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{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see ] -->
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{{See also|Media of Hong Kong|Media of Macau}} {{See also|Media of Hong Kong|Media of Macau}}
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{{Life in the People's Republic of China}}'''Media of the People's Republic of China''' (alternatively '''Media of China, Chinese Media''') primarily consists of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since 2000, the ] has also emerged as an important communications medium.
{{Life in the People's Republic of China}}
{{Politics of China |expanded = Publicity }}


The '''mass media in the People's Republic of China''' primarily consists of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since the start of the 21st century, the Internet has also emerged as an important form of mass media and is under the direct supervision and control of the ] and ruling ] (CCP). Media in China is strictly controlled and ] by the CCP,<ref name="Freedom House 2017">{{cite web |title=Freedom in the World 2022 - China Country Report |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114220429/https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2022 |archive-date=January 14, 2023 |access-date=14 January 2023 |website= |publisher=] |url-status=live }}</ref> with the main agency that oversees the nation's media being the ].<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Buckley |first=Chris |date=2018-03-21 |title=China Gives Communist Party More Control Over Policy and Media |language=en-US |work=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/world/asia/china-communist-party-xi-jinping.html |access-date=2021-11-12 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112211222/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/world/asia/china-communist-party-xi-jinping.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=3 March 2018 |title=China's Central Propaganda Department Takes Over Regulation of All Media |work=] |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-propaganda-03212018140841.html |access-date=November 12, 2021 |archive-date=November 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112222456/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-propaganda-03212018140841.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The largest media organizations, including the ], the '']'', and the ], are all controlled by the CCP.
Since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 and until the 1980s, almost all media in China were state-run. Independent media only began to emerge at the onset of ], although state-run media outlets such as '']'', ], and '']'' continue to hold significant market share. Independent media that operate within the PRC (excluding ] and ], which have separate media regulatory bodies) are no longer required to strictly follow journalistic guidelines set by the government.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} However, regulatory agencies, such as the ] (GAPP) and the ] (SARFT), continue to set strict regulations on subjects considered taboo by the government, including but not limited to the legitimacy of the Communist Party, government policies in Tibet and Xinjiang, pornography, and the banned spiritual group ].


Since the founding of the ] in 1949 and until the 1980s, almost all media outlets in ] have been state-run. Privately owned media outlets only began to emerge at the onset of the ], although ] continue to hold significant market share. All media continues to follow regulations imposed by the Central Propaganda Department of the CCP on subjects considered taboo by the CCP, including but not limited to the legitimacy of the party, pro-], ], the ], ], and the banned religious topics, such as the ] and ]. All journalists are required to study ] to maintain their press credentials.<ref name=":4" /> ], which has maintained a separate media ecosystem than mainland China, is also witnessing increasing ].<ref>{{cite news |last=Greenslade |first=Roy |date=June 20, 2012 |title=Hong Kong journalists complain about editor's self-censorship |work=] |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2012/jun/20/press-freedom-china |url-status=live |access-date=December 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919044154/https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2012/jun/20/press-freedom-china |archive-date=September 19, 2016}}</ref>
In spite of heavy government monitoring, however, Chinese media has become increasingly commercialized, with growing competition, diversified content, and an increase in investigative reporting. Areas such as sports, finance, and an increasingly lucrative entertainment industry face little regulation from the government.<ref></ref> Media controls were most relaxed during the 1980s under Deng Xiaoping, until they were tightened in the aftermath of the ]. They were relaxed again under ] in the late 1990s, but the growing influence of the Internet and its potential to encourage dissent led to heavier regulations again under the government of ].<ref></ref> ] consistently ranks China very poorly on media freedoms in their annual releases of the ], calling the Chinese government as having "the sorry distinction of leading the world in repression of the Internet".<ref></ref>

] consistently ranks China very poorly on media freedoms in their annual releases of the ], labeling the Chinese government as having "the sorry distinction of leading the world in repression of the Internet".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reporters Sans Frontieres: Enemies of the Internet: China|url=http://en.rsf.org/report-china,57.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205045445/http://en.rsf.org/report-china,57.html|archive-date=2010-12-05|access-date=2011-02-05|website=]}}</ref> {{As of|2023}}, China ranked 179 out of 180 nations on the World Press Freedom Index.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Index |url=https://rsf.org/en/index |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=] |language=en |archive-date=May 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507020451/https://rsf.org/en/index |url-status=live }}</ref>


== History == == History ==
{{See also|Media history of China}} {{Main articles|Media history of China}}


=== Under Mao ===
The government is heavily involved in the media in the ], and the largest ] organizations (namely ], the ], and ]) are agencies of the Party-State. Media ]s include topics such as the legitimacy of the ], the governance of ], and ]. Within those restrictions there is a diversity of the media and fairly open discussion of social issues and policy options within the parameters set by the Party.
In both the ] of the 1930s and the early 1950s, the CCP encouraged grassroots journalism in the form "worker-peasant correspondents," an idea originating from the Soviet Union.<ref name=":0" />


During the early period (1966–1968) of the ], ] was at its peak.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Russo |first=Alessandro |title=Cultural Revolution and Revolutionary Culture |date=2020 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-4780-1218-4 |location=Durham |pages=148 |doi=10.1215/9781478012184 |jstor=j.ctv15kxg2d |s2cid=225241508 |oclc=1156439609}}</ref> Independent political groups could publish ]s and handbills, as well as leaders' speeches and meeting transcripts which would normally have been considered highly classified.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walder |first=Andrew G. |title=Agents of Disorder: Inside China's Cultural Revolution |date=2019 |isbn=978-0-674-24363-7 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=24 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvnjbhrb |jstor=j.ctvnjbhrb |s2cid=241177426 |oclc=1120781893}}</ref> During those years, several ] organizations operated independent printing presses to publish newspapers, articles, speeches, and ]s.<ref name=":1" />
The diversity in mainland Chinese media is partly because most ] outlets are no longer heavily subsidized by the government, and are expected to pay for themselves through ] ].<ref>Yuezhi Zhao (1998), ''Media, Market, and Democracy in China.'' Chicago: University of Illinois Press.</ref> They can no longer merely serve as mouthpieces of the government, but also need to attract advertising through ] that people find attractive. While the government issuse ]s defining what can be published, it does not prevent, and in fact encourages outlets to compete for viewers and advertising. Financial incentives are also used to control journalists' behavior.<ref>Esarey, Ashley (2005), "Cornering the Market: State Strategies for Controlling China's Commercial Media." ''Asian Perspective'' 29(2), 37-83.</ref>


Mobile film units brought ] to the countryside and were crucial to the standardization and popularization of cultural during this period, particularly including ].<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Coderre |first=Laurence |title=Newborn Socialist Things: Materiality in Maoist China |date=2021 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-4780-2161-2 |location=Durham |pages= |doi=10.2307/j.ctv1r4xd0g |jstor=j.ctv1r4xd0g |oclc=1250021710}}</ref>{{Rp|page=30}} During the Cultural Revolution's early years, mobile film teams traveled to rural areas with news reels of Mao meeting with Red Guards and Tiananmen Square parades, where they were welcomed ceremoniously.<ref name=":122">{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Jie |title=Material Contradictions in Mao's China |date=2022 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-295-75085-9 |editor-last=Altehenger |editor-first=Jennifer |location=Seattle |chapter=Mobile Projectionists and the Things They Carried |editor-last2=Ho |editor-first2=Denise Y.}}</ref>{{Rp|page=110}} These news reels became known as ''hong bao pian'' ("red treasure films"), analogous to how the ] were dubbed ''hong bao shu'' ("red treasure books").<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=110}}
Government control of ] can be ineffective in other ways. Despite government restrictions, much information is gathered either at the local level or from foreign sources and passed on through personal conversations and ]. The withdrawal of government media subsidies has caused many ]s (including some owned by the Communist Party) in ]s to take bold editorial stands critical of the government, as the necessity to attract readers and avoid ] has been a more pressing fear than government ].


=== Reforms and opening up ===
In addition, the traditional means of media control have proven extremely ineffective against newer forms of communication, most notably text messaging.
Media controls were most relaxed during the 1980s under ] ], until they were tightened in the aftermath of the ]. Journalists were active participants in the 1989 demonstrations that culminated in the massacre, which made it all but impossible to reconcile the growing desire of mainland Chinese journalists for control over their own profession with the CCP's interest in not letting that happen. There have even been occasional acts of open, outright defiance of the CCP, though these acts remain rare.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hassid |first=Jonathan |date=2008a |title=China's Contentious Journalists: Reconceptualizing the Media |journal=Problems of Post-Communism |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=52–61 |doi=10.2753/PPC1075-8216550405 |s2cid=153831388}}</ref>


Media controls were relaxed again under ] ] in the late 1990s, but the growing influence of the Internet and its potential to encourage dissent led to heavier regulations again under CCP general secretary ].<ref>{{Cite news |title=China's Media Controls: Could Bloggers Make a Difference? |website=] |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/china_southerland-04042008152923.html |url-status=live |access-date=April 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411064319/https://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/china_southerland-04042008152923.html |archive-date=April 11, 2020}}</ref> Non-governmental media outlets that were allowed to operate within China (excluding ] and ], which have separate media regulatory bodies) were no longer required to strictly follow every journalistic guideline set by the CCP.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Akhavan-Majid |first1=Roya |date=1 December 2004 |title=Mass Media Reform in China: Toward a New Analytical Framework |url=http://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=comm_facpubs |journal=Gazette (Leiden, Netherlands) |volume=66 |issue=6 |page=561 |doi=10.1177/0016549204047576 |s2cid=1505992 |access-date=September 7, 2022 |archive-date=June 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625035243/https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=comm_facpubs |url-status=live }}</ref>
Although the government can and does use ]s against ]s to ] ] reports about ] and ] conditions, these laws have not prevented the press from all discussion of Chinese social issues. {{Reference necessary|1=Chinese newspapers have been particularly affected by the loss of government subsidies, and have been especially active at gaining readership though must engaging in hard hitting ] and ].}} As a result even papers which are nominally owned by the Communist Party are sometimes very bold at reporting social issues. However both commercial pressures and government restrictions have tended to cause newspapers to focus on lurid ]s often involving local officials who have relatively little political cover, and Chinese newspapers tend to lack depth in analysis of political events, as this tends to be more politically sensitive.


In 1998, the ] (SARFT) began the Connecting Every Village with ] and TV Project, which extended radio and ] broadcasting to every village in China.<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Shi |first=Song |title=China and the Internet: Using New Media for Development and Social Change |date=2023 |publisher=] |isbn=9781978834736 |location=New Brunswick, NJ}}</ref>{{Rp|page=30}}
Among social issues first reported in the press of mainland China include the ] epidemic in ] ], the unsafe state of mines in mainland China. In addition, the ] coverup was first revealed by a fax to CCTV which was forwarded to Western news media.


In the 1990s and early 2000s, the ways in which the CCP operated—especially the introduction of ]s aimed at decentralizing power—spurred a period of greater media autonomy in several ways:
== Television ==
{{Main|Television in the People's Republic of China}}
In 1978, the PRC had less than one ] receiver per 100 people, and fewer than ten million Chinese had access to a television set. According to a ] report in 2003, there are about 35 TVs for every 100 people. Roughly a billion Chinese have access to television. Similarly, in 1965 there were 12 television and 93 ]s in mainland China; today there are approximately 700 conventional television stations&mdash;plus about 3,000 ] ]&mdash;and 1,000 radio stations.


* The growth of "peripheral"—local and some regional—media. This trend decentralized and dampened CCP oversight. In general, the greater the distance is between reporters and media outlets, and Beijing and important provincial capitals, the greater their leeway.
Television ] is controlled by ] (CCTV), which, with its 16 program channels, is the country's only national network. CCTV, which employs about 10,000 people and has an annual income of ¥1,120mln yuan (2004,=$138mln), falls under the dual supervision of the ], responsible ultimately for media content, and the ], which oversees operations. A Vice ] in the latter ministry serves as chairman of CCTV. The ]'s principal directors and other officers are appointed by the State. So are the top officials at local conventional television stations in mainland China&mdash;nearly all of which are restricted to ] within their own province or ]&mdash;that receive CCTV broadcasts.
* A shift toward administrative and legal regulation of the media and away from more fluid and personal oversight. CCP efforts to rely on regulations rather than whim to try to control the media—as evidenced by the dozens of directives set forth when the State Press and Publications Administration was created in 1987, and by new regulations in 1990 and 1994—probably were intended to tighten CCP control, making it a matter of law rather than personal relationships. In fact, however, these regulations came at a time when official resources were being stretched more thinly and individual officials were becoming less willing—and less able—to enforce regulations.
* Vicissitudes of media acceptability. Since the early 1990s, the types of media coverage deemed acceptable by the regime have risen sharply. Growing uncertainties about what is permissible and what is out of bounds sometimes work to the media's interests. Often, however, these uncertainties encourage greater self-censorship among Chinese journalists and work to the benefit of the CCP's media control apparatus.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hassid |first=Jonathan |date=June 2008b |title=Controlling the Chinese Media: An Uncertain Business |journal=] |language=en |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=414–430 |doi=10.1525/as.2008.48.3.414 |issn=0004-4687}}</ref>


As state resources have become stretched more thinly, the media have found it far easier than before to print and broadcast material that falls within vaguely defined ], though again, this uncertainty can also work to the advantage of the CCP.<ref name="rowman.com">{{cite book |author=Jesse Owen Hearns-Branaman |title=A Political Economy of News in China: Manufacturing Harmony |date=2015 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=9780739182925 |location=Latham, MD}}</ref>
CCTV produces its own ] broadcasts three times a day and is the country's most powerful and prolific television program producer. It also has a ] on purchases of programming from overseas. All local stations are required to carry CCTV's 7 p.m. main news broadcast; an internal CCTV survey indicates that nearly 500 million people countrywide regularly watch this program.


