Newspaper commercialization and its political implications in china a case study of yangtse evening post

NEWSPAPER COMMERCIALIZATION AND ITS POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS IN CHINA: A CASE STUDY OF THE YANGTSE EVENING POST WANG YI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2005 NEWSPAPER COMMERCIALIZATION AND ITS POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS IN CHINA: A CASE STUDY OF THE YANGTSE EVENING POST WANG YI (B.A (Hons.) Nanjing University) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS COMMUNICATIONS AND NEW MEDIA PROGRAMME NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2005 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Researching and writing this thesis has been an amazing journey, but it would not have been possible without the help of a lot of people First of all, I want to thank my supervisor Dr Doobo Shim, who guided my graduate studies at CNM with unfailing inspiration and supervised the thesis with great expertise and care I am extremely grateful to A/P Milagros Rivera and other professors of CNM who have always been insightful and supportive I would also like to acknowledge my thanks to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, for providing financial support for the fieldwork in Nanjing I want to express my appreciation to all my interviewees for their commitment to supporting this research I am also very thankful to Miss Stewart, my proofreader, for her great patience and invaluable help Particular thanks go to my fellow graduate students at CNM Shen Cuihua, Jiang Wei and Huang Shansi have provided me with, not only inspiring ideas, but also beautiful memories To my parents and my husband, I owe the greatest debt I particularly thank them for their confidence in me and for all their efforts in making my family the best harbor for me ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS .1 1.1 Choice of Theoretical Framework 1.2 Research Questions 1.3 Approaches of the Study 1.4 Thesis Structure CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.1 Media and Public Sphere 10 2.1.1 The Theory of the Public Sphere 10 2.1.2 Critique of the Public Sphere 13 2.1.3 Media and Public Sphere 14 2.2 Public Sphere in the Context of China 15 2.3 Media Commercialization: the Death of Public Sphere? .18 2.4 Conclusion 23 CHAPTER NEWSPAPER COMMERCIALIZATION IN CHINA: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE 25 3.1 The Newspaper Commercialization in China .25 3.1.1 Background Parameters 25 3.1.2 Stages of Newspaper Commercialization in China 30 3.1.3 Advertising in Newspaper Commercialization 40 3.1.4 Problems of Newspaper Commercialization in China 46 3.2 China’s Media Commercialization: a Struggling Way to Public Sphere? 50 3.3 Previous Empirical Research .54 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 57 4.1 The Case of the YEP 57 4.1.1 The Method of Case Study 57 4.1.2 The Selection of the YEP 58 4.2 The General Perspective of the Research 61 4.3 Content Analysis Method .63 4.3.1 The Procedures of Data Collection 63 4.3.2 Data Analysis and Coding Frame 64 4.3.3 Reliability and Validity 65 4.4 In-depth Interview Method 67 4.4.1 Selection of Interviewees 67 4.4.2 Semi-structured Interview Topic Guide 69 4.4.3 Procedures of the Interviews and Data Analysis .70 CHAPTER CONTENT ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 72 5.1 The Amount of Advertisement .72 5.2 The Content of Advertisement .73 5.3 The Layout of Advertisement .77 iii 5.3.1 Color Difference 77 5.3.2 Dimensions of Advertisement 77 5.3.3 Location of Advertisement 79 5.3.4 The Infomercials .83 5.4 Conclusion 86 CHAPTER INTERVIEW FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 88 6.1 Increasing Income and Favor of Advertising .88 6.2 Caution of the Market Competition .93 6.3 Frustration by Government Censorship .98 6.4 Divergent Perceptions about Press Freedom 101 6.4.1 The Generation Gap .101 6.4.2 The Geographic Gap 103 6.5 Ambiguity about the Practical Role of the YEP 104 6.6 The Threats of Commercialization 108 6.7 Conclusion 111 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 113 7.1 Summary of Findings .113 7.2 Overall Conclusions 114 7.3 Limitations and Suggestion for Future Research .117 BIBLIOGRAPHY 120 APPENDIX 127 APPENDIX 129 APPENDIX 130 iv SUMMARY In the transformation of China’s media from the conventional propaganda