Overseas scholars and organizations that study China’s media point out that the Chinese regime’s control over the media and public opinion is tighter than it was 10 years ago.
The Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC) at the University of Hong Kong reported two major changes between the 60th and 50th anniversaries of the communist regime’s rule. One is that China’s media are more and more commercialized; the other is that the importance and influence of the Internet in China is growing.
The Chinese regime has tightened control over the media as its 60th anniversary approaches. One might ask, “Should media report about the anniversary restricted to the framework set by President Hu Jintao?” Specifically that “the Communist Party is good, socialism and the economic reform is good, the great motherland and its people of all races are good? Should they avoid reporting sensitive issues such as Chinese history and its political system?
As eventful as the 60th anniversary is, there are obviously many articles with different angles to write. However, one research report released by JMSC said that China’s media can only “dance under the yoke.”
The study exposed three characteristics about China’s media on topics related to the 60th anniversary:
First, some media reports are close to the authorities’ main tone, but their propaganda techniques and packaging of the content have improved in order to have greater public appeal. The representative media of this kind are China’s two major state-run portal websites, People’s Daily and Xinhua online.
Although the contents of the two main official media just continue to praise the party and the nation, their propaganda and promotional techniques are more subtle and diversified than 10 years ago.
Second, commercial media like Sina want to improve profits, but they still must obey the authorities’ requests. These media must maintain the main tone limited by the Central Propaganda Department. However, they now start by promoting the nation instead of the party as in the past.
Like China’s official media, these commercial media also avoid sensitive subjects, such as the Anti-Rightist Campaign, the Cultural Revolution, and the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, among others.
The last part of the report discusses social websites represented by the QQ website. These websites keep a distance from the authorities. They speak out for the people within the scope limited by the authorities to maintain mass media’s professionalism.
Some portal websites like QQ.com, intend to emphasize the lessons that the CCP has learned from its mistakes over the past 60 year’ rule. But the way and the view they take are different from those of overseas media. They are very careful to protect their own safety and to avoid being blocked by the authorities.
Still other media publish stories and tragedies of the common people that happened in the past 60 years to indirectly expose the ups and downs in China. Nevertheless, they carefully avoid focusing on the party or nation, stressing individual actions.
Other Viewpoints on China’s Anniversary
Time Magazine will publish in its September 28, 2009 edition “The Road to Prosperity(1)” by China issues expert professor David Shambaugh. Shambaugh is the director of the China Policy Program at the Elliott School of International Affairs in George Washington University. He points out that some scholars of Chinese history see hints of a declining nation. These include government corruption, social discontent (especially in rural areas), authoritarian rulers, and state militarization among others.
Other experts who study contemporary China also express their concerns that the regime is weak and the political structure is moving toward a deadlock, while economists ask the question: “How long can China’s economic boom last?”
Read the original Chinese article.
