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China Elections and Governance Review China Elections and Governance Review Published by China Program | The Carter Center Visit our Web site at www.chinaelections.net Editorial office: 453 Freedom Parkway Atlanta, Georgia 30307 United States Editorial telephone: (404)420-3867 Subscriptions, manuscripts and reprint requests can be sent to [email protected] The contents of China Elections and Governance Review are copyrighted. Reproduction or distribution of the contents without obtaining written permission is a violation of U.S. law. © 2009 Chinaelections.net. All rights reserved. China Elections and Governance Review Issue 3 | August 2009 August 7, 2009 Dear Readers: As China Elections and Governance (www.chinalections.org) enters its 8th year as a popular online portal for social and political issues in China, the CEG editors pose a few existential questions: Is it possible for an online platform to facilitate reform in the deliberative process between China and her citizens? What role can the Internet play in providing an outlet for China’s people to voice concerns and express public opinion? Indeed, what is the valid go- vernance potential of the Internet, and what are its limitations? This third installment of the China Elections and Governance Review therefore focuses on a theme very close to home for the CEG editors: the relationship between the Internet and political reform. In this quarter’s Review, featured contributors Evelyn Chan, Samuel Verran and Robert O’Brien take the Internet’s potential implications on political reform as a point of departure to deliberate on Chinese “netizens.” “Netizens” are seen as a force mobilizing on issues, shaping Chinese domestic media, contributing to political discourse, and influencing Chinese public and international policy. While many of their conclusions may be sobering to optimis- tic Internet enthusiasts, the Review is not a comprehensive or authoritative statement, but ra- ther brings light to some of the trends and challenges the Internet faces in China today. CEG editors have also juxtaposed two important voices from inside China, the noted jour- nalist Xiao Shu and People’s Daily editor Fan Zhengwei. Their pieces, translated by Heather Saul and Sean Ding, represent divergent views on the emerging role of the Internet in Chi- nese governance. We welcome feedback, comments, and concerns to this edition and look forward to contri- butions to our next quarterly installment of the China Elections and Governance Review, which will focus on mass incidents and government disclosure of information. Please send com- ments, concerns, and future contributions by October 15, 2009 to [email protected]. China Elections and Governance Review Issue 3 | August 2009 The Internet and State Media: The 4.5 Estate By Evelyn Chan and Chenggeng Bi s the large popular protests in technology brings with economic moder- Iran in June 2009 demonstrated, nization. Aauthoritarian regimes are up against a new medium that is widespread, This is not news for Chinese leaders, who accessible and rapid. The advent of web have long recognized the threat globaliza- 2.0 technology, which has given ordinary tion poses on their ability to control users the ability to easily disseminate in- thought work and the cultural market (Lynch formation via the Internet through sites 1999, 173). China therefore walks a care- like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube has ful line balancing the promotion ofmarket transformed ordinary citizens into journal- rationality with the goal of managing in- ists. In the case of Iran, cell phones be- formation flow. China’s Great Fire Wall came cameras, and tweets replaced news has successfully blocked websites of par- feeds. ticular organizations like the Falun Gong and access to Hotmail and Facebook dur- The dilemma that authoritarian regimes ing particular sensitive events, like the an- face is that the imperative to promote niversary of the Tiananmen protests. economic development, which becomes Nevertheless the sheer volume of blogs, essential for parties to shore up popular internet forums, and websites signals an legitimacy, clashes with the imperative to interesting dynamic in China. Over the control information flow (See Daniel years China’s economic growth model and Lynch). Authoritarian states that seek to shift away from Communist ideology has develop their economies inevitably face translated into greater individual freedoms. the challenge that globalization and new Page | 1 China Elections and Governance Review Issue 3 | August 2009 A key question is whether the expansion market principles have introduced com- in individual freedoms and pluralism in petitive pressures, forcing media outlets to public opinion on the Internet has an in- repackage the news, catering to audience herently destabilizing effect for the regime. demands and advertisers. Similar to the This linear postulation between the rise of debate on the commercialization of Chi- the Internet and a liberalizing outcome is nese