In preparation of the ] in 2007, new restrictions were placed on all sectors of the press, Internet-users, bloggers, website managers, foreign journalist, more than 30 of which have been arrested since the start of the year. In addition, a thousand discussion forums and websites have been shut down, and "a score of dissidents" have been imprisoned since July 2007.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 15, 2007 |title=Reporters Without Borders activists rally in front of Olympic museum in Lausanne as Chinese Communist Party's 17th congress opens |url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23987 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017230821/http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23987 |archive-date=2007-10-17 |publisher=]}}</ref>
Even if CCTV is the most powerful network of mainland China, it has only about 30% of audience share all over the national territory. The fact shows how the Chinese viewers are biased in favour of local tv programs, that are more likely to represent the differences of an audience that is the largest in the world, more than the national or even international programs, that can hardly attend the needs of such a wide public.


In efforts to stem growing unrest in China, the propaganda chief of the ], Hua Qing, announced in the ''People's Daily'' that the government was drafting a new press law that would lessen government involvement in the news media. In the editorial, Hu Jintao was said to have visited the ''People's Daily'' offices and said that large scale public incidents should be "accurately, objectively and uniformly reported, with no tardiness, deception, incompleteness or distortion".<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 12, 2008 |title=China considers media freedoms to stem unrest |work=] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/3447904/China-considers-media-freedoms-to-stem-unrest.html |url-status=live |access-date=April 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925182647/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/3447904/China-considers-media-freedoms-to-stem-unrest.html |archive-date=September 25, 2015}}</ref> Reports by Chinese media at the time indicated a gradual release from CCP control. For example, the detention of anti-government petitioners placed in mental institutions was reported in a state newspaper, later criticized in an editorial by the English-language '']''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 9, 2008 |title=Probe into dubious detentions |work=] |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-12/09/content_7284120.htm |url-status=live |access-date=December 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027005345/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-12/09/content_7284120.htm |archive-date=October 27, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 9, 2008 |title=China city locks up 'petitioners' in mental asylum: state media |agency=AFP |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hcT05IfKenQTw0XXxrfByZhQhizA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124180846/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hcT05IfKenQTw0XXxrfByZhQhizA |archive-date=January 24, 2013 |via=Google}}<!--This should not be a surprise--></ref> At the time, scholars and journalists believed that such reports were a small sign of opening up in the media.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 28, 2008 |title=In China, Media Make Small Strides |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/27/AR2008122701218_2.html?hpid=sec-world |url-status=live |access-date=October 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212952/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/27/AR2008122701218_2.html?hpid=sec-world |archive-date=March 3, 2016}}</ref>
Since September 1, 2006, the Chinese government has banned foreign-produced animation between the hours of 5:00 to 8:00 P.M. on state-run television to protect struggling Chinese animation studios that have been affected by the popularity of such cartoons.<ref>McDonald, Joe. . ]: August 13, 2006</ref>


== Newspapers and journals == === Under Xi Jinping ===
Since ] became in 2012 the CCP general secretary, censorship has been significantly stepped up.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Denyer |first=Simon |date=25 October 2017 |title=China's Xi Jinping unveils his top party leaders, with no successor in sight |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinas-communist-party-unveils-new-leadership-with-no-obvious-successor-to-xi-jinping/2017/10/25/efe67876-b8fc-11e7-9b93-b97043e57a22_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=25 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813203127/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinas-communist-party-unveils-new-leadership-with-no-obvious-successor-to-xi-jinping/2017/10/25/efe67876-b8fc-11e7-9b93-b97043e57a22_story.html |archive-date=13 August 2019 |quote=Censorship has been significantly stepped up in China since Xi took power.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Economy |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth Economy |date=29 June 2018 |title=The great firewall of China: Xi Jinping's internet shutdown |newspaper=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/29/the-great-firewall-of-china-xi-jinpings-internet-shutdown |url-status=live |access-date=4 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010172129/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/29/the-great-firewall-of-china-xi-jinpings-internet-shutdown |archive-date=10 October 2019 |quote=Before Xi Jinping, the internet was becoming a more vibrant political space for Chinese citizens. But today the country has the largest and most sophisticated online censorship operation in the world. |ref=none}}</ref> During a 2016 visit to Chinese state media, Xi stated that "]" and that the state media "must embody the party's will, safeguard the party's authority".<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2016-02-19 |title=Xi Jinping asks for 'absolute loyalty' from Chinese state media |language=en-GB |work=] |agency=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/xi-jinping-tours-chinas-top-state-media-outlets-to-boost-loyalty |access-date=2023-08-19 |issn=0261-3077 |quote=The media run by the party and the government are the propaganda fronts and must have the party as their family name," Xi told propaganda workers at the meeting, during which he demanded absolute loyalty from state media. "All the work by the party’s media must reflect the party’s will, safeguard the party’s authority, and safeguard the party’s unity," he said. "They must love the party, protect the party, and closely align themselves with the party leadership in thought, politics and action. |archive-date=March 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200331160138/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/xi-jinping-tours-chinas-top-state-media-outlets-to-boost-loyalty |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zhuang |first=Pinghui |date=19 February 2016 |title=China's top party mouthpieces pledge 'absolute loyalty' as president makes rare visits to newsrooms |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1914136/chinas-top-party-mouthpieces-pledge-absolute-loyalty |access-date=14 August 2022 |website=] |language=en |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331170900/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1914136/chinas-top-party-mouthpieces-pledge-absolute-loyalty |url-status=live }}</ref> Under Xi, ] has been driven almost to extinction within China.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Hernández |first1=Javier C. |date=July 12, 2019 |title='We're Almost Extinct': China's Investigative Journalists Are Silenced Under Xi |work=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/world/asia/china-journalists-crackdown.html |url-status=live |url-access=registration |access-date=5 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128104347/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/world/asia/china-journalists-crackdown.html |archive-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref> According to the ], in 2023, China ranks as the "worst jailer of journalists," with ] making up almost half of all imprisoned journalists.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 19, 2024 |title=China is the world's worst jailer of journalists, CPJ says |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/journalists-01192024171213.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120052737/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/journalists-01192024171213.html |archive-date=20 January 2024 |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=] |language=en}}</ref>
] posted on a newspaper display board in ]]]
The number of newspapers in mainland China has increased from 42&mdash;virtually all Communist Party papers&mdash;in 1968 to 382 in 1980 and more than 2,200 today. By one official estimate, there are now more than 7,000 ]s and ]s in the country. The number of copies of daily and weekly newspapers and magazines in circulation grew fourfold between the mid-1960s and the mid-to-late 1980s, reaching 310 million by 1987. (2)


In 2018, as part of an overhaul of CCP and government bodies, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) was renamed into the ] (NRTA) with its film, news media and publications being transferred to the Central Propaganda Department.<ref name=":412">{{Cite news |last=Buckley |first=Chris |date=2018-03-21 |title=China Gives Communist Party More Control Over Policy and Media |language=en-US |work=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/world/asia/china-communist-party-xi-jinping.html |access-date=2022-12-29 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112211222/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/world/asia/china-communist-party-xi-jinping.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, the control of China Central Television (CCTV, including its international edition, ]), ] (CNR) and ] (CRI) were transferred to the newly established ] (CMG) under the control of the Central Propaganda Department.<ref name=":412"/><ref>{{Cite news |date=22 March 2018 |title=三台合一,发出更强"中国之声" |trans-title=Merge of Three Stations into One, Sending Out a Stronger "Voice of China" |work=] |url=http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/n1/2018/0322/c1001-29883390.html |access-date=29 December 2022 |archive-date=September 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910022043/http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/n1/2018/0322/c1001-29883390.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The same year, provinces and cities began to establish ].<ref name=":13">{{Citation |last=Fang |first=Shu |title=Localization and Globalization, the Complexities and Strategies of Establishing Local International Communication Centers in China |date=2024 |work=Proceedings of the 2024 8th International Seminar on Education, Management and Social Sciences (ISEMSS 2024) |volume=867 |pages=573–579 |editor-last=Chang |editor-first=Lu |series=Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research |place=Paris |publisher=] |language=en |doi=10.2991/978-2-38476-297-2_72 |isbn=978-2-38476-296-5 |editor2-last=de Araujo |editor2-first=Gabriel Antunes |editor3-last=Shi |editor3-first=Lei |editor4-last=Zhang |editor4-first=Qian |doi-access=free}}</ref>
These figures, moreover, underreport actual circulation, because many ]s use their own distribution networks rather than official dissemination channels and also deliberately understate figures to avoid ]. (3) In addition, some 25,000 ]s and hundreds of individual ]s produce and sell nonofficial material&mdash;mostly ] and ] but also political and ] journals.


In 2019, ] updated its code of ethics and mandatory exam requiring journalists to be guided by ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Westcott |first=Ben |date=December 17, 2019 |title=Beijing calls for Chinese journalists to 'arm their minds' with Xi Jinping Thought |work=] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/17/asia/china-journalist-code-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125061559/https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/17/asia/china-journalist-code-intl-hnk/index.html |archive-date=November 25, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kuo |first=Lily |date=2019-09-20 |title=Chinese journalists to be tested on loyalty to Xi Jinping |language=en-GB |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/20/chinese-journalists-to-be-tested-on-loyalty-to-xi-jinping |url-status=live |access-date=2020-12-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213155855/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/20/chinese-journalists-to-be-tested-on-loyalty-to-xi-jinping |archive-date=December 13, 2020 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In October 2021, the ] published rules restricting private capital in "news-gathering, editing, broadcasting, and distribution."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hui |first=Mary |date=October 11, 2021 |title=China wants an even more dominant state monopoly on the media |work=] |url=https://qz.com/2072074/china-seeks-full-news-monopoly-by-banning-private-capital-in-media/ |access-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011103827/https://qz.com/2072074/china-seeks-full-news-monopoly-by-banning-private-capital-in-media/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The most widely circulated magazine in the People's Republic of China is '']'', similar in format to '']''.


In 2020, the ] stated that China used coronavirus prevention measures, intimidation and visa curbs to limit foreign reporting.<ref name="rapid decline in media freedom" /> According to ], in December 2022, the ] issued a directive stating that in order to obtain credentials as a professional journalist, they must pass a national exam and "...must support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, conscientiously study, publicize and implement Xi Jinping's thoughts on the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, resolutely implement the party's theory, line, principles and policies, and adhere to the correct political direction and public opinion guidance."<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 January 2023 |title=China forces journalists to take exam to demonstrate loyalty, political correctness |work=] |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-journalist-exam-01122023163055.html |access-date=12 January 2023 |archive-date=January 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112214155/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-journalist-exam-01122023163055.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Regulators ==
The media and communications industry in mainland China is administered by various government agencies and regulators.


Domestically, all journalists must study Xi Jinping Thought through the '']'' app in order for them to renew their press credentials.<ref name=":02">{{cite web |date=23 May 2023 |title=China |url=https://rsf.org/en/country/china |publisher=] |access-date=July 21, 2023 |archive-date=June 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619213202/https://rsf.org/en/country/china |url-status=live }}</ref> Journalists are instructed to "correctly guide public opinion."<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=July 20, 2023 |title=How China trains its journalists to report "correctly" |newspaper=] |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2023/07/20/how-china-trains-its-journalists-to-report-correctly |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-07-21 |issn=0013-0613 |archive-date=July 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721180321/https://www.economist.com/china/2023/07/20/how-china-trains-its-journalists-to-report-correctly |url-status=live }}</ref>
*] - administers and overseer the administration of state-owned enterprises involved in the radio, television and broadcasting industry.


== Forms of media ==
*] - administers the physical communications infrastructure and the Internet service providers.
] posted on a newspaper display board in ]]]


=== Newspapers and journals ===
*] - administers the newspaper, periodical, video and audio media and news industry.
During the early period of the Cultural Revolution, the number of newspapers declined while independent publications by mass political organizations grew.<ref name=":0" /> Mao encouraged these independent publications.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walder |first=Andrew G. |date=2016-01-01 |title=Rebellion of the Cadres: The 1967 Implosion of the Chinese Party-State |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/683125 |journal=The China Journal |volume=75 |pages=103 |doi=10.1086/683125 |s2cid=146977237 |issn=1324-9347 |access-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207165028/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/683125 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to ], the number of newspapers dropped from 343 in 1965, to 49 in 1966, and then to a 20th-century low of 43 in 1967.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Volland |first=Nicolai |date=2021 |title="Liberating the Small Devils": Red Guard Newspapers and Radical Publics, 1966–1968 |journal=] |language=en |volume=246 |pages=355 |doi=10.1017/S0305741021000424 |issn=0305-7410 |s2cid=235452119|doi-access=free }}</ref> At the same time, the number of publications by mass organizations such as Red Guards grew to an estimated number as high as 10,000.<ref name=":0" />


The number of newspapers in mainland China has increased from 43—virtually all CCP newspapers—in 1968 to 382 in 1980 and more than 2,200 today. By one official estimate, there are now more than 7,000 magazines and journals in the country. The number of copies of daily and weekly newspapers and magazines in circulation grew fourfold between the mid-1960s and the mid-to-late 1980s, reaching 310 million by 1987.<ref name="cia">{{Cite web |title=The Chinese Media: More Autonomous and Diverse—Within Limits |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/the-chinese-media-more-autonomous-and-diverse-within-limits/copy_of_1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114233822/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/the-chinese-media-more-autonomous-and-diverse-within-limits/copy_of_1.htm |archive-date=January 14, 2009 |access-date=2018-03-13 |publisher=]}}</ref>
*]'s Cyber Police force - agency for regulating online content and investigation of Internet fraud, scams and pornography.


