The Development of Community Cable Television in Taizhou and the Rise of the Chinese Middle Class Shangling Lin Edith Cowan University
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Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 2013 The development of community cable television in Taizhou and the rise of the Chinese middle class Shangling Lin Edith Cowan University Recommended Citation Lin, S. (2013). The development of community cable television in Taizhou and the rise of the Chinese middle class. Retrieved from https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/701 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/701 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. 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PhD The Development of Community Cable Television in Taizhou and the Rise of the Chinese Middle Class By Shangling Lin MA (Mass Communication) ID: 10028560 School of Communications and Arts Faculty of Education and Arts Edith Cowan University 28 August, 2013 USE OF THESIS The Use of Thesis statement is not included in this version of the thesis. Abstract This thesis looks at the development of community cable television in the eastern coastal town of Taizhou in China from its beginnings in the 1990s to 2007. The establishment of community cable television can be seen as a new form of media production in China, by which changes in economic and political power and social identity can be traced. My hometown of Taizhou serves as a good example of this societal development. Taizhou is famous for private economy. Its average income is ranked in the top six among more than three hundred cities in China, making the middle class the main social sector of the city. Community cable television differs in more ways than one from regional or national public television. It belongs nominally to the local government and coverage cannot exceed the boundary of the city it is located in. Due to the community cable television’s specific ownership and official background, the “negotiation among censors and publishers, [and] … post-publication censure” (Zhao, 2008, p.35) follow a different route, and many barriers can be avoided. Especially with continuing economic reforms in China, the community cable television can therefore be treated as opening public space for the new middle class in China to receive relevant economic information and express their opinions. This thesis will explain how the rise of the middle class is linked with the development of community cable television, and will show the transformation in the social structure and link these to the broader changes taking place in television in China, thus to demonstrate a little – known image of Chinese television to readers, and to indicate its likely future development. ii Declaration I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: i. incorporate without acknowledgment any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; ii. contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text of this thesis; or iii. contain any defamatory material; Signed: iii Acknowledgements This thesis took me nearly five years to finish, I must say thank you to all the people who gave me support. First and foremost, thank you to my supervisor, who was also my Masters supervisor, Dr. Beate Josephi. Thank you for working with me over the last seven years, and exerting every effort to provide insightful suggestions, to help me to find useful information and to check my writing. Your patient support is the most important reason in my finishing this thesis. Many thanks to Dr. Panizza Allmark, who has been my supervisor since Dr. Josephi retired. You have helped me to improve my thesis and guided me to the finishing line. Furthermore, I am also grateful to Ms Bethany Andersson, who has helped me to check the grammar and editing. Finally, I profoundly appreciate my family. Your constant encouragement and dedicated support have been the force which helped me to overcome difficulties in the research process. A special note of gratitude goes to my daughter Jasmine Lin. Your birth is one of the most important achievements in my life, and your smile makes my research even more interesting. This thesis is a present to all of you. iv Table of Contents Use of Thesis ......................................................................................................................................... i Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ ii Declaration .......................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................. v Index of Tables .................................................................................................................................. viii Index of Figures .................................................................................................................................. ix Abbreviation ......................................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Context ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Thesis structure ...................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2: Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Theoretical considerations ...................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Methodological considerations ............................................................................................ 12 2.3 Research design .................................................................................................................... 12 2.3.1 Research Questions ................................................................................................... 13 2.3.2 Data collection........................................................................................................... 13 2.3.3 Data analysis ............................................................................................................. 14 Chapter 3: Literature Review ............................................................................................................. 15 3.1 The economic reform in China ............................................................................................. 16 3.1.1 History of economic reform ...................................................................................... 18 3.1.2 The process of economic reform ............................................................................... 21 3.1.3 Problems of economic reform ................................................................................... 27 3.1.4 Socialist market economy ......................................................................................... 30 3.1.5 Non-public-owned economy and private economy ................................................... 35 3.2 Social developments in China since 1978 ............................................................................ 37 3.2.1 Rural development in the reform era ......................................................................... 38 3.2.2 The Hukou system ..................................................................................................... 40 3.2.3 Rural urbanization ..................................................................................................... 43 3.2.4 The Hukou system reform ......................................................................................... 47 3.3 Rise of the Chinese middle class .......................................................................................... 50 3.3.1 The Chinese class system .........................................................................................