Tuesday, 1 March 2022, 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. on Zoom
This talk reports on the findings of a number of collaborative research projects on Chinese newspapers in the period 2011–2021 to which I was a contributor. At the start of the last decade, the established orthodoxy about Chinese media was that the development of the market has generated a degree of autonomy for the press, that many journalists were using the new space to “push the red line,” and that there was a growing contradiction between these developments and the continuation of party control over policy. These findings of these projects demonstrated that, at least since 2011, the development of digital media has undermined the market successes of the press and, in concert with increased political pressure, has changed the pre-existing situation. The kinds of material prioritized by many news organizations, the working practices of journalists, and even the content of “professional” journalism, have changed in recent years. There is strong evidence that the nature of, at least, newspaper journalism and journalists is undergoing a significant
change.
COLIN SPARKS is Emeritus Chair Professor of Media Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University. He has written extensively on several aspects of the mass media, including tabloidization, globalization and media in transitional societies. His most recently published work, undertaken in collaboration with Chinese scholars, has been about the impact of digital technologies on mainland Chinese newspapers and journalism.
For enquiries: mkcheung@hkbu.edu.hk
Organized by Centre for Media and Communication Research and Research Postgraduate Studies Program, School of Communication and Film