These figures, moreover, underreport actual circulation, because many publishers use their own distribution networks rather than official dissemination channels and also deliberately understate figures to circumvent taxation. In addition, some 25,000 ]s and hundreds of individual ]s produce and sell unofficial material—mostly ] and pornography but also political and ] journals.<ref name="factsanddetails.com">{{cite web|url=http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=234&catid=7&subcatid=43|access-date=2010-04-26|title=Chinese Newspapers and Magazines and Their Battle Against Corruption and Censorship|website=Facts and Details|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710222218/http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=234&catid=7&subcatid=43|archive-date=2011-07-10}}</ref> China has many newspapers but the front runners are all State-run: the ''People's Daily'', '']'', '']'' and the '']''. The two primary news agencies in China are Xinhua News Agency and the ]. Xinhua was authorized to censor and edit the news of the foreign agencies in 2007. Some{{who|date=September 2013}} saw the power of Xinhua as making the press freedom weak and it allowed Xinhua to control the news market fully.<ref name="factsanddetails.com"/>
== Media reform ==
The media in mainland China also are becoming more autonomous and more diverse. Since ]'s death in 1976 and the subsequent emergence of ] (who died in February 1997) as the country's paramount leader, an overall climate of economic and social reform in mainland China has been reflected in media content.


The diversity in ] media is partly because most ] outlets no longer receive heavy subsidies from the government, and are expected to cover their expenses through commercial advertising.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Yuezhi |title=Media, Market, and Democracy in China: Between the Party Line and the Bottom Line |date=1998 |publisher=] |isbn=0-252-02375-7 |location=Urbana |oclc=37213472}}</ref> State-owned newspapers which are "commercialized" or "market-oriented" (meaning that they rely on advertising revenues and retail sales) also have greater latitude in their content.<ref name=":Yi">{{Cite book |last=Yi |first=Guolin |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=] |year=2024 |isbn=9789087284411 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |chapter=From "Seven Speak-Nots" to "Media Surnamed Party": Media in China from 2012 to 2022 |jstor=jj.15136086 |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}}</ref>{{Rp|page=58}}
A prime example of the liberalisation has been the party's flagship newspaper, People's Daily, which had been rigidly controlled under Mao, used against his enemies, and copied verbatim by every other newspaper in the country during the ]. This leading daily was reformed and enlivened in the late 1970s and early-to-middle 1980s by then editor-in-chief ]. Hu expanded the paper's size and coverage, encouraged public criticism through letters to the editor, called for promulgation of a press law to spell out journalists' rights, and introduced a sprightlier writing style.


Senior executives in local media are appointed by local governments.<ref name=":0222">{{Cite book |last=Li |first=David Daokui |title=China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict |date=2024 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0393292398 |location=New York, NY |author-link=David Daokui Li}}</ref>{{Rp|page=73}}
Nevertheless, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that China "continues to be the world's leading jailer of journalists," with 42 imprisoned journalists at the end of 2004, and accuses private companies, both foreign and domestic, of having been complacent toward or complicit with government censorship.<ref name=hottype>Michael Miner, Hot Type, ], week of October 14, 2005
</ref> Also, in their ''Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007 '', ] ranked China 163rd (or 7th from bottom) in terms of press freedom.<ref>, ], retrieved 2007-10-23</ref> ] issued a report in 2006 claiming that the Internet is still closely monitored by the state, with access to websites and publications critical of the government being restricted, as well as foreign satellite television and radio broadcasts being censored. <ref name=esarey2006>Esarey, Ashley. "Speak No Evil: Mass Media Control in Contemporary China." Freedom House Special Report, February 2006</ref>

In preparation of the ] in 2007, new restrictions were placed on all sectors of the press, Internet-users, bloggers, website managers, foreign journalist, more than 30 of which have been arrested since the start of the year. In addition, a thousand discussion forums and websites have been shut down, and "a score of dissidents" have been imprisoned since July 2007.<ref> , ], October 15, 2007</ref>

In efforts to stem growing unrest in China, the propaganda chief of the State Council, Hua Qing, announced in the ] that the government was drafting a new press law thatwould lessen government involvement in the news media. In the editorial, President Hu Jintao was said to have visited the People's Daily offices and said that large scale public incidents should be "accurately, objectively and uniformly reported, with no tardiness, deception, incompleteness or distortion".<ref>, ''The Telegraph'', November 12, 2008.</ref> Recent reports by Chinese media indicate a gradual release from party control. For example, the detention of anti-government petitioners placed in mental institutions was reported in a state newspaper, later criticised in an editoral by the English language ].<ref>, China Daily, December 9, 2008.</ref><ref>, AFP, December 9, 2008.</ref> Scholars and journalists believe that such reports are a small sign of opening up in the media.<ref>, Washington Post, December 28, 2008.</ref>

=== Diversified content ===
The media's growing autonomy has been reflected in their increasingly diversified content. Since the late 1970s, despite periodic reversals, media in mainland China have frequently criticized party cadres and have published debates on such fundamental issues as the ], ], and universal human rights. They also have reported on a myriad of previously untouched social and lifestyle subjects. The only inviolable restrictions appear to be an unwritten ban on challenges to the party's right to rule and to the legitimacy and decision-making authority of top party leaders.


=== Talk radio === === Talk radio ===
As of 1997 there were over 100 talk radio stations throughout the Shanghai area.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hazelbarth |first=Todd |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003251576 |title=The Chinese media: more autonomous and diverse--within limits: an intelligence monograph |date=1997 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency, Center for the Study of Intelligence |location=Langley, Va. |access-date=December 9, 2021 |archive-date=December 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209004034/https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003251576 |url-status=live }}</ref>
] in mainland China allows a much freer exchange of views than other media formats. In effect, talk radio has shifted the ] from authorities addressing the people to people addressing the authorities. {{Reference necessary|1=For example, until 1991 the 14 million inhabitants of ] were served by only one radio station&mdash;Radio Shanghai&mdash;which primarily aired predictable, pro-government ]. Today, there are over 100 talk radio stations throughout the Shanghai area.}}


=== Magazines and journals === === Internet ===
{{internet}}
Magazines and journals published in mainland China also have become much less inhibited in their coverage. These publications appear to enjoy more freedom than newspapers, which in turn have more leeway than radio (other than talk radio) and television. Magazines now print internal police reports on jailings of religious leaders and other dissidents. The State is unwilling to shut down such publications because it worries about public reaction, is anxious to avoid drawing more popular attention to the magazines, and knows that its own resources are already stretched thin.
{{Main article|Internet in China}}
{{further|Internet censorship in China}}


China has the largest number of internet users in the world, as of at least 2022.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last=Roach |first=Stephen |url= |title=Accidental Conflict: America, China, and the Clash of False Narratives |date=2022 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-300-26901-7 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv2z0vv2v |jstor=j.ctv2z0vv2v |author-link=Stephen S. Roach |s2cid=252800309}}</ref>{{Rp|page=105}} The internet in China is heavily censored with limitations on public access to international media and non-sanctioned Chinese media.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Economy |first1=Elizabeth C. |date=29 June 2018 |title=The great firewall of China: Xi Jinping's internet shutdown |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/29/the-great-firewall-of-china-xi-jinpings-internet-shutdown |url-status=live |access-date=27 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010172129/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/29/the-great-firewall-of-china-xi-jinpings-internet-shutdown |archive-date=October 10, 2019}}</ref> The main bodies for internet control are the ], a CCP body established in 2014,<ref name="Freedom House 2017" /> and the Cyberspace Administration of China, which is under the Cyberspace Affairs Commission.<ref name="Freedom House 2017" /> Additionally, the ]'s Cyber Police force is responsible for ], regulating online content, and investigation of Internet fraud, scams, pornography, separatism, and extremism.<ref name="Freedom House 2017" />
Chinese journalists in Hong Kong on occasion have written politically controversial articles for mainland intellectual journals without encountering problems. Such opportunities have abounded because of the range of publications on the ] and because party officials there are too busy with weightier matters to review such journals systematically.


=== Greater prosperity and literacy === === Satellite receivers ===
The administration of satellite receivers falls under the jurisdiction of the National Radio and Television Administration, which stipulates that foreign satellite televisions channels may only be received at high-end hotels and the homes and workplaces of foreigners. Foreign satellite televisions channels may seek approval to broadcast, but must be "friendly toward China." Foreign television news channels are, in theory, ineligible for distribution in China.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CECC: Freedom of Expression -- Laws and Regulations |url=http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/exp/explaws.php |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=webarchive.loc.gov |publisher=] |archive-date=June 23, 2004 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20040623205930/http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/exp/explaws.php |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>
Mainland China's rapid ] development, as well as ]al advances leading to greater ], have been important reasons for the dramatic expansion of the media and the diversification of coverage.


Home satellite dishes are officially illegal. Black market satellite dishes are nonetheless prolific, numbering well into the tens of millions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fletcher |first=Owen |date=April 22, 2010 |title=Illegal Satellite TV in China Brings CNN to the Masses |work=] |agency=IDG News Service |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/194755/illegal_satellite_tv_in_china_brings_cnn_to_the_masses.html |url-status=live |access-date=September 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501230404/http://www.pcworld.com/article/194755/illegal_satellite_tv_in_china_brings_cnn_to_the_masses.html |archive-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> Chinese authorities engage in regular crackdowns to confiscate and dismantle illicit dishes, expressing concerns both over the potential for copyright infringements and over their ability receive "reactionary propaganda."<ref>{{cite news |author=Pang Geping |date=Oct 17, 2008 |title=China's fight against the sale of illegal satellite receivers achieves significant results |work=People's Daily Online}}{{verify source|date=March 2020|reason=An online source with no URL?}}</ref>
* Per capita ], as measured in 1990 yuan, has increased fourfold since 1980. Rising disposable incomes have freed many Chinese from worrying about the basics of survival and provided them the wherewithal to purchase more television sets, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, and, more recently, ]es and ]s.


=== CCP internal media ===
* Rising literacy rates have produced tens of millions of additional readers in the past decade, creating ever-expanding markets for the print media. According to UN statistics, Mainland China's adult literacy rate rose from 65.5 percent in 1982 to 81.5 percent in 1995.
{{Main|Internal media of the Chinese Communist Party}}
Much of the information collected by the Chinese mainstream media is published in ]s (internal, limited circulation ]s prepared for the high-ranking government officials), not in the public outlets.<ref>Roger V. Des Forges, Ning Luo, Yen-bo Wu, ''Chinese democracy and the crisis of 1989: Chinese and American reflections'', SUNY Press, 1993, {{ISBN|0-7914-1269-5}}, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805211135/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bcl8jLxcXboC&pg=PA299|date=August 5, 2020}}</ref> ] documents in ''Media Control in China'' that there are many grades and types of internal documents . Many are restricted to a certain level of official&nbsp;– such as county level, provincial level or down to a certain level of official in a ministry. Some Chinese journalists, including Xinhua correspondents in foreign countries, write for both the mass media and the internal media. The level of classification is tied to the administrative levels of CCP and government in China. The higher the administrative level of the issuing office, generally the more secret the document is. In local government the issuing grades are province , region (or city directly subordinate to a province) and county ; grades within government organs are ministry , bureau and office ; in the military corps , division , and regiment . The most authoritative documents are drafted by the ] to convey instructions from CCP leaders. Documents with Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Document at the top in red letters are the most authoritative.<ref>{{cite web |title=Media Control in China: New edition released |url=http://hrichina.org/public/contents/article?revision%5fid=29582&item%5fid=29576 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313020226/http://hrichina.org/public/contents/article?revision_id=29582&item_id=29576 |archive-date=2007-03-13 |access-date=February 4, 2007}}<br />{{cite book |url=http://ir2008.org/PDF/initiatives/Internet/Media-Control_Chinese.pdf |title=Media Control in China |date=2004 |publisher=Human Rights in China |language=zh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621105423/http://ir2008.org/PDF/initiatives/Internet/Media-Control_Chinese.pdf |archive-date=2007-06-21 |url-status=dead}}<br />{{cite book |author=He Qinglian |url=https://www.hrichina.org/sites/default/files/PDFs/Reports/HRIC-Fog-of-Censorship.pdf |title=The Fog of Censorship:Media Control in China |date=2008 |publisher=Human Rights in China |isbn=978-0-9717356-2-0 |translator=Paul Frank |access-date=2020-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804003527/https://www.hrichina.org/sites/default/files/PDFs/Reports/HRIC-Fog-of-Censorship.pdf |archive-date=August 4, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>


=== Ideological and political trends === === Foreign media and journalists ===
China does not issue licenses to foreign companies to publish magazines or newspapers directly. Instead, it permits numerous "copyright cooperation" (or syndication) agreements between state-owned media entities and foreign partners. In these arrangements, a state-owned company effectively leases its publishing license to a foreign partner like ], which then transforms the magazine into a Chinese edition of publications like Vogue, GQ and Rolling Stone that the two entities copublish together.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zhang |first=Denni Hu,Tianwei |last2=Hu |first2=Denni |last3=Zhang |first3=Tianwei |date=2024-07-01 |title=GQ China to Part Ways With Local Publishing Partner China News Service |url=https://wwd.com/business-news/media/gq-china-part-ways-with-local-publishing-partner-china-news-service-1236476170/ |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=WWD |language=en-US |archive-date=July 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723093840/https://wwd.com/business-news/media/gq-china-part-ways-with-local-publishing-partner-china-news-service-1236476170/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":6" /> These titles subsequently undergo rigorous regulatory approval in order to get their partnership renewed. In 2006, the ] halted the approval of new foreign magazines on non-science and technology topics.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Fowler |first=Geoffrey A. |last2=Qin |first2=Juying |date=2006-04-07 |title=China curbs magazines from foreign publishers |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114439326830919892 |website=Wall Street Journal |access-date=July 23, 2024 |archive-date=July 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723093840/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114439326830919892 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Other overarching factors that are helping to make the mainland Chinese media more ] and diverse include a general decline in the influence of political ] and systems of belief; growing Chinese popular ] toward authority; increased contact with the West; greater competition in the media market; ebbing government resources; improved ] training for journalists; and new communication technologies.


