Chinese Media in a Global Context
Course objective
This course aims to understand China’s changing media landscape in the reform period from a historical and comparative perspective. It combines media studies and Chinese studies and engages students in a cross-disciplinary investigation on the dynamic interplay of social, economic, and political forces in shaping the function of mass media in a transitional society.
In this course, we shall address both the theoretical issues and the major debates surrounding Chinese media, including but not limited to: the historical roots of media and propaganda system in China; the trajectory of press reform and the impact of market liberalization on media practices within the orbit of party-state; the dynamics of political control and professional resistance; the conflicting ideologies that impinge on China’s journalists; the implications of new media for traditional media, the emergence of “civil society,” and ideological control.
Teaching
5 seminars/lectures of 3 hours each during a period of 2 weeks in March (week 10-11). Please see the detailed teaching plan on the semester site for more information.
The course requires active participation.
Assessment
During this course, the students need to complete a term paper of approximately 5-7 pages, dealing with any topics related to Chinese media. A draft of the essay must be submitted to the course teacher for preliminary evaluation.
Required texts
- Chin-Chuan Lee (ed.) (2003), Chinese Media, Global Contexts. London and New York: Routledge.
- Yuezhi Zhao (2008), Communication in China: Political Economy, Power, and Conflict. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Class schedule
Please refer to the semester site for Spring 2013 for information about time and place.
1. Introduction: Media’s China, China’s Media
方可成：《谁是“中国人民的老朋友”》，《南方周末》2011年3月3日，http://www.infzm.com/content/55879
Qian Gang (2012). Watchwords: The Life of the Party, the Chinese online edition of the New York Times, http://cn.nytimes.com/article/china/2012/09/18/cc18qiangang0/ (the series in Chinese) or http://cmp.hku.hk/watchwords2012/ (the series in English)
2. Power, Money, and Media: The Political-economy perspective
Zhao, Yuezhi (2000). From commercialization to conglomeration: The transformation of the Chinese press within the orbit of the party state. Journal of Communication, 50 (2): 3-26.
Lee, C-C., He, Z., and Huang, Y. (2007). Party-market corporatism, clientelism, and media in Shanghai. International Journal of Press/Politics, 12 (3): 21-42.
罗昌平(2009):《拆解“新闻寻租链”》，《南方传媒研究》，第16辑，页177-187。
3. Ideological Control and Professional Resistance
Hassid, J. (2009). Controlling Chinese media: An uncertain business？Asian Survey, 48 (3): 414-430.
侯方域：《南方事变》，《阳光时务》周刊，第25期，2012年8月9日，http://www.isunaffairs.com/?p=10299 。
王毓莉（2012）：《驯服 v.s. 抗拒：中国政治权力控制下的新闻专业抗争策略》，《新闻学研究》，第110期，页43-83。
4. New Media, Old Story?
Hassid, J. (2012). Safety Valve or Pressure Cooker? Blogs in Chinese Political Life, Journal of Communication, 62 (2): 212–230.
杨国斌（2009）：《悲情与戏谑：网络事件中的情感动员》，《传播与社会学刊》，第9期，页39-66。
5. Comparing Media Systems: East vs. West?
Hallin, D. and Mancini, P. (2005) Comparing Media Systems, in J. Curran and M. Gurevitch (ed.), Mass Media and Society (4th ed.), London: Hodder Arnold.
Sparks, C. (2008). Media systems in transition: Poland, Russia, China, Chinese Journal of Communication, 1 (1): 7-24.