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China THE MEDIA
Since 1978 the media had been one focus of the CCP's efforts to
modernize key sectors of Chinese society, and it operated on the
premise that more responsible and factual reporting would help to
narrow the distance between the elite and the masses. The party
hoped in this way to enlist mass support for its nation-building
program. In 1987 the official media continued to play its assigned
role as a vehicle through which to inform, educate, indoctrinate,
control, and mobilize the masses.
Before 1978 the CCP used the mass media as a tool to "serve the
interest of proletarian politics" or the party's "class struggle"
and "mass line." Having these priorities, the party was concerned
neither with openness nor accuracy. What the CCP considered
information was more often than not the interpretation of events or
data that would support the government's political, social, and
economic programs. Timeliness of content was far less important
than political or ideological utility. Before 1976 the party
allowed no dissenting view to appear in print. The result was
reporting and commentary that made information and propaganda all
but synonymous.
With the ascendancy of the Deng Xiaoping reformers in 1978, the
mass media began to display a different orientation and focus. It
began to play a significant part in the CCP drive to popularize,
first within the party, the notion of "practice being the only
criterion of truth" and of "seeking truth from facts," rather than
from petrified formulations. After March 1978 the party press no
longer printed Mao's quotations in bold type. Moreover, it began to
report more shortcomings and expose more criticism of the central
authorities. In 1987 there still were considerable limits on
criticism in the official media, however. Party general secretary
Hu Yaobang, in a 1986 speech published in the party's daily organ
Renmin Ribao, instructed editors that 80 percent of
reporting should focus on achievements in modernization and only 20
percent on shortcomings.
China's extensive communication system includes both official
and unofficial channels. Official means of communication include
government directives and state documents, newspapers, periodicals,
books, and other publications; radio and television; and drama,
art, motion pictures, and exhibitions. Unofficial channels include
handwritten wall newspapers, handbills, posters, street-corner
skits, and theater
(see Culture and the Arts
, ch. 4). Of all these
channels, the newspapers, periodicals, and electronic media
continued in 1987 to play the most important part in
communications.
Among the principal national newspapers in 1987, Renmin
Ribao contained party and government directives, unsigned
editorials, commentaries, and letters to the editor. The latter
were often critical of local implementation of central policies.
The PLA organ was Jiefangjun Bao (Liberation Army Daily).
Gongren Ribao (Workers' Daily) dealt with labor matters, and
Guangming Ribao (Enlightenment Daily) provided coverage of
science, culture, and education. There were numerous other
newspapers published both at the provincial-level and at the mass
organization-level, but none of these had the prestige and
authoritativeness associated with the party and army newspapers.
Starting in 1978, party authorities permitted newspapers from south
China provinces to circulate outside China; in 1983 north China
newspapers were given foreign circulation. There were also many
specialty newspapers focusing on the economy, trade and finance,
agriculture, the arts, youth affairs, and so on. By the end of
1984, post offices in China reportedly were distributing 734
different newspapers with a total circulation of 112.9 million, or
a newspaper for every eighth person in China.
Hongqi (Red Flag), a journal published by the CCP
Central Committee, provides guidance on questions of current
political theory, explaining the direction of the party's Marxist
analysis, setting forth the party line, and suggesting the proper
methods for implementing it. A monthly until December 1979,
Hongqi since has been published twice a month. The
government also publishes its major reports and documents. For
example, Guowuyuan Gongbao (State Council Bulletin),
appearing three times a month, provides a summary of directives,
prints notices, presents agreements signed with foreign countries,
and registers central approval given to local government actions.
In addition to open official and unofficial documents, there is
another large category of materials that is classified for internal
use (neibu), as opposed to for public use (gongkai).
These materials are published by party, government, academic, and
professional organizations. Some publications have additional
restrictions, such as for distribution only within the publishing
unit. The most protected publication is entitled Cankao
Ziliao (Reference Information) and is distributed to around
1,000 high officials daily. A similar internal use publication, but
with a much wider readership, is the Cankao Xiaoxi
(Reference News). This publication contains translations of
selected foreign news articles, many of which are critical of
China. These internally circulated materials generally are more
reliable and detailed than those found in the open press.
The principal source of domestic news and the sole source of
international news for the mass domestic newspapers and radio is
the Xinhua (New China) News Agency. This government agency has
departments dealing with domestic news, international news,
domestic news for foreign news services, and foreign affairs. It
maintains an extensive network of correspondents in ninety overseas
bureaus. Xinhua also releases the News Bulletin in English,
French, Spanish, Arabic, and Russian, totaling about 30,000 words
per day, and provides special features to newspapers and magazines
in more than 100 countries. Domestic branches of Xinhua can
communicate with the head office over microwave communications.
Internationally, a telecommunications network has been established
linking Beijing with Paris, London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Further, Xinhua has rented an international communications
satellite to file news to foreign countries and exchange news with
foreign news agencies. It mails special features to newspapers and
magazines in more than 100 countries. Another news agency, China
News Service (Zhongguo Xinwenshe), provides news stories and
photographs to Chinese newspapers and some radio and television
stations in Hong Kong, Macao, and several foreign countries.
By 1984 electronic media included over 160 radio stations and
90 television stations
(see Telecommunications
, ch. 8). The Central
People's Broadcasting Station, headquartered in Beijing and
subordinate to the Ministry of Radio, Cinema, and Television,
provided domestic service to every area of the country. Radio
Beijing, China's overseas radio service, continued to expand its
programming, initiating a news program in English for foreign
residents in Beijing in January 1985. Television service was
available in the major urban areas and was increasing its reach
outside urban centers. China's television broadcasting was under
the control of China Central Television (CCTV). In 1979 the network
began an "open university" program. By 1984 China reported having
"radio and television universities" in 326 cities and 1,168
counties throughout 28 provinces, autonomous regions, and special
municipalities, making the use of television an important aspect of
higher education in China
(see Education Policy
, ch. 4).
* * *
The dynamic nature and pace of political and social change in
China have inspired a number of new works by China specialists. For
discussion of the concepts basic to the cadre system, A. Doak
Barnett's Cadres, Bureaucracy, and Political Power in Communist
China is useful. Also useful is Franz Schurmann's Ideology
and Organization in Communist China. Of specific relevance to
this chapter is the State Constitution of 1982, which appears in
Beijing Review, December 27, 1982, and the Party
Constitution of 1982, which appears in Beijing Review,
September 20, 1982. These two documents, as well as extensive
summary material on other subjects, also appear in People's
Republic of China Year Book, 1985. China Quarterly
publishes in each issue a useful section entitled "Chronicle and
Documentation" that contains factual information and analysis of
key official meetings, events, foreign relations, and so on. In
addition, two useful articles appearing in this publication are
Melanie Manion's "The Cadre Management System Post-Mao: The
Appointment, Promotion, Transfer and Removal of Party and State
Leaders," and David S.G. Goodman's "The National CCP Conference of
September 1985 and China's Leadership Changes." Of particular use
is James R. Townsend and Brantly Womack's Politics in China,
which explains China's political and institutional framework and
the governmental process. A similar and detailed work is Alan P.L.
Liu's How China Is Ruled. Political and structural reforms
are dealt with in the first volume of China's Economy Looks
Toward the Year 2000, published by the United States Congress
Joint Economic Committee. Another work that summarizes these
subjects and includes a wide variety of selected documents covering
key topics is Policy Conflicts in Post-Mao China, edited by
John P. Burns and Stanley Rosen. (For further information and
complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of July 1987
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