In 2012, China banned ] and expelled their foreign staff due to an unfavorable report about forced labor. This was the first time since 1998 that China had expelled a major foreign media organization.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wines |first=Michael |date=2012-05-08 |title=China Expels Al Jazeera Channel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/world/asia/china-expels-al-jazeera-english-language-channel.html |access-date=2024-01-20 |work=] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508011052/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/world/asia/china-expels-al-jazeera-english-language-channel.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Al Jazeera reporter expelled from China |url=https://www.dw.com/en/al-jazeera-reporter-expelled-from-china/a-15935182 |website=www.dw.com |publisher=DW |access-date=12 April 2021 |archive-date=April 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412045237/https://www.dw.com/en/al-jazeera-reporter-expelled-from-china/a-15935182 |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Weakening of ideological shackles ===
The waning influence of ]-]-] thought has weakened the State's ability to use the media to shape public ]s and has made it harder for the authorities to penalize the media for publishing material that is not strictly consistent with Marxist theory. Although Marxism remains the official ] of the PRC, the de-emphasis of ideology has strengthened the media's hand in two fundamental ways: it has helped undercut government efforts to indoctrinate the public and micromanage the content of political and social reporting in the media, and it has opened the door for the media to pursue ] marketing practices that respond to customer wants and bring increasing financial independence from the State.


Since 2016, foreign-owned media is not allowed to publish online in China and online sale of foreign media is regulated to prevent content that may “endanger national security or cause social unrest".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-06 |title=Taobao tightens rules over sale of foreign books and magazines |url=https://www.scmp.com/tech/e-commerce/article/2076437/taobao-tightens-rules-over-sale-books-and-magazines-published |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en |archive-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240825014401/https://www.scmp.com/tech/e-commerce/article/2076437/taobao-tightens-rules-over-sale-books-and-magazines-published |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Livingston |first=Scott |date=2016-02-23 |title=A Guide To China's New Online Publishing Rules For Foreign Media |url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/02/23/a-guide-to-chinas-new-online-publishing-rules-for-foreign-media/ |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US |archive-date=July 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723093847/https://techcrunch.com/2016/02/23/a-guide-to-chinas-new-online-publishing-rules-for-foreign-media/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Other practices that are emerging in mainland China, such as ] based on verifiable data and stronger quality controls on information, also have helped dilute the impact of ideology. In a change driven by the dual need for scientists to have reliable data with which to work and for the business sector to use in making investment and commercial decisions, the State Statistical Board since the mid-1980s has gained increased power to acquire and disseminate data for media and business use, reducing or eliminating the hither to common practice in which each sector used "its own" data.


Reporting in China has become more difficult with the Chinese government increasingly interfering in the work of foreign journalists and discouraging Chinese citizens from giving interviews to the foreign press.<ref name="Guardian 2020" /> The Chinese government increasingly uses restrictions and harassment of foreign journalists as a way to punish their home country or the home country of the media organization they report for.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Davidson |first1=Helen |title=How China's strained relationship with foreign media unravelled |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/09/how-chinas-strained-relationship-with-foreign-media-unravelled |website=] |date=September 9, 2020 |access-date=12 April 2021 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505065808/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/09/how-chinas-strained-relationship-with-foreign-media-unravelled |url-status=live }}</ref> Since 2018 none of the 150 correspondents and bureau chiefs surveyed annually by the ] (FCCC) have reported an improvement in their working conditions.<ref name="rapid decline in media freedom">{{cite news |date=March 2021 |title=Foreign journalists in China see 'rapid decline in media freedom': survey |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-media/foreign-journalists-in-china-see-rapid-decline-in-media-freedom-survey-idUSKCN2AT182 |access-date=12 April 2021 |website= |work=] |archive-date=April 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412051011/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-media/foreign-journalists-in-china-see-rapid-decline-in-media-freedom-survey-idUSKCN2AT182 |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Skepticism toward authority ===
Although difficult to quantify, growing skepticism toward authority in mainland China appears to be spurring public support for media ] (often indirect and carefully couched) of the State and slowly diluting the ] of the party. This rise in skepticism is reported by informed observers to be occurring all across East Asia. Such observers point to increased publicity given to cases of official ], ], and ineptness&mdash;along with broader declines in ]s such as civility and respect&mdash;as at least partly responsible for greater media and popular doubts about ] and appointed officials as compared to the past. At the same time, public skepticism of authority can and often does include skepticism toward the media themselves. Journalists, like individuals in other sectors of the mainland Chinese society, are far less willing than in the past to submit blindly to authority. Journalists were active participants in the 1989 demonstrations that culminated in the ]. The Tiananmen episode made it all but impossible to reconcile the growing desire of mainland Chinese journalists for control over their own profession with the party's interest in not letting that happen. There have even been occasional acts of open, outright defiance of the party, though these acts remain rare.<ref>Jonathan Hassid (2008), "China's Contentious Journalists: Reconceptualizing the Media." ''Problems of Post-Communism'' 55(4), 52-61.</ref>


In 2020, the Chinese government expelled or forced the departure of at least 20 journalists. The ] said of the behavior "It's very disreputable for China, and it also shows that they have a lot to hide."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Yang |first1=William |title=Why are foreign journalists fleeing China? |url=https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-foreign-journalists-fleeing-china/a-57075732 |access-date=12 April 2021 |website=] |publisher= |archive-date=April 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412051608/https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-foreign-journalists-fleeing-china/a-57075732 |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Contact with the West ===
{{See also|Radio jamming in China}}
Closer and more varied contact with ] appears to be increasingly influencing educated urban opinion in mainland China on concepts such as a ], ], and ]. This ] is consistent with trends elsewhere in East Asia, where principles such as ] and legal guarantees of ]s are playing a growing role. Perhaps most interestingly, many mainland Chinese journalists trained or educated in the West appear to have an outlook that is much closer to Western ideals of media freedom than to the attitudes of other Chinese, although a gap persists between mainland China and the West in professionalism and in grasping the principles of ].


To foreign journalists working in China, the ruling CCP has threatened and punished them by failing to renew their credentials when they criticize the CCP's policies and ]. In March 2020, Chinese officials expelled almost all American journalists from China, accusing them and the US of trying to "impose American values" in China.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Stevenson|first1=Alexandra|last2=Ramzy|first2=Austin|date=2020-03-18|title=China Defends Expulsion of American Journalists, Accusing U.S. of Prejudice|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/world/asia/china-expels-journalists.html|access-date=2020-06-26|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407143122/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/world/asia/china-expels-journalists.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Tracy|first1=Marc|last2=Wong|first2=Edward|last3=Jakes|first3=Lara|date=2020-03-17|title=China Announces That It Will Expel American Journalists|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/business/media/china-expels-american-journalists.html|access-date=2020-06-26|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406154216/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/business/media/china-expels-american-journalists.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3075834/china-us-relations-continue-sour-beijing-says-expulsion|title=China says expulsion of US reporters may just be the start|date=March 18, 2020|website=South China Morning Post|access-date=April 7, 2020|archive-date=April 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407143122/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3075834/china-us-relations-continue-sour-beijing-says-expulsion|url-status=live}}</ref>
Virtually all foreign reporters in mainland China operate under restrictions that are considerably more severe than in most ]n countries. One result is that Western media influence on mainland Chinese media organizations as a whole is generally limited. Nonetheless, the contacts that do occur are having an impact on individual mainland Chinese journalists, according to people interviewed for this study. In particular, one observer noted that younger reporters who have measurable, if cautious, contact with the West generally show minimal trust in official sources of information, are inclined to discount propaganda, and are determined to be comprehensive in their reporting.


In August 2020, China detained ], an Australian journalist working for China Global Television Network, a Chinese state-run English television news channel, amid ].<ref name="bbc">{{Cite news |title=Cheng Lei: Why has an Australian TV anchor been detained by China? |author=Frances Mao |work=BBC News |agency=] |date=8 September 2020 |access-date=13 December 2020 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-53980706 |archive-date=December 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230174010/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-53980706 |url-status=live }}</ref> Following her arrest the only other two Australian journalists in China were placed under exit bans and only managed to leave the country with their families after the Australian authorities interceded on their behalf.<ref name="Guardian 2020">{{Cite news |last1=Hurst |first1=Daniel |title=Australian journalists forced to flee China warn political situation in country is worst since 1970s |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/26/australian-journalists-forced-to-flee-china-warn-political-situation-in-country-is-worst-since-1970s |website=] |date=September 25, 2020 |access-date=12 April 2021 |archive-date=April 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412043704/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/26/australian-journalists-forced-to-flee-china-warn-political-situation-in-country-is-worst-since-1970s |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Market competition ===
Intense ] for the media ] is among the most important factors behind the emergence of more diverse and autonomous media in China. As indicated earlier in this study, efforts by the Chinese media to respond to an increasingly demanding print and broadcast market have created an expanding spectrum of media products ranging from serious news journalism to purely entertainment stories. Monetary rewards for meeting such demands continue to grow, resulting in greater financial autonomy for the growing numbers of Chinese media firms that win sizable market shares. As a result, these companies are able to hire and retain more and better journalists, further boosting their capacity to compete. Commercialization thus has been a major liberating force for the media in China. The ] is far less able than before to wield financial leverage over the media, which have increasingly become self-supporting through ] revenues and circulation. According to one estimate, advertising in all media forms increased 35-fold between 1981 and 1992. Print ad revenues jumped ten times between 1990 and 1995&mdash;from 1.5 billion yuan to 15 billion yuan.


In December 2020, Chinese authorities detained Haze Fan, who works for the ] bureau in Beijing, on suspicion of "endangering national security".<ref name="bbg">{{Cite news |title=China Authorities Detain Bloomberg News Beijing Staff Member |last1=Gregori |first1=Reto |last2=Lim |first2=Madeleine |website=] |agency=] |date=December 11, 2020 |access-date=December 12, 2020 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-11/chinese-authorities-detain-bloomberg-news-beijing-staff-member |archive-date=December 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211232530/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-11/chinese-authorities-detain-bloomberg-news-beijing-staff-member |url-status=live }}</ref>
Television revenues also are growing dramatically: they totaled about $2 billion in 1995 and are expected to rise above $6 billion by 2005. In 1995, China Central Television earned nearly $150 million in advertising revenue, covering almost 90 percent of its total costs. In the past, radio and television tended to run well behind the print press in their news coverage. More recently, television has come under market pressure to be as timely, informative, and responsive as the print media.


In April 2021, BBC journalist ] and his family were forced to flee mainland China for the island of ] after personal attacks and disinformation from the Chinese government put them in danger. His wife is a journalist with the Irish RTÉ. The Chinese government had been angered by reporting he did on the internment camps in Xinjiang as well as a larger BBC story about forced labor in Xinjiang's cotton industry.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Graham-Harrison |first1=Emma |title=BBC journalist leaves China after Beijing criticises Uighurs coverage |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/31/bbc-journalist-john-sudworth-leaves-china-amid-criticism-of-networks-coverage |website=] |date=March 31, 2021 |access-date=12 April 2021 |archive-date=April 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412043704/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/31/bbc-journalist-john-sudworth-leaves-china-amid-criticism-of-networks-coverage |url-status=live }}</ref>
Competition from outside mainland China has further impelled domestic media organizations to become more diverse, assertive, and skeptical of official authority. For example, in order to compete against Hong Kong radio stations that could be heard in ], Guangdong radio managers created Pearl River Economic Radio (PRER) in 1986. PRER, copying Hong Kong radio's approach, began to emphasize daily life, entertainment, "celebrity" ]s, and caller phone-in segments, while eliminating ideological, preachy formats that included little information beyond what was provided by government sources. By 1987, PRER had obtained 55 percent of the Guangdong market; previously, Hong Kong radio stations had held 90 percent of this market. Local party cadre in southern China reportedly are unhappy about PRER, mainly because some of the station's commentators, as well as its talk radio programs, highlight party failures and the misdeeds of individual party members in the region.


===Citizen journalism===
The top national Chinese Communist Party papers (People's Daily, Guangming Daily, and Economic Daily)&mdash;which mostly feature party speeches, announcements, propaganda, and policy viewpoints&mdash;are steadily losing circulation and much-sought advertising revenues to evening municipal papers that have far more diverse content. For example, People's Daily's circulation fell from 3.1 million copies a day in 1990 to 2.2 million in 1995; the paper's 1994 advertising revenues were down as well. Moreover, its subscriptions consist overwhelmingly of mandatory ones by party and government organizations. Similarly, the Liberation Army Daily has become almost entirely dependent on State subsidies. Its circulation has fallen from 1.7 million in 1981 to fewer than 500,000 at present.
{{excerpt|Citizen journalism|China}}


== Communist Party control ==
By contrast, the circulation of the Xinmin Evening News, operated by the Shanghai Municipal Government, has risen from 1.3 million to 1.7 million over the same time period. The Guangzhou Daily, owned by the Guangzhou Municipal Government, doubled its circulation in six years to 600,000 in 1994, and its ad revenues also were up.
The media and communications industry in mainland China is controlled by the ].<ref name="rowman.com" /> The principal mechanism to force media outlets to comply with the CCP's requests is the vertically organized '']'' system of cadre appointments, and includes those in charge of the media industry.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Speak No Evil: Mass Media Control in Contemporary China|url=https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Speak%20No%20Evil-%20Mass%20Media%20Control%20in%20Contemporary%20China.pdf |last=Esarey |first=Ashley |date=February 2006 |publisher=]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503045157/http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Speak%20No%20Evil-%20Mass%20Media%20Control%20in%20Contemporary%20China.pdf|archive-date=May 3, 2014|access-date=May 9, 2020 |page=3}}</ref> The CCP utilizes a wide variety of tools to maintain control over news reporting including "direct ownership, accreditation of journalists, harsh penalties for online criticism, and daily directives to media outlets and websites that guide coverage of breaking news stories."<ref name="Freedom House 2017" /> National Radio and Television Administration oversees the administration of state-owned enterprises involved in the radio and television, reporting directly to the Central Propaganda Department.<ref name="Freedom House 2017" />