machine to the profit makers in recent decades, a number of commercial newspapers have emerged Long under control, Chinese media’s financial independence, which has been gained through commercialization, is argued to be healthy for the media to realize their civic role and to further promote the country’s democratization Against this backdrop, this empirical research aims at exploring the political implications of the newspaper commercialization The Habermasian public sphere and his concern about media’s “refeudalization” are used as the theoretical framework After a holistic examination of the development of newspaper commercialization in China, the researcher selected the Yangtse Evening Post (YEP), the most circulated commercial newspaper in China, for a case study The content analysis of its advertisement has mapped the extent to which the YEP has been commercialized and the semi-structured interviews of 15 reporters and editors have explored the political implications of the newspaper commercialization with such a fusion of the Party and the market It is found that the YEP is gingerly juggling itself between the Party and the market It is concluded that, rather than fulfilling the civic role of the public sphere, China’s commercial newspapers are facing the problem of “double feudalization” ii LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 List of Interviewees 69 Table 5.1 Frequencies of advertisement contents in 1995 73 Table 5.2 Frequencies of advertisement contents in 2004 74 Table 5.3 Dimension of advertisement in 1995 78 Table 5.4 Dimension of advertisement in 2004 78 Table 5.5 Locations of advertisement in 1995 79 Table 5.6 Locations of advertisement in 2004 79 Table 5.7 Content * Front page * Dimension Crosstabulation in 1995 81 Table 5.8 Content * Front page * Dimension Crosstabulation in 2004 82 Table 5.9 Proportion of soft advertisement and conventional advertisement 83 Table 5.10 Content * advertisement type Crosstabulation of advertisement in 2004 84 Table 5.11 Soft ads * dimension * location Crosstabulation 85 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 The Structure of media system in China 26 Figure 3.2 Advertising Revenues of the Newspapers in China, 1983-2004 41 Figure 3.3 Number of newspapers in China, 1978-2003 43 Figure 3.4 Proportion of Party paper and commercial paper, 1986-1996 44 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS In the post-Cold War era and the globalization age, the arena of the media is no longer considered solely as an ideological machine Instead, liberalization – “a process of state intervention to expand the numbers of participants in the market” (Mosco, 1996, p 203) – has been widely embraced and consequently, commercialization followed that “business practices” (p.203) and “greater emphasis on market position and profitability” (p.202) have become the main themes of the media’s agenda As the process of media commercialization applies to “both public and private sector organizations” (Mosco 1996), the transforming public space and interest of communication has thus been viewed with concern by various western critics Their main concern, however, is the fast shrinking Habermasian public sphere (Habermas, 1974) as independent as media commercialization is growing (for instances, Habermas 1989; Dahlgren 2000) In the process of commercialization, media outputs are commodified and are designed to serve market needs, rather than the needs of citizens (Herman and McChensney 1998) In the light of this, democratic media reformers have even suggested a “maximum feasible de-commodification and ‘re-embedding’ of communications media in the social life of civil society as vital for freedom from state and market censorship” (Keane, 1991, p 153) These researchers who bemoan the decline of the above mentioned public sphere are specifically addressed in the western context However, the situations might significantly differ in various contexts and at different stages of media commercialization In this study, the researcher shall examine newspaper commercialization in China, arguably the most authoritarian country where media have been commercialized since 1978 and at a relatively fresh stage compared to western media 1.1 Choice of Theoretical Framework It is unanimously identified that China’s media are not fully independent from the government Instead, China’s media