The Transformation Of Political Communication In China

This book examines different dynamics such as marketisation, globalisation and new media technologies that have driven the transformation of China''s media industry OCo one of the primary battlegrounds where ideological, social and economic struggles are fought OCo against the backdrop of the growing tensions between economic growth, globalisation, and political control in China.

It is widely recognised that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses the media to set the agenda for political discourse, propagate official policies, monitor public opinion, and rally regime support. State agencies in China control the full spectrum of media programming, either through ownership or the power to regulate. Political Communication in China examines the two factors which have contributed to the rapid development of media infrastructure in China: technology and commercialization. Economic development led to technological advancement, which in turn brought about the rapid modernization of all forms of communication, from ‘old’ media such as television to the Internet, cell phones, and satellite communications. This volume examines how these recent developments have affected the relationship between the CCP and the mass media as well as the implications of this evolving relationship for understanding Chinese citizens’ media use, political attitudes, and behaviour. The chapters in this book represent a diverse range of research methods, from surveys, content analysis, and field interviews to the manipulation of aggregate statistical data. The result is a lively debate which creates many opportunities for future research into the fundamental question of convergence between political and media regimes. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Political Communication.

This book offers an analytical account of the consensus and contestations of the politics of Chinese media at both institutional and discursive levels. It considers the formal politics of how the Chinese state manages political communication internally and externally in the post-socialist era, and examines the politics of news media, focusing particularly on how journalists navigate the competing demands of the state, the capital and the urban middle class readership. The book also addresses the politics of entertainment media, in terms of how power operates upon and within media culture, and the politics of digital networks, highlighting how the Internet has become the battlefield of ideological contestation while also shaping how political negotiations are conducted. Bearing in mind the contemporary relevance of China’s socialist revolution, this text challenges both the liberal universalist view that presupposes ‘the end of history’ and various versions of China exceptionalism, which downplay the impact of China’s integration into global capitalism.

The stakes for control over the means of communication in China have never been so high as the country struggles with breathtaking social change. This authoritative book analyzes the key dimensions of the transformation in China's communication system since the early 1990s and examines the highly fluid and potentially explosive dynamics of communication, power, and social contestation during China's rapid rise as a global power. Yuezhi Zhao begins with an analysis of the party-state's reconfiguration of political, economic, and ideological power in the Chinese communication system. She then explores the processes and social implications of domestic and foreign capital formation in the communication industry. Drawing on media and Internet debates on fundamental political, economic, and social issues in contemporary China, the book concludes with a nuanced depiction of the pitched and uneven battles for access and control among different social forces. Locating developments in Chinese communication within the nexus of state, market, and society, the author analyzes how the legacies of socialism continue to cast a long shadow. The book not only provides a multifaceted and interdisciplinary portrait of contemporary Chinese communication, but also explores profound questions regarding the nature of the state, the dynamics of class formation, and the trajectory of China's epochal social transformation.

This book discusses the use of the internet in China, the complicated power relations in online political communications, and the interactions and struggles between the government and the public over the use of the internet. It argues that there is a "semi-structured" online public sphere, in which there is a certain amount of equal and liberal political communication, but that the online political debates are also limited by government control and censorship, as well as by inequality and exclusions, and moreover that the government rarely engages in the political debates. Based on extensive original research, and considering specific debates around particular issues, the book analyses how Chinese net-users debate about political issues, how they problematize the government’s actions and policies, what language they use, what online discourses are produced, and how the debates and online discourses are limited. Overall, the book provides a rich picture of the current state of online political communication in China.

This book examines different dynamics such as marketisation, globalisation and new media technologies that have driven the transformation of China's media industry — one of the primary battlegrounds where ideological, social and economic struggles are fought — against the backdrop of the growing tensions between economic growth, globalisation, and political control in China. Sample Chapter(s) Introduction (205 KB) Chapter 11: The Chinese Media in Historical Context (191 KB) Contents:IntroductionThe Chinese Media in Historical ContextUnleashed Forces at WorkManaging the Forces to Stay in Power with LegitimacyNegotiation between the Party-State and Media Organisations“Occupying the Commanding Heights”Conclusion: Chinese Media Reform between Control, Resistance and Negotiation Readership: Students of China/cultural/media studies, political science and history. Keywords:Chinese Communication;Media;Transformation;Political Reform;Negotiation;Hegemony;Legitimacy;Control;Anti-Hegemony;Marketisation;Globalisation;New Media Technologies;Gramsci;GovernanceKey Features:Proposes a new relationship characterised by negotiation between the state and the media as one of the major dynamics in China's media transformationPresents carefully chosen examples of control, resistance and negotiation between the Party-state and the media, ranging from the coverage of the outbreak of SARS in 2003, the earthquake in 2008, the Spring Festival TV Gala, to the latest use of new media technologiesProvides significant insight not only into the transformation of communications and media in China, but also into the nature of the ongoing political reform and the implications for the global flow of information, given that China is poised to become a global playerReviews: “The Transformation of Political Communication in China is a must-read for students of both Chinese politics and the Chinese media. Xiaoling Zhang offers a theoretically engaged and empirically rich account of the fraught and dynamic processes of control, negotiation and power struggle. Integrating critical analysis with detailed case studies, the book approaches the communication system in China from historical, institutional and policy-making perspectives, painting a vivid and convincing picture of the symbiotic and complex relationship between politics, media and governmentality. Zhang's work will lead us towards a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of how power and political control work in China.” Wanning Sun Professor of Chinese Media Studies University of Technology Sydney “In this well-researched book, Dr Xiaoling Zhang examines great driving forces behind the transformation of China's media industry such as marketization, globalisation and new media technologies, and how this transformation has generated the growing tensions between economic growth, globalisation and political control. The book provides the reader with a vivid picture of how the battle between the Chinese Communist Party and social forces is being fought. Dr Zhang has made a great scholarly contribution not only to the field of media studies, but also to other fields such as sociology and political science. I am sure that the book will certainly deepen our understanding of contemporary China.” Zheng Yongnian Director, East Asian Institute National University of Singapore

The authors examine the role played by political communications in a variety of media in defining and shaping identity in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and amongst overseas Chinese.

1. focus on political communication and microhistories through juxtaposing and comparing Chinese and European sources, processes and historiographies 2. co-authorship by Chinese and European expert historians 3. epilogues by Chinese and European expert historians