I have to say that most problem is not true. Most Chinese don't prefer youtube and even for the university student knows how to pass the block by vpn and other softwares. Also in some university Google is not blocked.
The point is that quality of life (and work) in China is still not as good as the US. You might waste 20 minutes everyday working with your VPN to push to github. That affects work efficiency but also morale. Use these services outside of China and you feel like you're flying.
That being said, US reporters write these stories all the time. This journalist doesn't quote any data on Chinese emigration and seems to go off gut... seeing as his bio doesn't mention he speaks Chinese and he only lived in Shanghai, I wouldn't trust his intuition about what Chinese outside of Shanghai think