Media evolution and reform politics in China : a case of Guangdong

Abstract

Since the beginning of reform toward the end of 1970s, the role and function of Chinese media have been redefined--altering and in many cases, radically changing the governance of the monolithic party state. This evolution has been implemented in part by the adoption of both capitalistic market competition, as well as Western journalistic methods, bringing a communist China closer to the West in economic practice and also in the public's view of a more democratic society. The development of a competitive media market, and consequently a public sphere, a factor contributing significantly to the emergence of democratic politics in Western Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, emerged in a similar fashion in China. In contrast with the previous age, in which media served the role of broadcast mouthpiece of the state, commercialisation of media not only brought diversification in public opinion but also resulted in far-reaching changes at the national policy level. The development of mass communication in an increasingly opened market pushed the Chinese media to conglomerate, resulting in a transition from isolated symbolic power to a more active role in the national and international media arena. The forefront of China's reform is best represented by Guangdong, where a partially emancipated press served as a crucial forum in which reformers and conservatives engaged in public debate. In coping with such an inexorable transformation of the media, the party also transformed. The uniqueness of this transformation lies in the fusion of free market practices and flexible governance based on communism. The integration of these two antagonistic systems has proved to be able to produce an economic base upon which an undemocratic government seems to be justified. It is not yet clear whether such a model is sustainable, particularly as modem communications continue to nurture the environment for an integrated international civil society. However, this thesis argues that since a common free market has commercialised, diversified and globalised the Chinese media, so long as China keeps its door open, this market force will continue to transform them; in the same vein, since Chinese politics has considerably loosened in its control of the media and to a great extent, opted to adapt to a newly-emerged symbolic environment, it too will converge on a roughly common target, that is: democracy.