The Central Propaganda Department directly controls the China Media Group, which includes the China Central Television (including China Global Television), China National Radio (CNR) and China Radio International (CRI). The department also owns ''China Daily'',<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Hartig |first=Falk |title=China's Media Go Global |date=2017-11-27 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-21461-8 |editor1-last=Thussu |editor1-first=Daya Kishan |language=en |chapter=China Daily - Beijing's Global Voice? |doi=10.4324/9781315619668 |oclc=1158860903 |access-date=21 November 2020 |editor2-last=De Burgh |editor2-first=Hugo |editor3-last=Shi |editor3-first=Anbin |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pW5ADwAAQBAJ&pg=PT147 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121075431/https://books.google.com/books?id=pW5ADwAAQBAJ&pg=PT147&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3 |archive-date=21 November 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> as well as controlling many other media-related organizations such as the ].<ref name="Lam2017">{{cite book |author=Willy Wo-Lap Lam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fp4xDwAAQBAJ |title=Routledge Handbook of the Chinese Communist Party |date=18 August 2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-134-84744-0 |access-date=25 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624021300/https://books.google.com/books?id=fp4xDwAAQBAJ |archive-date=24 June 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> China News Service, another large media outlet, is run by the CCP Central Committee's ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Joske |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Joske |date=June 9, 2020 |title=The party speaks for you: Foreign interference and the Chinese Communist Party's united front system |url=https://www.aspi.org.au/report/party-speaks-you |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609000729/https://www.aspi.org.au/report/party-speaks-you |archive-date=June 9, 2020 |access-date=June 9, 2020 |publisher=] |language=en}}</ref> ] is a ministry-level institution directly under the State Council,<ref>{{Cite web |title=China's Xinhua News Agency Launches 24-Hour English TV Broadcasts |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/chinas-xinhua-news-agency-launches-24-hour-english-tv-broadcasts--97580379/120858.html |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=VOA |date=June 30, 2010 |language=en |archive-date=January 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114222448/https://www.voanews.com/a/chinas-xinhua-news-agency-launches-24-hour-english-tv-broadcasts--97580379/120858.html |url-status=live }}</ref> while ''People's Daily'' is the official newspaper of the CCP Central Committee.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gang |first=Qian |date=2020-02-24 |title=What Ails the People's Daily? |url=https://chinamediaproject.org/2020/02/24/what-ails-the-peoples-daily/ |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=China Media Project |language=en-US |archive-date=January 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114222448/https://chinamediaproject.org/2020/02/24/what-ails-the-peoples-daily/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Improvements in personnel ===
The media also have attracted and are retaining more competent people than before. Journalism is widely seen as a more promising career field than in the past, while government work has lost much of its allure as other opportunities open up. At the same time, the explosion of business and ]ial opportunities in recent years has complicated efforts by both the media and the government to attract good people. Journalism and government both face stiff competition from the relatively high salaries and profits available in the business sector. But the rising popularity and profitability of ] evening newspapers offer the prospect that higher quality, better paid jobs in journalism will expand in the years ahead.

Improved training, more education, and higher professional standards are bolstering the skills and confidence of journalists across ], better positioning media organizations to gain positions of influence in their societies. Although mainland Chinese journalists only recently have begun to participate in these opportunities, there is some evidence that such training is having an effect. Many of the young mainland Chinese journalists being trained at US and other ] and professional programs in the West have been characterized by their trainers as "smart," "aware," and devoted to the profession.

Beginning in the 1980s, it became necessary in most cases for reporters to have a college education, and often a university degree, to get good jobs with the top party newspapers. The highly profitable evening papers, sponsored in the main by municipal governments, usually also require a college education.

=== New technologies ===
Technical advances in the field of ] are undercutting the PRC Government efforts to control media content and are likely to play an even greater role in the future. In the PRC and other developing countries, even fairly basic ] present a challenge to autocratic governments intent on controlling the information their citizens can receive. For example, importing ] machines&mdash;which are frequently used to spread copies of politically incorrect material from overseas news sources, internal party domestic publications, and more obscure domestic media&mdash;is strictly illegal in mainland China, but corruption in the form of payoffs and favors to officials hinders efforts to control such imports.

==== Cable television ====
Residents of the Chinese mainland now receive more than 20 outside television channels by ], including Chinese-language services of CNN, Star TV, and the United States Information Agency. In the southern province of Guangdong, 97 percent of the households have television sets, and all&mdash;except those in a few parts of the city of Guangzhou, where reception is poor&mdash;have access to Hong Kong television through cable networks. Some local stations even intercept the signals and insert their own commercials. Beijing is unable to effectively monitor, let alone control, the illicit cable operators who have sprung up since the early 1990s. As of 1995, about 1,000 of the 3,000 cable stations in mainland China, linked to perhaps 50 million homes, were unlicensed.{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}{{Dubious|date=March 2008}}

==== Satellite dishes ====
{{Reference necessary|1=Satellite dishes in mainland China that pull in programs from Hong Kong, ], and other places are regulated}}, but government entities such as the Ministry of Machinery Industry and the military services produce such dishes outside allowable quotas and guidelines and then sell them illicitly to eager customers. Efforts by the Ministry of Radio, Film, and Television to halt this practice have been ineffective, mostly because of the large profits involved&mdash;up to 50% per dish. Indeed, the government has backtracked in its efforts to stop these practices&mdash;moving from an outright ban on satellite dishes (1993){{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}, to requiring that they be licensed (1994){{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}{{Dubious|date=March 2008}}, to specifying allowable programs and viewing hours (1995){{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}{{Dubious|date=March 2008}}.

==== Internet ====
:{{Main|Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China}}
Widening Chinese use of the ] is also undercutting government efforts to control the flow of information. According to ]'s 22nd Statistical Survey Report on the ], more than 250 million people in mainland China now have Internet access. <!--and the figure is likely to surpass one billion within four years, according to a Chinese specialist on the subject.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Four years of when? Who?-->

Since the beginning of 1996, the State has suspended all new applications from Internet service providers seeking to commence operations in the PRC; moved to put all existing Internet services under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Ministry of Electronics Industry, and the State Education Commission; and attempted&mdash;without much success&mdash;to establish ], limit the contents of ]s, and block access to certain Internet sites through ] filters. Although much of the Internet access in China is subjugate to the so-called "]", which blacklists certain websites and even blocks chat sessions, it has proven relatively ineffective{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}{{Dubious|date=March 2008}}: there are logistical problems with a firewall over such a large network, and in most instances its effects can be negated with a simple ]{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}. Government officials are worried that, as the number of Chinese homes with telephone lines grows from the present level of less than 4], the State will become totally unable to monitor Internet access at residences{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}{{Dubious|date=March 2008}}.

== Weakening of party controls ==
Over the last decade, the ways in which the Chinese Communist Party does its business&mdash;especially the introduction of ]s aimed at decentralizing power&mdash;have spurred greater media autonomy in several ways:

* The growth of "peripheral"&mdash;local and some regional&mdash;media. This trend has decentralized and dampened party oversight. In general, the farther reporters and media organizations are from Beijing and important provincial capitals, the greater their leeway.
* A shift toward administrative and legal ] of the media and away from more fluid and personal oversight. Party efforts to rely on regulations rather than whim to try to control the media&mdash;as evidenced by the dozens of directives set forth when the State Press and Publications Administration was created in 1987, and by new regulations in 1990 and 1994&mdash;probably were intended to tighten party control, making it a matter of law rather than personal relationships. In fact, however, these regulations came at a time when official resources were being stretched more thinly and individual officials were becoming less willing&mdash;and less able&mdash;to enforce regulations.
* Vicissitudes of media acceptability. Since the early 1990s, the types of media coverage deemed acceptable by the regime have risen sharply. Growing uncertainties about what is allowable and what is out of bounds sometimes work in the media's favor. Often, however, these uncertainties encourage greater self-censorship among Chinese journalists and work to the benefit of the party's media control apparatus.<ref>Jonathan Hassid (2008), "Controlling the Chinese Media: An Uncertain Business." ''Asian Survey'' 48(3), 414-430.</ref>

Provincial broadcasters increasingly are trying to identify subjects on which the party will allow them more autonomy. Recent demands&mdash;unmet thus far&mdash;by such broadcasters include seeking authority to carry international news, to contract out television and radio programming to nongovernment organizations, and to explore possibilities for quasi-private media ownership.

As State resources have become stretched more thinly, the media have found it far easier than before to print and broadcast material that falls within vaguely defined ], though again, this uncertainty can also work to the advantage of the party. Officials are too few, too busy, and often too incompetent to be able to micromanage the media as in the past. Prior to the 1990s, it was common for party and government officials to participate in the actual drafting of newspaper editorials. Now, for the most part, these officials merely discuss editorial policies with newspaper managers.

In the past, prime-time news on Chinese Central Television was routinely examined, prior to airing, by the Ministry of Radio, Film, and Television. Since 1994, however, the Ministry has ceased to prescreen CCTV news programs; now the programs are examined after they have aired. The diversity and quantity of material, moreover, have compelled officials to prioritize their reviews of broadcasts; the 7:00 p.m. news broadcasts, for instance, receive far more attention from the authorities than does the midnight news. In another manifestation of weakening government controls, recently launched news programs such as CCTV's Focal Report and Beijing Television's Express News include moderate criticisms of the party and government and explore some controversial public topics in an effort to make programs relevant to&mdash;and more popular with&mdash;viewers.

Evidently recognizing the limits on their ability to maintain tight control over an industry that has been expanding rapidly, party leaders during the last decade have publicly acknowledged the need to establish priorities. In particular, they have spoken of the high priority attached to maintaining control over the "big media"&mdash;national party papers and central and provincial TV and radio stations.

Many PRC officials appear anxious to avoid confronting the media because they are afraid they will be accused of transgressions in newspapers, in magazines, or on television or radio. As media autonomy has expanded, print and broadcast organs have tried to flex their "independence," albeit cautiously, in their coverage of State activities. Such coverage often focuses on specific government officials suspected of illegal actions, including use of their authority for personal gain.

Although the media's leverage stems mostly from officials' worries that rival ]s will use such publicity against them, it also appears to reflect growing respect within Chinese officialdom for the emerging influence of public opinion. A case in point is the Beijing Youth Daily. This paper has been punished for criticizing government actions and policies, but the authorities have stopped short of shutting it down, almost certainly out of reluctance to antagonize the paper's expanding readership.

=== Party resistance to media autonomy ===
Although the trend in mainland China clearly is toward greater media autonomy and diversity and away from government control and intimidation, crosscurrents of resistance persist. Powerful domestic institutions like the ] and the ] still constrain efforts by the media to become more autonomous and politically diverse.

=== Impact of Tiananmen crackdown ===
Journalists were actively involved in the ] demonstrations in the spring of 1989. About 1,000 of the 1,600 editors and staffers at People's Daily joined the demonstrations. Reporters also took part in marches and gatherings across the country from early May until early June, when the crackdown began. Journalists were among the principal targets of the suppression: hundreds of them were arrested or fired, and thousands, including more than 500 staffers at People's Daily, were forced repeatedly to write lengthy self-criticisms and to participate in much-loathed small group meetings. According to one account, more than 20 journalists were still in prisons as of mid-1996.

Beyond those arrested for their involvement in protests, the party also decided to punish&mdash;mainly by demotion or transfer&mdash;one percent of all staff members in major Beijing media offices as a warning to others. Although the Tiananmen crackdown damaged morale among mainland Chinese journalists, journalists' spirits recently have begun to rebound as a result of increasing party tolerance of (and inattention toward) diversity in the media, as well as improvements in journalists' salaries and benefits.(32)

=== Efforts to reinforce party controls ===
Beijing still tries to compel the media to report favorably on government activities and to limit negative coverage of official policies and actions.<ref>An, Alex and An, David, "Media control and the Erosion of an Accountable Party-State in China." ''China Brief'', October 7, 2008. </ref> Neither the ]&mdash;promulgated in 1982&mdash;nor the Communist Party-directed judiciary provides the media with meaningful legal protection from the State. Although Article 35 of the Constitution guarantees the citizens the rights of free speech, press, and assembly, in reality citizens do not have such rights. The authorities in Beijing continue to give precedence to the principles enunciated in the Constitution's preamble&mdash;including upholding Marxist-Leninist-Maoist thought and the party's leadership role.