are believed to have “commercialization without independence” or “bird-caged press freedom” (Lee 2000, p 10; Chan, 1993) Nonetheless, researchers studying this field (for example, Lee 1990, 1994, 2000, 2003) still believe the market to be healthy for China’s media development, especially in the political sense They contend that marketization is gaining media financial independence and will further help to attain political independence (Wang 2003) Because of this separation from the state, the media can be critical of the China Communist Party (CCP, thereafter the Party) and positively imply the country’s democratization The newspaper remains one of the most influential forms of the media in China because of its overwhelming popularity, especially when compared to the 118 from most previous studies, which emphasized theoretical generalization Second, this study scrutinizes a typical commercial newspaper in Nanjing where the commercialization of the newspaper and the social conditions are significantly different from that in the western society Based on the empirical evidence presented here, this study agrees with the complexity of media commercialization in China as well as partially opposes the optimistic feelings toward its future One of the major limitations of this study is the lack of content analysis of the newspapers’ reports discourse This study does not consider the content of newspaper reports because of the concerns of the fluctuation of the political environment (for example, when the national congress is held once every four years, there are significantly more political reports in the newspaper than usual) and social-economical environment (for example, when SARS, a particularly influential event happened, many relevant reports were published while such reports are few in other years) in different periods Instead, the researcher explores the research question from the perspective of the reporters and editors, relying largely on their own perceptions However, the researcher believes the validity of the study may be further improved when integrated with a content analysis of the newspaper’s news reports But when following researchers are sampling the news reports, it is still a valid suggestion to bear in mind the concern about fluctuation to avoid the bias of data Another limitation is that this study does not include sufficient field 119 observation in the newspaper’s working environment due to time limitation That is, the study would be better able to offer a more concrete findings if it could embrace some field observations by the researcher If time permits, a comparative observation can also be achieved both at different periods and different newspapers to suggest more insights This study may also be approached from the perspective of the readers of the YEP A survey or some interviews with several readers would be able to offer more insights especially in terms of the interaction between the YEP and its readers To conclude, future research in this vein should target at the newspaper reports with extra care Other perspectives such as participant observations and audience studies could be adopted creatively In addition, the researcher wishes that this study may be used as reference for future studies on Chinese commercial newspapers or other studies on the political implications of China’s media commercialization 120 BIBLIOGRAPHY Abercrombie, N (1991) Television and society New York: Hartcourt & Brace Adorno, T and Horkheimer, M (1979) Dialectic of Enlightenment, London:Verso Arksey, H and Knight, P (1999) Interviewing for Social Scientists London, Sage Babbie, E (2002) The Basics of Social Research Belmont, CL: Wadsworth BBC (2001) Intense debate over China WTO entry Retrieved on 20 June 2005 from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/1706947.stm Berelson, B (1952) Content 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The exploration over the 10 years 16-32 Nanjing: Xinhua Press 127 APPENDIX Yangtse Evening Post on March 1995 128 Yangtse Evening Post on January 2005 129 APPENDIX Coding Protocol of Content Analysis A Content Recruitment Health (medical information, medicine, etc) Fashion (apparel, jewelry, etc.) Electronic appliance (air conditioner, TV, etc.) Notice ICT devices (Pager, cell phone, PC, etc.) Public interest, charity Industry and agriculture machine Food/beverages 10 Segregating advertisement 11 Cultural activities (performance, concerts, etc.) 12 Restaurant & recreation 13 Education, school, training institution 14 House/apartment sales 15 Shopping information, sale 17 Beauty (cosmetics, plastic surgery, etc.) 18 Travel 19 Car & driving school 20 Investment, financial chances 21 Lifestyle 22 Others B Location Front page News pages Supplementary Exclusive advertisement section C Dimension Small (Smaller than 1/8) Medium (1/8-1/4 page) Large (1/4-1/2 page) Extremely large (larger than 1/2 page) 130 APPENDIX Semi-structured Interview Guide Instructions for Interviewees9 非常感谢您参加我的访谈。