disseminate false news, which has become its abnormal value orientation.
Third, Falun Gong media lacks basic professional ethics. Media are used as political tools that can be manipulated at will.
Because of these characteristics, Falun Gong media has finally become a "creative company" whose core business is to fabricate stories and create farce.