The lack of an independent ] further hamstrings efforts by the media to mount court challenges against restrictions on media activities. The party appoints judges, and the position of the courts is merely equal to&mdash;not above&mdash;that of the ]. Media outrage over nationally publicized criminal cases can also bring pressure on members of the judiciary to act in ways that might be contrary to their initial desires and to the best interests of the defendants.<ref>Benjamin L. Liebman (2005), "Watchdog or Demagogue? The Media in the Chinese Legal System." ''Columbia Law Review'' 105(1), 1-157.</ref>


The government uses a variety of approaches to retain some control over the media: The government uses a variety of approaches to retain some control over the media:
* It requires that newspapers be registered and attached to a government ministry, institute, research facility, labor group, or other State-sanctioned entity. Entrepreneurs cannot establish newspapers or magazines under their own names, although they reportedly have had some success in setting up research institutes and then creating publications attached to those bodies.
* It still occasionally jails or fines journalists for unfavorable reporting.
* It imposes other punishments when it deems that criticism has gone too far. For example, it shut down the magazine ''Future and Development'' in 1993 for publishing two articles calling for greater democracy in mainland China, and it forced the firing of the '']''{{'}}s editor for aggressively covering misdeeds and acts of poor judgment by ].
* It continues to make clear that criticism of certain fundamental policies—such as those on PRC ] over territories under ] administration and ] and on Hong Kong's future in the wake of the transfer of Hong Kong sovereignty on July 1, 1997&nbsp;—are off limits.
* It has set up numerous official journalists' associations—the largest is the All-China Journalist Federation, with more than 400,000 members—so that no single entity can develop major autonomous power.
* It holds weekly meetings with top newspaper editors to direct them as to what news items they want focused upon and which stories they want to go unreported. The controversial closure of the '']'' journal was generally unreported in mainland China due to government orders.
* It has maintained a system of uncertainty surrounding the boundaries of acceptable reporting, encouraging self-censorship. One media researcher has written that "it is the very arbitrariness of this control regime that cows most journalists into more conservative coverage."{{sfnp|Hassid|2008b|p=415|ps=. "Controlling the Chinese Media"}}


== Provincial and local media ==
* It requires that newspapers be registered and attached to a government ministry, institute, research facility, labor group, or other State-sanctioned organization. Entrepreneurs cannot establish newspapers or magazines under their own names, although they reportedly have had some success in setting up research institutes and then creating publications attached to those bodies.
Local investigative reporting is sometimes viewed favorably by central authorities because of its use in identifying local problems or administrative missteps.<ref name=":9222">{{Cite book |last=Šebok |first=Filip |title=Contemporary China: a New Superpower? |publisher=] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-03-239508-1 |editor-last=Kironska |editor-first=Kristina |chapter=Social Control and Propaganda |pages=99–113 |doi=10.4324/9781003350064-11 |editor-last2=Turscanyi |editor-first2=Richard Q.}}</ref>{{Rp|page=107}} Provincial media generally have greater latitude in investigative reporting in areas other than the province where they are based, as local authorities lack direct leverage.<ref name=":9222" />{{Rp|page=107}}
* It still occasionally ]s or fines journalists for unfavorable reporting.
* It imposes other punishments when it deems that criticism has gone too far. For example, it shut down the magazine Future and Development in 1993 for publishing two articles calling for greater democracy in mainland China, and it forced the firing of the Beijing Youth Daily's editor for aggressively covering misdeeds and acts of poor judgment by party cadre.
* It continues to make clear that criticism of certain fundamental policies&mdash;such as those on PRC ] over territories under ] administration and ] and on Hong Kong's future in the wake of the transfer of Hong Kong sovereignty on 1 July 1997 &mdash;are off limits.
* It has set up numerous official journalists' associations&mdash;the largest is the All-China Journalist Federation, with more than 400,000 members&mdash;so that no single organization can develop major autonomous power.
* It holds weekly meetings with top newspaper editors to direct them as to what news items they want focused upon and which stories they want to go unreported. The controversial closure of the ] journal was generally unreported in mainland China due to government orders.
* It has maintained a system of uncertainty surrounding the boundaries of acceptable reporting, encouraging self-censorship. One media researcher has written that "it is the very arbitrariness of this control regime that cows most journalists into more conservative coverage."<ref>Hassid (2008), "Controlling the Chinese Media," p415.</ref>


In June 2024, the 2007 Emergency Response Law was amended, stating that local governments must "guide news media organisations and support them in reporting and control of discussions" regarding reporting on accidents and disasters.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2024-07-07 |title=Revised Chinese law sparks concerns over tighter news reporting controls during emergencies |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/new-chinese-law-sparks-concerns-over-tighter-news-reporting-controls-during-emergencies |access-date=2024-07-08 |work=] |language=en |issn=0585-3923 |archive-date=July 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240708212719/https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/new-chinese-law-sparks-concerns-over-tighter-news-reporting-controls-during-emergencies |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Liz |last2=Wang |first2=Ethan |date=June 29, 2024 |title=China tightens law on handling disasters including information flows |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-passes-revised-emergency-response-law-improve-protection-lives-property-2024-06-28/ |access-date=July 8, 2024 |work=]}}</ref>
The government also exploits a longstanding hierarchical relationship among Chinese print and broadcast entities in seeking to maintain some control over the media. It appoints the leaders of the most powerful media institutions, and then uses these organizations to try to dominate the rest of the media countrywide.


== International operations ==
== Structure of media in mainland China ==
{{see also|Belt and Road News Network}}
=== Mainland China's media network ===
As of 2012 CCTV and Xinhua had greatly expanded international coverage and operations particularly in Africa.<ref name="NYT81612">{{cite news |author=Jacobs |first=Andrew |date=August 16, 2012 |title=Pursuing Soft Power, China Puts Stamp on Africa's News |newspaper=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/world/africa/chinas-news-media-make-inroads-in-africa.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817151543/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/world/africa/chinas-news-media-make-inroads-in-africa.html |archive-date=August 17, 2012}}</ref>
] (the New China News Agency) and People's Daily, the two most important print media, have status as separate government ministries; their directors sit on the party's Central Committee. Just below, hierarchically, are the two national newspapers under the control of the Propaganda Department&mdash;the ] and the English-language'' China Daily''. These entities have the rank of vice ministries, as does the State Council-controlled Economic Daily. The National Propaganda Department appoints publishers, chief editors, and other key officials of the above-mentioned newspapers&mdash;plus a few others&mdash;while provincial and local party leaders make similar appointments for party papers in their jurisdictions.


In 2021, the United Kingdom expelled three ] (MSS) officers who had been posing as journalists with Chinese media agencies.<ref>{{Cite news |title=UK expels Chinese spies posing as journalists: Report |website=] |publisher= |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/5/uk-expels-chinese-spies-posing-as-journalists-report |access-date=12 April 2021 |archive-date=April 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412045052/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/5/uk-expels-chinese-spies-posing-as-journalists-report |url-status=live }}</ref>
In many ways, Xinhua is the fuel propelling mainland China's print media. Perhaps unique in the world because of its role, size, and reach, Xinhua reports directly to the party's Propaganda Department; employs more than 10,000 people&mdash;as compared to about 1,300 for the UK's Reuters, for example; has 107 bureaus worldwide both collecting information on other countries and dispensing information about mainland China; and maintains 31 bureaus in China&mdash;one for each province plus a military bureau. In as much as most of the newspapers in mainland China cannot afford to station correspondents abroad&mdash;or even in every province in mainland China&mdash;they rely on Xinhua feeds to fill their pages. People's Daily, for example, uses Xinhua material for approximately 25 percent of its stories.(b) Xinhua is a publisher as well as a news agency&mdash;it owns more than 20 newspapers and a dozen magazines, and it prints in Chinese, English, and four other languages.


===Chinese media in Africa===
Like other government entities, Xinhua is feeling the pinch of reduced State financial subsidies. Beijing has been cutting funding to the news agency by an average of seven percent per year over the past three years, and State funds currently cover only about 40 percent of Xinhua's costs. As a result, the agency is raising revenues through involvement in public relations, construction, and information service businesses.
{{see also|StarTimes}}
Already in 1948, the Xinhua News Agency established its first overseas bureau in sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Yu-Shan. |title=The rise of China's state-led media dynasty in Africa |journal=SAIIA Occasional Paper |date=2012 |volume=117 |page=11 |url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/146130/saia_sop_%20117_wu_20120618.pdf |access-date=May 14, 2020 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803220346/https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/146130/saia_sop_%20117_wu_20120618.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Initially, the Chinese media presence sought to promote ] and "played an important role in assisting the government in developing diplomatic relations with newly independent African countries".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Xin |first1=Xin |title=Xinhua News Agency in Africa |journal=] |date=2009 |volume=1 |issue=3 |page=264 |doi=10.1386/jams.1.3.363/1}}</ref> Africa-China media relations became more sophisticated when the ] (FOCAC) was founded in 2000.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Yu-Shan |title=China's media and public diplomacy approach in Africa: illustrations from South Africa |journal=Chinese Journal of Communication |date=2016 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=82–83 |doi=10.1080/17544750.2016.1139606|hdl=2263/52448 |s2cid=147475596 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In 2006 during the first FOCAC Summit in ], the Chinese government presented its vision on media cooperation with Africa. Media exchange should "enhance mutual understanding and enable objective and balanced media coverage of each other".<ref>{{cite journal |title=White Paper on China's African Policy, January 2006 |journal=China Report |date=2007 |volume=43 |issue=3 |page=382 |doi=10.1177/000944550704300309|s2cid=220876819 }}</ref> Through FOCAC, the Chinese influence on the African mediasphere has increased. In 2006, China Radio International (CRI) was established in ] followed by the launch of the Chinese state-run ] and the establishment of an African edition of ''China Daily'' in 2012.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shubo |first1=Li |last2=Rønning |first2=Helge |title=Half-orchestrated, half freestyle: Soft power and reporting Africa in China |journal=Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies |date=2013 |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=104–105 |doi=10.1080/02560054.2013.845591|s2cid=142930604 }}</ref> Additionally, China offers workshops and exchange programs to African journalists to introduce them to Chinese politics, culture, and economy as well as the Chinese media system.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last1=Banda |first1=Fackson |title=China in the African mediascape: a critical injection |journal=Journal of African Media Studies |date=2009 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=352–353 |doi=10.1386/jams.1.3.343/1}}</ref> China does not only invest in African media outlets and journalists but also their digital infrastructure. The Chinese government grants financial and technical aid to African countries to expand their communications structure.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Mackinnon |first1=Amy |title=For Africa, Chinese-Built Internet Is Better Than No Internet at All |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/for-africa-chinese-built-internet-is-better-than-no-internet-at-all/ |website=Foreign Policy |access-date=11 May 2020 |archive-date=April 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423185928/https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/for-africa-chinese-built-internet-is-better-than-no-internet-at-all/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


Scholars argue that through increased media presence and investments, the Chinese government tries to dominate the ] in Africa and expand its ].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Fei |last2=Li |first2=Shubo |last3=Rønning |first3=Helge |last4=Tjønneland |first4=Elling |title=The voice of China in Africa: media, communication technologies and image-building |journal=Chinese Journal of Communication |date=2016 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=3 |doi=10.1080/17544750.2016.1141615|doi-access=free |hdl=11250/2475305 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Research shows that Chinese news media in Africa portray China-Africa relations in an extremely positive light with little space for criticism.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gagliardone |first1=Iginio |title=China as a persuader: CCTV Africa's first steps in the African mediasphere |journal=Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies |date=2013 |volume=34 |issue=3 |page=34 |doi=10.1080/02560054.2013.834835|s2cid=141864152 }}</ref> Hence, China tries to shape African narratives in its favor.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grassi |first1=Sergio |title=Changing the Narrative: China's Media Offensive in Africa |date=2014 |publisher=Friedrich Ebert Stiftung |location=Berlin |page=5 |url=https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/10700.pdf |access-date=May 15, 2020 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803210317/https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/10700.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Chinese media influence in Africa is still relatively new and therefore the consequences of Chinese media engagement in Africa remain unclear.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Yu-Shan. |title=The rise of China's state-led media dynasty in Africa |journal=SAIIA Occasional Paper |date=2012 |volume=117 |page=18 |url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/146130/saia_sop_%20117_wu_20120618.pdf |access-date=May 14, 2020 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803220346/https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/146130/saia_sop_%20117_wu_20120618.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite China's efforts to support the African media infrastructure and promote China-Africa relations, African perceptions of China vary significantly and are complex.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ojo |first1=Tokunbo |date=2019 |title=Through their Eyes: Reporters' Challenges in Covering China-Africa Relations |journal=] |volume=14 |issue=10 |pages=11–12 |doi=10.1080/17512786.2019.1692689 |s2cid=213863509}}</ref> In general, a case study of ] shows that China is perceived as a powerful trading nation and economic investments result in a positive Chinese image.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Yu-Shan |title=China's media and public diplomacy approach in Africa: illustrations from South Africa |journal=Chinese Journal of Communication |date=2016 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=89–92 |doi=10.1080/17544750.2016.1139606|hdl=2263/52448 |s2cid=147475596 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Yet, South African journalists are critical of Chinese media intervention and concerned about practices of Chinese journalism.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wasserman |first1=Herman |title=China's "soft power" and its influence on editorial agendas in South Africa |journal=Chinese Journal of Communication |date=2016 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=13–15 |doi=10.1080/17544750.2015.1049953|s2cid=142506252 }}</ref> Likewise, a study about ] reveals that journalists are worried about media cooperation with China because it poses a threat to the ].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nassanga |first1=Goretti L. |last2=Makara |first2=Sabiti |title=Perceptions of Chinese presence in Africa as reflected in the African media: case study of Uganda |journal=Chinese Journal of Communication |date=2016 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=34| doi=10.1080/17544750.2015.1078386|s2cid=143016290 }}</ref> To conclude, the success of Chinese media influence in Africa depends on whether they can prevail in the African market and control the narrative in their favor.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wasserman |first1=Herman |title=China's "soft power" and its influence on editorial agendas in South Africa |journal=Chinese Journal of Communication |date=2016 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=10–11 |doi=10.1080/17544750.2015.1049953|s2cid=142506252 }}</ref>
In the past, Xinhua was able to attract the top young journalists emerging from the universities or otherwise newly entering the field, but it can no longer do so as easily because of the appeal and resources of other newspapers and periodicals and the greater glamour of television and radio jobs. For example, midlevel reporters for the Xinmin Evening News often are given an apartment, whereas at Xinhua and People's Daily this benefit is reserved for the most senior journalists.


=== Overseas Chinese media ===
Like many other media organizations, Xinhua struggled to find the "right line" to use in covering the Tiananmen Square events of April-June 1989. Although more cautious than People's Daily in its treatment of sensitive topics during that period&mdash;such as how to commemorate reformist Communist Party leader ]'s April 1989 death, the then ongoing ] in Beijing and elsewhere, and basic questions of press freedom and individual rights&mdash;Xinhua gave some favorable coverage to demonstrators and intellectuals who were questioning top party leaders. Even so, many Xinhua reporters were angry with top editors for not going far enough and for suppressing stories about the Tiananmen Square crackdown. For several days after the violence on 4 June, almost no one at Xinhua did any work, and journalists demonstrated inside the Agency's Beijing compound.
{{Expand section|date=May 2008}}
{{Further|Chinese censorship abroad}}
In 2001, the ] reported that China was buying into Chinese-language media in the U.S., offering free content, and leveraging advertising dollars—all to manipulate coverage.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Mei Duzhe |date=November 21, 2001 |title=How China's Government is Attempting to Control Chinese Media in America |url=http://www.specialtribunal.org/downloads/JamestownFoundation_ChinaBrief_ChinaControlsMediaInUSA.pdf |url-status=usurped |magazine=China Brief |publisher=] |volume=1 |issue=10 |pages=1–4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040927053305/http://www.specialtribunal.org/downloads/JamestownFoundation_ChinaBrief_ChinaControlsMediaInUSA.pdf |archive-date=2004-09-27}}</ref> '']'' reported in 2018 that the China Watch newspaper supplement was being carried by '']'' along with other ] such as ''], ]'' and '']''.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Lim |first1=Louisa |author-link=Louisa Lim |last2=Bergin |first2=Julia |date=2018-12-07 |title=Inside China's audacious global propaganda campaign |language=en-GB |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/dec/07/china-plan-for-global-media-dominance-propaganda-xi-jinping |url-status=live |access-date=2020-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310193251/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/dec/07/china-plan-for-global-media-dominance-propaganda-xi-jinping |archive-date=March 10, 2020 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>


=== International communication centers ===
=== The role of the PRC internal media ===
{{Excerpt|International communication center|only=paragraph|paragraphs=1}}
The mainland Chinese media's internal publication system, in which certain journals are published exclusively for government and party officials, provides information and analysis not generally available to the public. The State values these internal reports because they contain much of mainland China's most sensitive, controversial, and high-quality investigative journalism.


