From propaganda to hegemony: Jiaodian Fangtan and China's media policy

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of an empirical study of the current affairs program Jiaodian Fangtan, which attracts a daily audience of 300 million. A content analysis of the transcripts of all reports of this program in 1999 shows that although the program is indeed unconventional in its criticism of local cadres, it remains conservative in its subtle and cautious control of the frequency, timing, level, and content of the criticism. Further analysis of the government's media policy shows that in the 1990s, it redefined the primary role of media as agenda-setting, which allows the expression of the people's voice, though priority is still given to the party's voice. To this extent, China's media policy gradually shifted away from propaganda and towards hegemony before the turn of the century.