Censorship in China
It has been argued that the end of the Cold War and globalisation has made Western-style liberal press system as a universal model and no nation can free itself from the powerful influence of its universal value. Discuss this argument in the Asian context by applying relevant theoretical approaches discussed in this course. You may choose one Asian nation as a case study to address your ideas about the argument.
The Chinese Communist Party exerts near complete control over the country’s 358 television stations and 2,119 newspapers — the primary media available to more than one billion Chinese citizens. In the People’s Republic of China, there are no Chinese-language news media that are both widely accessible and independent of the government. While available to more than 100 million users, the Internet is closely monitored by the state; access to politically threatening Internet sites and web logs is blocked; uncensored satellite television is not legally available to the general public; foreign radio broadcasts are scrambled; and the sale of publications with content critical of the regime is restricted (Esarey, 2006). Chinese Communist Party control of the media is deeply challenged by the pressures of commercialization, the journalistic profession, and globalization. For this reason, the Chinese Communist Party has increased monitoring of media personnel and news content, tightened controls over the Internet, and resorted to more frequent coercion of journalists reporting on politically sensitive topics. In democratic countries, the news media industry has independent legal status from the government. A media company’s investors are its owners; the market decides the life or death of a company, and a newspaper with no subscribers will not survive. But this international principle does not apply to China. China’s government agencies have designated the broadcast media as a special commercial activity, and no matter who its investors are, a news provider is a
The Chinese Communist Party exerts near complete control over the country’s 358 television stations and 2,119 newspapers — the primary media available to more than one billion Chinese citizens. In the People’s Republic of China, there are no Chinese-language news media that are both widely accessible and independent of the government. While available to more than 100 million users, the Internet is closely monitored by the state; access to politically threatening Internet sites and web logs is blocked; uncensored satellite television is not legally available to the general public; foreign radio broadcasts are scrambled; and the sale of publications with content critical of the regime is restricted (Esarey, 2006). Chinese Communist Party control of the media is deeply challenged by the pressures of commercialization, the journalistic profession, and globalization. For this reason, the Chinese Communist Party has increased monitoring of media personnel and news content, tightened controls over the Internet, and resorted to more frequent coercion of journalists reporting on politically sensitive topics. In democratic countries, the news media industry has independent legal status from the government. A media company’s investors are its owners; the market decides the life or death of a company, and a newspaper with no subscribers will not survive. But this international principle does not apply to China. China’s government agencies have designated the broadcast media as a special commercial activity, and no matter who its investors are, a news provider is a
References: Lindhoff, Hakan, 2005, Media Control In Contemporary China, viewed on 18 April, 2008 2004, China TV Report, Media Commercialization Analysis, viewed on 12 April 2008, Quingian, 2004, Media Control In China, viewed on 18 April 2008, Vassileva, Ralitsa, 2008, China 's media crackdown (video), CNN, viewed on 14 April 2008 Reporters Sans Frontiers, 2008, News black-out Zhao Ziyang, viewed on 12 April 2008, Esarey, Ashley, 2006, Speak No Evil: Mass Media Control In Contemporary China, viewed on 10 April 2008,