media, the discussion concerning the at the heart of several of this issue’s con- impact of the Internet and the rise of citi- tributions. Sam Verran for instance ex- zen journalism on state media also posits a amines the relationship between online liberalizing effect. Just as the introduction and offline protests. The spread of ideas of market principles has made the media in the blogosphere, giving a platform for more accountable to the people, bloggers dissident voices, has the potential to trans- and netizens serve as another competitive late into vocal protests outside of the vir- force. In essence citizen-reporting would tual world. force state-sanctioned media to report the people line over the Party. They therefore Another dimension in examining the po- watch the watchdogs (See Cooper). litical implications of the Internet is whether China’s ability to This paper seeks to analyze manage thought work is also the effect of the internet challenged by way of a Media in China has and rise of citizen journal- more autonomous and since undergone sig- ism on state-sanctioned critical press corps. The nificant change with media. The interplay of the link between media and two realms, the official democracy is that the for- the introduction of media and non-official mer helps foster the politi- Deng Xiaoping’s eco- reporting online may be cal norms and civic culture nomic reforms creating a more participa- necessary to sustain a de- tory and deliberative pub- mocracy. The exchange of free ideas and lic sphere in China, signaling a gradual criticism is embodied in a free and inde- liberal evolution. A logical hypothesis po- pendent press. sits that the rise of internet activity and spread of information creates a competi- The media in China is an interesting case tive pressure on state-media, forcing a study precisely because like in other shift away from the Party-line and towards communist regimes, it has traditionally a more people-centered approach to re- served as a mouthpiece and transmission porting. This move away from the Party’s belt for the Party. Media in China has control signals a liberalizing effect in Chi- since undergone significant change with na’s political and economic development. the introduction of Deng Xiaoping’s eco- This article explores three case studies nomic reforms. The commercialization of that occurred in 2008 and 2009, the Si- media organization and introduction of chuan Earthquake, the Sanlu Milk Scandal Page | 2 China Elections and Governance Review Issue 3 | August 2009 and the Weng’an and Shishou riots to ana- pagne 2005, 49). In this perspective, jour- lyze whether a causal relationship exists nalists struggle to assert an objective view between the rise of netizen reporting and and tend to favor one group, the elites state-official media. Furthermore, it offers and the dominant ideology, the economic- an evaluation based on these cases of the liberal order (Atton 2008, 215, Cham- prospects of liberalization in China. pagne 2005, 54). Contrary to political cen- sorship under an authoritarian regime, Media and Blogging: The Fourth and market pressures work in such a way that Fifth Estate: covertly changes the values and profession of journalism. According to Champagne, Journalism in the West is under similar “The journalist ideally wants to be a stal- scrutiny and examination as the academic wart servant of the truth at any price, but discussion in China, specifically concern- he belongs to a paper that bears a price ing its autonomy and commitment to the and is situated within an economic enter- public. Similar questions concerning me- prise with its own exigencies, which are dia conglomeration, marketization and not all of the mind” (2005, 51). political influence have undermined the legitimacy of the press in the West (See It is this need to challenge the mass me- Bourdieu and Champagne). The tradition- dia’s dominance in news production and al normative role of media acting as the frame-setting that has allowed the Internet Fourth Estate that is informing the public, to give rise to an alternative form of jour- providing a forum for an exchange of nalism. Some authors have coined this as ideas and holding the state accountable is the emergence of the Fifth Estate (See increasingly under fire (Tumber 2001, 96). Cooper and Atton). Challenging the do- minant discourse in mainstream media, The literature on communication studies activism on the net serves as a form of identify a crisis in journalism, which stems public oversight on State media. Bloggers from both market pressures and the rise watch the watchdogs. The proliferation of of the blogosphere (Tumber 2001, 104). blogs, online forums and web 2.0 tech- There is an increasing gap that places tra- nology has given ordinary citizens the ca- ditional journalism further away from the pacity to become media producers, trans- public sphere (Tumber 2001, 105). In the forming their previous role as the passive first instance, media conglomeration and audience (Atton 2008, 215).
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