Media Commercialization and Authoritarian Rule in China

Daniela Stockmann

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781107018440
• eBook ISBN: 9781139603577
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

In most liberal democracies commercialized media is taken for granted, but in many authoritarian regimes the introduction of market forces in the media represents a radical break from the past with uncertain political and social implications. In Media Commercialization and Authoritarian Rule in China, Daniela Stockmann argues that the consequences of media marketization depend on the institutional design of the state. In one-party regimes such as China, market-based media promote regime stability rather than destabilizing authoritarianism or bringing about democracy. By analyzing the Chinese media, Stockmann ties trends of market liberalism in China to other authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the post-Soviet region. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Chinese journalists and propaganda officials as well as more than 2000 newspaper articles, experiments and public opinion data sets, this book links censorship among journalists with patterns of media consumption and the media's effects on public opinion.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• List of Chinese Newspapers and Other Media Sources
• 1 Propaganda for Sale
• 2 Instruments of Regime Stability and Change
• 3 Types of Newspapers in China
• part 1 The Production of News
• part 2 Media Credibility And Its Consequences
• Appendix A Notes on Data and Research Design
• Appendix B Notes on Case Selection and Generalizability
• Appendix C Experimental Treatments
• Appendix D Data Coding, Statistical Models, and Robustness Test Results
• Appendix E Additional Tables and Figures
• References
• Index