Television Regulation and Media Policy in China

ISBN-13: 9780415490832 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 262 str.

Yik Chan Chin

Opis

Since the late 1990s, there has been a crucial and substantial transformation in China s television system involving institutional, structural and regulatory changes. Unravelling the implications of these changes is vital for understanding the politics of Chinese media policy-making and regulation, and thus a comprehensive study of this history has never been more essential.

This book studies the transformation of the policy and regulation of the Chinese television sector within a national political and economic context from 1996 to the present day. Taking a historical and sociological approach, it engages in the theoretical debates over the nature of the transformation of media in the authoritarian Chinese state; the implications of the ruling party s political legitimacy and China s central-local conflicts upon television policy-making and market structure; and the nature of the media modernisation process in a developing country. Its case studies include broadcasting systems in Shanghai and Guangdong, which demonstrate that varied polices and development strategies have been adopted by television stations, reflecting different local circumstances and needs.

Arguing that rather than being a homogenous entity, China has demonstrated substantial local diversity and complex interactions between local, national and global media, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese media, politics and policy, and international communications."

Despite common images of China in the West as a totalitarian communist party state, in reality the Chinese nation-state is now too large for the ruling party to develop unified national interests and nationwide lines of communication across diverse localities. Given the country’s deep involvement in world economy, the Chinese state is too small not to be concerned by encroachments on its communication sovereignty. In the context of intensifying global, local and national dynamics, how did China’s national television policy develop? How can China’s television industries retain their autonomy and find paths towards self-development?

This book approaches the first question through a close examination of China’s national television policy and structure since the late 1990s. It argues that the older socialist state-owned TV system is transforming into a commercialized and mixed-ownership system. It has forced the central government to abolish geographic restrictions over the audience market, subsequently leading to the break up of the national television network’s market monopoly and its reposition from a cultural and ideological apparatus to a multifunctional TV organization.

This book explores the second question through three case studies of the country’s television systems at both national and local levels. It argues that, rather than being a homogenous entity, China has demonstrated substantial local diversity and complex interactions between local, national and global media. The three case studies show that varied polices and development strategies have been adopted by television stations, reflecting different local circumstances and needs.

This book is of interest to those postgraduates and academics studying Chinese media, politics and policy.

Spis treści

1. Introduction 2. The Political System and Economic Transition 3. Broadcasting Authority in China 4. State Legitimacy and Administration According to Law for Broadcasting 5. China’s Television in the 1990s 6. China’s Television Policy between 1996 and 2003 7. China’s Television Policy between 2004 and 2015 8. Public service broadcasting 9. Shanghai television : from state institution to enterprise 10. Guangdong: the role of local in China’s Media Policy-making Process 11. A reconsideration of national, local and global relationships

O autorze

Yik Chan Chin is a Research Assistant Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, working in the areas of media and communication policy, regulation and law; new media and governance and media policymaking and politics.