Market or Party Controls?
Authors:
- Betty Houchin WinfieldBWBetty Houchin Winfield
- 1 June 2005
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in International Communication Gazette
- Vol. 67 (3) , 255-270
Abstract
This study examines, distinguishes and discusses as grounded theory the changes of the past 20 years in the Chinese media system as a result of the economic reforms. While the new media market challenges the current Chinese Party orthodoxy by initiating a redistribution of power and interests, this study argues that the western model of a libertarian press system is hardly a possibility. With a convolution of the Party line and the bottom line, a Chinese media system is moving from totalitarianism to market authoritarianism. Building on the premise that previous western press systems based on the Four Theories and their updates have failed to fit the unique case of China, the authors propose new theoretical perspectives in studying media systems in transition.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Transitional Media vs. Normative Theories: Schramm, Altschull, and ChinaJournal of Communication, 2003
- Censorship and Freedom of the Press Under Changing Political RegimesInternational Communication Gazette, 2003
- From Commercialization to Conglomeration: The Transformation of the Chinese Press Within the Orbit of the Party StateJournal of Communication, 2000
- Towards Media Democratisation: The Chinese Experience and a Critique of the Neo-Authoritarian ModelChina Report, 1997
- Internationalizing media theoryPeace Review, 1996
- Press systems and media-government relations in the Czech and Slovak republicsInternational Communication Gazette, 1995
- Continuity and Change in China's Media ReformJournal of Communication, 1994
- Mass Communication and National Development in China: Media Roles ReconsideredJournal of Communication, 1994
- Debates Contribute to the Development of the Journalistic ScienceJournal of Communication, 1994
- Professionalization without guarantees: Changes of the Chinese press in post-1989 yearsInternational Communication Gazette, 1994