今天这项访谈是出于学术目的，专门为我的研究项目而设的， 这个研究项目是关于中国媒体的商业化及其对社会的影响。我的访谈是想了解一下您作 为一名职业记者的工作情况等问题。 在回答我的问题时，是没有正确与错误的答案之分的。您只需要和我分享您自己的观点 和经历就可以了。请一定放轻松。在访谈中您可以随时休息。 当然，您的访谈是严格保密的，如果我们需要在任何报告中引用您的观点，我们都将使 用假名。如果您不介意的话，我想对访谈进行录音，因为我很难同时笔录下访谈的所有 细节。不过如果您不希望录音的话，我也会尊重您的要求。当然，所有的录音也只会用 于本项目的研究。 在访谈结束后，我们会给您 200 元作为报酬，以表示我们对您的诚挚谢意！ Reminder for the researcher The questions below are designed for collecting a certain level of even and credible information from the interviewees However, the sequence of questions and other variations may be adapted for different interviewees The interviewee can relax as much as they can The interviewer will note their any significant or unusual response such as long period of silence, blur, etc A Demographic facts and backgrounds of the interviewees The interviewer will record the interviewee’s sex and rough age for basic information The interviewer can record such information from observation if direct question of them might make the interviewee feel uneasy What’s your position at YEP? What kind of work does it involve? 您在扬子的工作是怎么样的情况？ How long have you been working in YEP? 您在扬子工作了多久？ The main ideas of this instruction are to introduce the study and assure the interviewees that they can freely deliver their opinions, as their names will not be disclosed In addition, the researcher was seeking the approval to record the interviews in this instruction The remuneration of interviews is mentioned as well 131 Is this your first job? Probe: Do you like this job? Why? 这个是您的第一份工作吗？ （喜欢这份工作吗？为什么？） B In-depth questions Why did you join the YEP? Probe: Any other reasons? 您为什么会加入扬子？ Have you seen any changes of the YEP since you joined? 您觉得扬子有什么变化么? How is your income at YEP? Probe: Are you satisfied with that? 您在扬子的收入如何? Do you think your income is related to the advertising revenues of the YEP? 您觉得这个收入和扬子的广告有关吗? What you think of advertising to the newspaper and to your career? Probe: Why? 您觉得广告对于扬子和你的事业有什么样的意义? 10 Has the advertising changed your news practice? Probe for why/how; examples 您觉得广告对您的新闻工作有影响吗? 11 How would you evaluate advertising? Probe why 您会如何评价广告? 12 Do you have any comments on Xinhua Daily, financially and administratively? Probe for reasons 您对《新华日报》有什么评价么？从经济角度和行政角度？ 13 In the reporting, what are your primary criteria judging (affecting) whether or not to report? Has this been influenced by advertising? Probe for reasons; examples 在您的报道中，您如何评价一个事件的新闻价值？会受到广告需要的影响吗？ 14 Do you see any clash between the need of your advertisers and the regulation of 132 government? Can you give some examples? 您觉得扬子的广告客户和政府管制之间有冲突吗？可以举例吗？ 15 Do you feel the government is intervening the work of YEP too much? Any examples? Why? 您觉得政府对报纸干预太多吗？ 16 What you think of competition with other newspapers? 您如何看待市场竞争？ 17 Where you see YEP’s strengths and weaknesses in this competition? 您觉得扬子的优势和弱点在哪里？ 18 How would you define press freedom based on your working experience? 根据您在的工作经验，您如何定义新闻自由？ 19 Do you plan to continue working in the YEP? Probe for reasons 您计划继续在扬子工作？ That’s the end of the interview Thanks again for your patience and insightful opinions! Could you please leave any contact information so that we may have the chance to hear you again if we want to clarify some details? 访问结束了。再次感谢您的耐心和深刻见解！您可以为我留下您的联系方式吗？这样我 可以在稍后整理本次采访时对一些不清楚的问题和您继续探讨。请放心，您的联系方式 也是会严格保密的。 Thank you and all you best in your work! 再次感谢！祝您以后工作顺利！ [...]