== International rankings ==
Xinhua and many other media organizations produce reports for the "internal" journals. Informed observers note that journalists generally like to write for the internal publications&mdash;typically, only the most senior or most capable print and broadcast reporters are given such opportunities&mdash;because they can write less polemical and more comprehensive stories without having to omit unwelcome details as is commonly done in the print media directed to the general public. A Chinese historian has claimed, as an example of such ], that only a minority of China's population are aware 30 million people starved to death in the early 1960s, because the Party has never allowed the subject to be openly explored in the media. At the time, one of the Top Secret information channels through which news of what was really happening reached a select readership of high-level decision-makers was the Ministry of Public Security's ].
{{As of|2023}}, China ranks second-to-last in terms of press freedoms in the world, according to ]' ].<ref name=":3" /> Reporters Without Borders called China "world's largest prison for journalists, and its regime conducts a campaign of repression against journalism and the right to information worldwide."<ref name=":3" />

The ] publication system follows a strict hierarchical pattern designed to facilitate party control. A publication called Reference Information (Cankao Ziliao)&mdash;which includes translated articles from abroad as well as news and commentary by senior Xinhua reporters&mdash;is delivered by Xinhua personnel, rather than by the national mail system, to officials at the working level and above. A three-to-ten-page report called Internal Reference (Neibu Cankao) is distributed to officials at the ministerial level and higher. The most highly classified Xinhua internal reports, known as "redhead reference" (Hong Tou Cankao) reports, are issued occasionally to the top dozen or so party and government officials.

] documents in chapter four of ''Media Control in China'',<ref> published in Chinese in 2004 by Human Rights in China, New York. Revised edition 2006 published by Liming Cultural Enterprises of Taiwan. Accessed February 4, 2007.</ref> There are many grades and types of internal documents . Many are restricted to a certain level of official – such as county level, provincial level or down to a certain level of official in a ministry. Some Chinese journalists, including Xinhua correspondents in foreign countries, write for both the mass media and the internal media. The level of classification is tied to the administrative levels of Party and government in China. The higher the administrative level of the issuing office, generally the more secret the document is. In local government the issuing grades are province , region (or city directly subordinate to a province) and county ; grades within government organs are ministry , bureau and office ; in the military corps (, division , and regiment . The most authoritative documents are drafted by the Central Committee to convey instructions from CCP leaders. Documents with Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Document at the top in red letters are the most authoritative.

There are signs the PRC internal media publication system is breaking down as more information becomes widely available in mainland China. A Hong Kong-based political journal circulated on the Chinese mainland has questioned the need for such a system in light of mainland China's modern telecommunications and expanding contacts with the outside world. Internal publications are becoming less exclusive; some are now being sold illegally on the street and are increasingly available to anyone with money.

Some of the internal publications have changed substantially in an effort to avoid becoming ]. For example, the publication News Front&mdash;started in 1957 as a weekly tool for the Communist Party to instruct journalists on what to write&mdash;no longer was limited to that function when it reappeared after the Cultural Revolution. It continued to change gradually and is now a monthly publication that serves as a professional rather than political guide for journalists.

=== Hong Kong ===
Despite the diverse and independent press which has previously existed, and the assurances of ], apprehensions have grown among Hong Kong journalists, since ] returned to PRC sovereignty in July, 1997, that ] would curtail their freedom to write articles on mainland China not to its liking. At the launch of a joint report published by the Hong Kong Journalists Association and Article 19 in July 2001, the Chairman of the Association said: "More and more newspapers self-censor themselves because they are controlled by either a businessman with close ties to Beijing, or part of a large enterprise, which has financial interests over the border."<ref name=eroded>, ], July 02, 2001</ref>

=== Overseas Chinese press ===
{{Expand section|date=May 2008}}
In 2001 the Jamestown Foundation reported that China was buying into Chinese-language media in the U.S., offering free content, and leveraging advertising dollars—all to manipulate coverage.<ref></ref>


== See also == == See also ==
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*]
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*] *]
*]
*]
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*] *]
**'']'' **'']''
**'']'' **'']''
**'']'' **'']''
*] &mdash; monitors
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== References == == References ==
{{reflist|2}} {{Reflist|2}}


==Further reading==
== External links ==
{{Library resources box}}
* — includes list of links for current media information about China
* {{cite journal|last1=Qin|first1=Bei|last2=Strömberg|first2=David|last3=Wu|first3=Yanhui|title=Media Bias in China|journal=]|year=2018|volume=108|issue=9|pages=2442–2476|doi=10.1257/aer.20170947|s2cid=158215672|doi-access=free}}
* — News digest from media.cn
* Huang, C. "Towards a broadloid press approach: The transformation of China's newspaper industry since the 2000s." ''Journalism'' 19 (2015): 1–16. , With bibliography pages 27–33.
* &mdash; Much of the information here seems to be a summary of this monograph
*
* &mdash; Freedom House article on how the Chinese government controls mass media in China
* &mdash; by a report from the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China
* &mdash; from the Open Net Initiative http://www.opennetinitiative.net/
* a website that generates research on China's media development
* &mdash; a blog about Chinese media and advertising
* &mdash; an English News site covering China's Media industry, updated daily
* &mdash; a blog about Chinese politics and media by a former news reporter
* &mdash; Hong Kong blogger Roland Soong translates and comments on PRC mass media, often comparing PRC and western media reporting on important PRC domestic developments.
* &mdash;
* publication notice


{{Telecommunications in the People's Republic of China}} {{Telecommunications in the People's Republic of China}}
{{Television in the People's Republic of China}} {{Television in the People's Republic of China}}
{{Chinese-language radio}} {{Chinese-language radio}}
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Latest revision as of 17:54, 22 December 2024

See also: Media of Hong Kong and Media of Macau

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The mass media in the People's Republic of China primarily consists of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since the start of the 21st century, the Internet has also emerged as an important form of mass media and is under the direct supervision and control of the Chinese government and ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Media in China is strictly controlled and censored by the CCP, with the main agency that oversees the nation's media being the Central Propaganda Department of the CCP. The largest media organizations, including the China Media Group, the People's Daily, and the Xinhua News Agency, are all controlled by the CCP.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and until the 1980s, almost all media outlets in mainland China have been state-run. Privately owned media outlets only began to emerge at the onset of the Chinese economic reform, although state media continue to hold significant market share. All media continues to follow regulations imposed by the Central Propaganda Department of the CCP on subjects considered taboo by the CCP, including but not limited to the legitimacy of the party, pro-democracy movements, human rights in Tibet, the persecution of Uyghur people, pornography, and the banned religious topics, such as the Dalai Lama and Falun Gong. All journalists are required to study Xi Jinping Thought to maintain their press credentials. Hong Kong, which has maintained a separate media ecosystem than mainland China, is also witnessing increasing self-censorship.

Reporters Without Borders consistently ranks China very poorly on media freedoms in their annual releases of the World Press Freedom Index, labeling the Chinese government as having "the sorry distinction of leading the world in repression of the Internet". As of 2023, China ranked 179 out of 180 nations on the World Press Freedom Index.

History

Main article: Media history of China

Under Mao

In both the Yan'an era of the 1930s and the early 1950s, the CCP encouraged grassroots journalism in the form "worker-peasant correspondents," an idea originating from the Soviet Union.

During the early period (1966–1968) of the Cultural Revolution, freedom of the press in China was at its peak. Independent political groups could publish broadsheets and handbills, as well as leaders' speeches and meeting transcripts which would normally have been considered highly classified. During those years, several Red Guard organizations operated independent printing presses to publish newspapers, articles, speeches, and big-character posters.

Mobile film units brought Chinese cinema to the countryside and were crucial to the standardization and popularization of cultural during this period, particularly including revolutionary model operas. During the Cultural Revolution's early years, mobile film teams traveled to rural areas with news reels of Mao meeting with Red Guards and Tiananmen Square parades, where they were welcomed ceremoniously. These news reels became known as hong bao pian ("red treasure films"), analogous to how the Little Red Books were dubbed hong bao shu ("red treasure books").

Reforms and opening up

Media controls were most relaxed during the 1980s under paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, until they were tightened in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Journalists were active participants in the 1989 demonstrations that culminated in the massacre, which made it all but impossible to reconcile the growing desire of mainland Chinese journalists for control over their own profession with the CCP's interest in not letting that happen. There have even been occasional acts of open, outright defiance of the CCP, though these acts remain rare.

Media controls were relaxed again under CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin in the late 1990s, but the growing influence of the Internet and its potential to encourage dissent led to heavier regulations again under CCP general secretary Hu Jintao. Non-governmental media outlets that were allowed to operate within China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which have separate media regulatory bodies) were no longer required to strictly follow every journalistic guideline set by the CCP.

In 1998, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) began the Connecting Every Village with Radio and TV Project, which extended radio and television broadcasting to every village in China.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the ways in which the CCP operated—especially the introduction of reforms aimed at decentralizing power—spurred a period of greater media autonomy in several ways:

  • The growth of "peripheral"—local and some regional—media. This trend decentralized and dampened CCP oversight. In general, the greater the distance is between reporters and media outlets, and Beijing and important provincial capitals, the greater their leeway.
  • A shift toward administrative and legal regulation of the media and away from more fluid and personal oversight. CCP efforts to rely on regulations rather than whim to try to control the media—as evidenced by the dozens of directives set forth when the State Press and Publications Administration was created in 1987, and by new regulations in 1990 and 1994—probably were intended to tighten CCP control, making it a matter of law rather than personal relationships. In fact, however, these regulations came at a time when official resources were being stretched more thinly and individual officials were becoming less willing—and less able—to enforce regulations.
  • Vicissitudes of media acceptability. Since the early 1990s, the types of media coverage deemed acceptable by the regime have risen sharply. Growing uncertainties about what is permissible and what is out of bounds sometimes work to the media's interests. Often, however, these uncertainties encourage greater self-censorship among Chinese journalists and work to the benefit of the CCP's media control apparatus.

As state resources have become stretched more thinly, the media have found it far easier than before to print and broadcast material that falls within vaguely defined grey areas, though again, this uncertainty can also work to the advantage of the CCP.

In preparation of the 17th National Party Congress in 2007, new restrictions were placed on all sectors of the press, Internet-users, bloggers, website managers, foreign journalist, more than 30 of which have been arrested since the start of the year. In addition, a thousand discussion forums and websites have been shut down, and "a score of dissidents" have been imprisoned since July 2007.

In efforts to stem growing unrest in China, the propaganda chief of the State Council, Hua Qing, announced in the People's Daily that the government was drafting a new press law that would lessen government involvement in the news media. In the editorial, Hu Jintao was said to have visited the People's Daily offices and said that large scale public incidents should be "accurately, objectively and uniformly reported, with no tardiness, deception, incompleteness or distortion". Reports by Chinese media at the time indicated a gradual release from CCP control. For example, the detention of anti-government petitioners placed in mental institutions was reported in a state newspaper, later criticized in an editorial by the English-language China Daily. At the time, scholars and journalists believed that such reports were a small sign of opening up in the media.

Under Xi Jinping

Since Xi Jinping became in 2012 the CCP general secretary, censorship has been significantly stepped up. During a 2016 visit to Chinese state media, Xi stated that "party-owned media must hold the family name of the party" and that the state media "must embody the party's will, safeguard the party's authority". Under Xi, investigative journalism has been driven almost to extinction within China. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, in 2023, China ranks as the "worst jailer of journalists," with Uyghurs making up almost half of all imprisoned journalists.

In 2018, as part of an overhaul of CCP and government bodies, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) was renamed into the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) with its film, news media and publications being transferred to the Central Propaganda Department. Additionally, the control of China Central Television (CCTV, including its international edition, China Global Television), China National Radio (CNR) and China Radio International (CRI) were transferred to the newly established China Media Group (CMG) under the control of the Central Propaganda Department. The same year, provinces and cities began to establish international communication centers.

In 2019, All-China Journalists Association updated its code of ethics and mandatory exam requiring journalists to be guided by Xi Jinping Thought. In October 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission published rules restricting private capital in "news-gathering, editing, broadcasting, and distribution."

In 2020, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China stated that China used coronavirus prevention measures, intimidation and visa curbs to limit foreign reporting. According to Radio Free Asia, in December 2022, the National Press and Publication Administration issued a directive stating that in order to obtain credentials as a professional journalist, they must pass a national exam and "...must support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, conscientiously study, publicize and implement Xi Jinping's thoughts on the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, resolutely implement the party's theory, line, principles and policies, and adhere to the correct political direction and public opinion guidance."

Domestically, all journalists must study Xi Jinping Thought through the Xuexi Qiangguo app in order for them to renew their press credentials. Journalists are instructed to "correctly guide public opinion."

