Media of the People’s Republic of
China
This article is about media in mainland
China. See also Media of Hong Kong and
Media of Macau. For the Republic of
China (Taiwan), see Media of Taiwan.
The People’s Republic of China is home to
about a fifth of the entire world’s population.
History
See also: Media history of China
Within the People’s Republic of China
(PRC), there is heavy government involve-
ment in the media, with many of the largest
media organizations
(namely CCTV,
the
People’s Daily, and Xinhua) being agencies of
the government of the PRC. There are certain
taboos and red lines within the media in
mainland China, such as questioning the le-
gitimacy of the Communist Party of China,
the governance of Tibet and issues surround-
ing Falun Gong. Yet within those restrictions,
there is a vibrancy and diversity of the media
and fairly open discussion of social issues
and policy options within the parameters set
by the Party.
Much of the surprising diversity in the me-
dia in mainland China is attributable to the
fact that most state media outlets no longer
receive large government subsidies and are
expected to
largely pay for
themselves
through commercial advertising.[1] As a res-
ult, they can no longer serve solely as mouth-
pieces for the government but must also pro-
duce programming that people find attractive
and interesting so that money can be gener-
ated through advertising revenue. In addi-
tion, while the government does issue direct-
ives defining what can and cannot be pub-
lished, it does not prevent, and in fact act-
ively encourages state media outlets to com-
pete with each other for viewers and com-
mercial advertising. It is important to note,
however, that the government and individual
media outlets can also use financial incent-
ives to control journalists’ behavior.[2]
Government control of information can be
ineffective
in
other
ways.
Despite
government restrictions, much information is
gathered either at the local level or from for-
eign sources and passed on through personal
convers