... paper in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province) The Offices of Propaganda follow the same rule Ministry of Propaganda stands at the top of the hierarchy while the power decrease as the provincial and the municipal offices situate at relatively lower positions 3.1.1.2 The political nature of newspaper When studying the newspaper in China, one would inevitably need to bear in mind the unique political. .. lowest level are set up according to different cities Three parallel levels of government organizations monitor the three levels of newspapers respectively: the central Ministry of Propaganda, the provincial Office of Propaganda and the municipal Office of Propaganda What is noticeable is that the positions of both newspapers and propaganda offices in Figure 3.1 have also indicated their administrative superiority... market interests eroded the rational-critical debates in the ideal public sphere 25 CHAPTER 3 NEWSPAPER COMMERCIALIZATION IN CHINA: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE This chapter will envision the commercialization of China s media as well as to offer a holistic view Specifically, the chapter is divided into two parts: the first addresses the main background and trends of newspaper commercialization in China; ... of the public sphere be applied to it and if so, to what extent? In Chapter 3, the trajectory of newspaper commercialization in China shall be examined to offer a background as well as a pointer to help understand the degree of commercialization of China s newspapers A brief overview of the history of newspaper commercialization from its beginning in 1978 until 2004 will be given It will also explain... extent of commercialization and contextually delve into its political implications Empirically, the case of the most circulated 5 commercial newspaper in China – the Nanjing-based Yangtse Evening Post (“Yangzi Wan Bao”, thereafter the YEP) (IFABC, 2005) – is going to be studied The selection of the YEP is based on five main reasons First, the biggest circulation among China s commercial newspapers has made... or inferiority In other words, the newspapers and propaganda offices at higher level supervise their counterparts at lower levels Thus, a central Party organ (for example, People Daily) commands its provincial counterpart (such as Xinhua Daily, the Party organ in Jiangsu Province), whereas the newspapers at the provincial level guide the municipal newspapers (such as the Nanjing Daily, the party paper... arouse a political debate Habermas visited China in the spring of 2001 Initially he was 17 reluctant to visit because some members of the Chinese New Left, in their zeal to construct anti-imperialist discourses, have (mis)used his theory in such a way that amounts to justifying nationalist and authoritarian orientations of the Chinese state Emphasizing the universal applicability of human rights values,... the unique political status of media in China 3.1.1.1 Different levels of newspapers It is important to comprehend the ranked structure of China s media organizations when studying China s media As Chen and Lee (1998) put it, the rank always constitutes a determinant position of occupational status and reward, although the 26 economic reform has to some extent weakened such importance Newspapers, by... case study, the researcher tries to explore the 6 following questions: 1 Using advertising as an index, to what extent has the YEP been commercialized since it was set up in 1986? 2 In what ways do market forces and the Party control influence the news production of a typical commercial newspaper? 3 What are the political implications of such a fusion of Party control and market forces in China s newspaper. .. remains little changed till today Based on the researcher’s observation, Figure 3.1 was drawn to briefly illustrate this system Figure 3.1 The Structure of media system in China Levels of Newspapers Levels of Propaganda Office Central Central Provincial Provincial Municipal Municipal As Figure 3.1 illustrates, from the administrative aspect, there are generally three levels of newspapers in China The ... central Ministry of Propaganda, the provincial Office of Propaganda and the municipal Office of Propaganda What is noticeable is that the positions of both newspapers and propaganda offices in. . .NEWSPAPER COMMERCIALIZATION AND ITS POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS IN CHINA: A CASE STUDY OF THE YANGTSE EVENING POST WANG YI (B .A (Hons.) Nanjing University) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER... municipal newspapers (such as the Nanjing Daily, the party paper in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province) The Offices of Propaganda follow the same rule Ministry of Propaganda stands at the