When grapevine news meets mass media: Different information sources and popular perceptions of government corruption in Mainland China

Abstract

This paper examines factors that shape people’s perceptions of government corruption in China. We are particularly interested in how people acquire information on local corruption, given the general lack of pertinent first-hand experience. We combine the data from a national survey in Mainland China with a self-compiled dataset on the number of corruption cases reported in Chinese provincial newspapers. The results of Probit and Heckman Selection models show that indirect formal and indirect informal information sources have diverging effects. While coverage of corruption by newspapers controlled by the authoritarian regime reduces people’s perceptions of corruption, exposure to grapevine news significantly increases perceived corruption. Moreover, access to media controlled by the government can significantly dilute the negative impact of grapevine news on perceptions of corruption.