History
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. After Deng Xiaoping's 1992 southern tour, the culture industry of China became increasingly commercialized. 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 (excludingUnder 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, the All-China Journalists Association updated its code of ethics and mandatory exam requiring journalists to be guided by Xi Jinping Thought. In September 2021, the NRTA prohibited broadcasters from displaying what it termed " sissy men and other abnormal aesthetics." 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
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. 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
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
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 eibu wenjian 内部文件 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 heng 省 region (or city directly subordinate to a province) iqu 地区or shengzhixiashi 省直辖市and county ian 县 grades within government organs are ministry u 部 bureau u 局and office hu 处 in the military corps un 军 division hi 师 and regiment uan 团 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 honggong Zhongyang Wenjian 中共中央文件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 ofCitizen journalism
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
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
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 inOverseas Chinese media
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. ''International communication centers
International rankings
, 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
* Blocking of Wikipedia by the People's Republic of China * Censorship in the People's Republic of China * China National Radio * China Radio International * China News Service * Chinese Central Television * International Freedom of Expression eXchange * Internet freedom * Internet in the People's Republic of China ** Digital divide in the People's Republic of China * Newspapers of China **'' People's Daily'' **'' China Daily'' **'' Global Times'' * Propaganda in the People's Republic of China * Sino-Japanese Journalist Exchange Agreement * Telecommunications in the People's Republic of China * Television in the People's Republic of China * TV Series (China) * Xinhua News Agency * List of documentary films about ChinaReferences
Further reading
* * Huang, C. "Towards a broadloid press approach: The transformation of China's newspaper industry since the 2000s." ''Journalism'' 19 (2015): 1–16