Forms of media

A current issue of Renmin Ribao posted on a newspaper display board in Hangzhou

Newspapers and journals

During the early period of the Cultural Revolution, the number of newspapers declined while independent publications by mass political organizations grew. Mao encouraged these independent publications. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the number of newspapers dropped from 343 in 1965, to 49 in 1966, and then to a 20th-century low of 43 in 1967. At the same time, the number of publications by mass organizations such as Red Guards grew to an estimated number as high as 10,000.

The number of newspapers in mainland China has increased from 43—virtually all CCP newspapers—in 1968 to 382 in 1980 and more than 2,200 today. By one official estimate, there are now more than 7,000 magazines and journals in the country. The number of copies of daily and weekly newspapers and magazines in circulation grew fourfold between the mid-1960s and the mid-to-late 1980s, reaching 310 million by 1987.

These figures, moreover, underreport actual circulation, because many publishers use their own distribution networks rather than official dissemination channels and also deliberately understate figures to circumvent taxation. In addition, some 25,000 printing houses and hundreds of individual bookstores produce and sell unofficial material—mostly romance literature and pornography but also political and intellectual journals. China has many newspapers but the front runners are all State-run: the People's Daily, Beijing Daily, Guangming Daily and the Liberation Daily. The two primary news agencies in China are Xinhua News Agency and the China News Service. Xinhua was authorized to censor and edit the news of the foreign agencies in 2007. Some saw the power of Xinhua as making the press freedom weak and it allowed Xinhua to control the news market fully.

The diversity in mainland Chinese media is partly because most state media outlets no longer receive heavy subsidies from the government, and are expected to cover their expenses through commercial advertising. State-owned newspapers which are "commercialized" or "market-oriented" (meaning that they rely on advertising revenues and retail sales) also have greater latitude in their content.

Senior executives in local media are appointed by local governments.

Talk radio

As of 1997 there were over 100 talk radio stations throughout the Shanghai area.

Internet

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Visualization of Internet routing pathsAn Opte Project visualization of routing paths through a portion of the Internet
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Main article: Internet in China Further information: Internet censorship in China

China has the largest number of internet users in the world, as of at least 2022. The internet in China is heavily censored with limitations on public access to international media and non-sanctioned Chinese media. The main bodies for internet control are the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, a CCP body established in 2014, and the Cyberspace Administration of China, which is under the Cyberspace Affairs Commission. Additionally, the Ministry of Public Security's Cyber Police force is responsible for internal security, regulating online content, and investigation of Internet fraud, scams, pornography, separatism, and extremism.

Satellite receivers

The administration of satellite receivers falls under the jurisdiction of the National Radio and Television Administration, which stipulates that foreign satellite televisions channels may only be received at high-end hotels and the homes and workplaces of foreigners. Foreign satellite televisions channels may seek approval to broadcast, but must be "friendly toward China." Foreign television news channels are, in theory, ineligible for distribution in China.

Home satellite dishes are officially illegal. Black market satellite dishes are nonetheless prolific, numbering well into the tens of millions. Chinese authorities engage in regular crackdowns to confiscate and dismantle illicit dishes, expressing concerns both over the potential for copyright infringements and over their ability receive "reactionary propaganda."

CCP internal media

Main article: Internal media of the Chinese Communist Party

Much of the information collected by the Chinese mainstream media is published in neicans (internal, limited circulation reports prepared for the high-ranking government officials), not in the public outlets. He Qinglian documents in Media Control in China that there are many grades and types of internal documents . Many are restricted to a certain level of official – such as county level, provincial level or down to a certain level of official in a ministry. Some Chinese journalists, including Xinhua correspondents in foreign countries, write for both the mass media and the internal media. The level of classification is tied to the administrative levels of CCP and government in China. The higher the administrative level of the issuing office, generally the more secret the document is. In local government the issuing grades are province , region (or city directly subordinate to a province) and county ; grades within government organs are ministry , bureau and office ; in the military corps , division , and regiment . The most authoritative documents are drafted by the CCP Central Committee to convey instructions from CCP leaders. Documents with Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Document at the top in red letters are the most authoritative.

Foreign media and journalists

China does not issue licenses to foreign companies to publish magazines or newspapers directly. Instead, it permits numerous "copyright cooperation" (or syndication) agreements between state-owned media entities and foreign partners. In these arrangements, a state-owned company effectively leases its publishing license to a foreign partner like Conde Nast, which then transforms the magazine into a Chinese edition of publications like Vogue, GQ and Rolling Stone that the two entities copublish together. These titles subsequently undergo rigorous regulatory approval in order to get their partnership renewed. In 2006, the General Administration of Press and Publication halted the approval of new foreign magazines on non-science and technology topics.

In 2012, China banned Al Jazeera English and expelled their foreign staff due to an unfavorable report about forced labor. This was the first time since 1998 that China had expelled a major foreign media organization.

Since 2016, foreign-owned media is not allowed to publish online in China and online sale of foreign media is regulated to prevent content that may “endanger national security or cause social unrest".

Reporting in China has become more difficult with the Chinese government increasingly interfering in the work of foreign journalists and discouraging Chinese citizens from giving interviews to the foreign press. The Chinese government increasingly uses restrictions and harassment of foreign journalists as a way to punish their home country or the home country of the media organization they report for. Since 2018 none of the 150 correspondents and bureau chiefs surveyed annually by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) have reported an improvement in their working conditions.

In 2020, the Chinese government expelled or forced the departure of at least 20 journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists said of the behavior "It's very disreputable for China, and it also shows that they have a lot to hide."

To foreign journalists working in China, the ruling CCP has threatened and punished them by failing to renew their credentials when they criticize the CCP's policies and human rights abuses. In March 2020, Chinese officials expelled almost all American journalists from China, accusing them and the US of trying to "impose American values" in China.

In August 2020, China detained Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist working for China Global Television Network, a Chinese state-run English television news channel, amid souring relations with Australia. Following her arrest the only other two Australian journalists in China were placed under exit bans and only managed to leave the country with their families after the Australian authorities interceded on their behalf.

In December 2020, Chinese authorities detained Haze Fan, who works for the Bloomberg News bureau in Beijing, on suspicion of "endangering national security".

In April 2021, BBC journalist John Sudworth and his family were forced to flee mainland China for the island of Taiwan after personal attacks and disinformation from the Chinese government put them in danger. His wife is a journalist with the Irish RTÉ. The Chinese government had been angered by reporting he did on the internment camps in Xinjiang as well as a larger BBC story about forced labor in Xinjiang's cotton industry.

Citizen journalism

This section is an excerpt from Citizen journalism § China.

Citizen journalism has created much change and influence within Chinese media and society in which its online activity is very much controlled. The interconnection built from citizen journalism and mainstream journalism in China has allotted politically and socially charged information to be distributed to promote progressive changes and serves as national sentiments. In doing so, the mass public of China has the opportunities to move around the controlled and monitored online presence and the information it contains.

Citizen journalists face many repercussions when unpackaging the truth and reach domestic and global audiences. Most if not all of these repercussions result from government officials and law enforcement from the journalists respective countries. Citizen journalists are needed and depended on by the mass public but are viewed as an imminent threat to their governments. The public has had the resources to pursue this level of journalism from their surroundings and based on real life perspectives that lack censorship and influence from a higher entity. The various forms citizen journalism is formed has outdated many news and media sources as result of the authentic approach citizen journalists carry out.

During the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, fraudulent pictures encouraging people to pose as reporters and abuse freedom of press regulations to obstruct the police were widely circulated on social media with the aim to discredit citizen journalists.

In the context of China and the national pandemic rooted from the coronavirus, many voices were censored and limited when it came to citizen journalists. This occurred in the process of visually and vocally documenting the social climate of China in regards to the coronavirus. For instance, a Chinese citizen journalist posted videos of Wuhan, China as the outbreak had been spreading globally. As a result the journalist was stopped and detained by the police and was not released for two months. In sharing their experience being detained after being released the tone it was expressed in was marketed. This citizen journalist experience is one amongst more of who were similarly detained and censored.

Communist Party control

The media and communications industry in mainland China is controlled by the Central Propaganda Department of the CCP. The principal mechanism to force media outlets to comply with the CCP's requests is the vertically organized nomenklatura system of cadre appointments, and includes those in charge of the media industry. The CCP utilizes a wide variety of tools to maintain control over news reporting including "direct ownership, accreditation of journalists, harsh penalties for online criticism, and daily directives to media outlets and websites that guide coverage of breaking news stories." National Radio and Television Administration oversees the administration of state-owned enterprises involved in the radio and television, reporting directly to the Central Propaganda Department.

The Central Propaganda Department directly controls the China Media Group, which includes the China Central Television (including China Global Television), China National Radio (CNR) and China Radio International (CRI). The department also owns China Daily, as well as controlling many other media-related organizations such as the China International Publishing Group. China News Service, another large media outlet, is run by the CCP Central Committee's United Front Work Department. Xinhua News Agency is a ministry-level institution directly under the State Council, while People's Daily is the official newspaper of the CCP Central Committee.

The government uses a variety of approaches to retain some control over the media:

  • It requires that newspapers be registered and attached to a government ministry, institute, research facility, labor group, or other State-sanctioned entity. Entrepreneurs cannot establish newspapers or magazines under their own names, although they reportedly have had some success in setting up research institutes and then creating publications attached to those bodies.
  • It still occasionally jails or fines journalists for unfavorable reporting.
  • It imposes other punishments when it deems that criticism has gone too far. For example, it shut down the magazine Future and Development in 1993 for publishing two articles calling for greater democracy in mainland China, and it forced the firing of the Beijing Youth Daily's editor for aggressively covering misdeeds and acts of poor judgment by CCP cadres.
  • It continues to make clear that criticism of certain fundamental policies—such as those on PRC sovereignty over territories under Republic of China administration and Tibet and on Hong Kong's future in the wake of the transfer of Hong Kong sovereignty on July 1, 1997 —are off limits.
  • It has set up numerous official journalists' associations—the largest is the All-China Journalist Federation, with more than 400,000 members—so that no single entity can develop major autonomous power.
  • It holds weekly meetings with top newspaper editors to direct them as to what news items they want focused upon and which stories they want to go unreported. The controversial closure of the Freezing Point journal was generally unreported in mainland China due to government orders.
  • It has maintained a system of uncertainty surrounding the boundaries of acceptable reporting, encouraging self-censorship. One media researcher has written that "it is the very arbitrariness of this control regime that cows most journalists into more conservative coverage."

Provincial and local media

Local investigative reporting is sometimes viewed favorably by central authorities because of its use in identifying local problems or administrative missteps. Provincial media generally have greater latitude in investigative reporting in areas other than the province where they are based, as local authorities lack direct leverage.

In June 2024, the 2007 Emergency Response Law was amended, stating that local governments must "guide news media organisations and support them in reporting and control of discussions" regarding reporting on accidents and disasters.

International operations

See also: Belt and Road News Network

As of 2012 CCTV and Xinhua had greatly expanded international coverage and operations particularly in Africa.

In 2021, the United Kingdom expelled three Ministry of State Security (MSS) officers who had been posing as journalists with Chinese media agencies.

Chinese media in Africa

See also: StarTimes

Already in 1948, the Xinhua News Agency established its first overseas bureau in sub-Saharan Africa. Initially, the Chinese media presence sought to promote Sino-African relations and "played an important role in assisting the government in developing diplomatic relations with newly independent African countries". Africa-China media relations became more sophisticated when the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was founded in 2000. In 2006 during the first FOCAC Summit in Beijing, the Chinese government presented its vision on media cooperation with Africa. Media exchange should "enhance mutual understanding and enable objective and balanced media coverage of each other". Through FOCAC, the Chinese influence on the African mediasphere has increased. In 2006, China Radio International (CRI) was established in Nairobi followed by the launch of the Chinese state-run CGTN Africa and the establishment of an African edition of China Daily in 2012. Additionally, China offers workshops and exchange programs to African journalists to introduce them to Chinese politics, culture, and economy as well as the Chinese media system. China does not only invest in African media outlets and journalists but also their digital infrastructure. The Chinese government grants financial and technical aid to African countries to expand their communications structure.

Scholars argue that through increased media presence and investments, the Chinese government tries to dominate the public sphere in Africa and expand its soft power. Research shows that Chinese news media in Africa portray China-Africa relations in an extremely positive light with little space for criticism. Hence, China tries to shape African narratives in its favor. However, Chinese media influence in Africa is still relatively new and therefore the consequences of Chinese media engagement in Africa remain unclear. Despite China's efforts to support the African media infrastructure and promote China-Africa relations, African perceptions of China vary significantly and are complex. In general, a case study of South Africa shows that China is perceived as a powerful trading nation and economic investments result in a positive Chinese image. Yet, South African journalists are critical of Chinese media intervention and concerned about practices of Chinese journalism. Likewise, a study about Uganda reveals that journalists are worried about media cooperation with China because it poses a threat to the Freedom of the press. To conclude, the success of Chinese media influence in Africa depends on whether they can prevail in the African market and control the narrative in their favor.

Overseas Chinese media

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Further information: Chinese censorship abroad

In 2001, the Jamestown Foundation reported that China was buying into Chinese-language media in the U.S., offering free content, and leveraging advertising dollars—all to manipulate coverage. The Guardian reported in 2018 that the China Watch newspaper supplement was being carried by The Telegraph along with other newspapers of record such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Le Figaro.

International communication centers

This paragraph is an excerpt from International communication center. International communication centers (ICC, Chinese: 国际传播中心) are state media institutions established by provinces and municipalities of the People's Republic of China. They operate under the supervision of the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party, with state media outlets such as China Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and China News Service providing infrastructure and serving as a partner to many. The first ICCs were established in 2018 in response to General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping's call to "innovate" foreign-directed propaganda. According to Qiushi, the theoretical journal of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), ICCs are "developed based on local propaganda needs" and aim to be a "new force" in the country's global propaganda ecosystem.

International rankings

As of 2023, China ranks second-to-last in terms of press freedoms in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index. Reporters Without Borders called China "world's largest prison for journalists, and its regime conducts a campaign of repression against journalism and the right to information worldwide."

See also

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