Journalism in China: Then and Now Essay

In 1978, the People’s Republic of China had less than one television receiver per 100 people, and fewer than ten million Chinese had access to a television set. Today, almost all dwellings in China have a television, or a number of it. The Chinese Central Television controls television broadcasting in China, being the most powerful network in mainland. On the other hand, the number of newspapers in mainland China has increased from 42 – virtually all Communist Party papers- in 1968 to more than 2,200 today. There are in fact more than 7,000 magazines and journals in the country nowadays. The emergence of the country’s paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, in 1976 brought about the economic and social reforms in mainland China, being reflected in media content. The media in are now becoming more autonomous and more diverse. A diversity is attributable to the fact that most state media outlets not longer receive subsidies from the government and are expected to largely pay for themselves through commercial advertising. They no longer serve solely as ‘government spokesperson’ but also produce programs that people get interested to so that money can be generated for them to continue to exist. Its media is now more dynamic, aggressive and prolific reporting on a wider variety of topics than ever before. Since the late 1970s, media in China have frequently criticized party cadres and have published debates on fundamentals issues as the rule of law, freedom of the press, and universal human rights. They have also reported on a number of previously undiscussed social and lifestyle subjects. Even though political reporting is still tightly controlled, Chinese journalists have become professional writers who cover aspects of society, economics and international affairs that would have been prohibited two decades ago. In 2003, the government initiated plans to formally allow private investment or to commercialize media. As a result, journalists were encouraged to report more aggressively on stories about crime, low-level corruption, celebrity gossip, and more. However, local officials still often tolerate this reporting, as long as it brings in revenue for the provincial or municipal government, and it does not touch too closely on their own leadership. Also, talk radio in mainland China allows a much freer exchange of public views or opinions than other media formats. In effect, talk radio has shifted the paradigm from authorities addressing the people to people addressing the authorities. The country’s rapid economic developments, as well as educational advances leading to greater literacy, have been important reasons for the dramatic expansion of the media and the diversification of coverage. As journalists report more aggressively on crime and corruption, they face new dangers. Censorship, detention, legal action, and arrest – the threats historically faced by journalists in China – have been long and well documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other press freedom groups. Forty-two journalists are now in prison in China, most for revealing corruption among high-level government officials, advocating political reforms, or reporting on banned topics. In recent years, a number of high-profile cases have brought the issue of violence against journalists to public attention and have inspired Chinese journalists to speak up in defense of their basic right to freely report. Journalism is widely seen as a more promising career field that in the past. The rising popularity and profitability of metropolitan media offer the prospect that higher quality, better-paid jobs in journalism will expand in the years ahead.