Media self-censorship in China

In my International Mass Communications class we learned about different press systems around the world, one of them being the authoritarian press system in China.  This country is known for exercising self-censorship on a daily basis.  It is not easy to criticize the government without initiating some sort of political crackdown.  The press system in China seems entirely different than the Western model in the United States.  To answer my questions about the Chinese press system I read an scholarly peer-reviewed journal article titled, “Press self-censorship in China: a case study in the transformation of discourse.”

From my class and general Western knowledge, I’ve heard a lot of why authoritarian media systems are harmful to journalists and the public.  Despite this, there’s always another side to the story and I wanted to know the pros of an authoritarian system.  This article was particularly useful in demonstrating what makes authoritarian media systems positive.  Jingrong Tong, the author for this article, elaborated on how journalists carry out their work within China (I was also interested in this).  The writer took three case studies of events that occurred in China.  In addition, the writer depicted the self-censorship that took place after the initial article had been written.

For all three of the case studies, the journalist had taken complete liberty in writing and didn’t self-censor themselves.  Self-censorship was apparent when the article went to the editors.  Despite this, the writer demonstrated that self-censorship could actually enhance themes such as social crises and make them more prominent.  Journalists and editors are able to achieve this by changing connotations of words and making them appear more neutral.  In this way, the writer states that journalists are able to discreetly make their point and also able to do so without harming the public or criticizing the government directly.

This article is relevant to my target audience, specifically professional and student journalists.  This article is credible because it is featured in a scholarly peer-reviewed journal Discourse and Society, by SAGE Publications.  The author, Jingrong Tong has a doctorate in Media and Communication from the University of Westminster of the United Kingdom.  Tong also has a masters’ in Media and Communication from the University of London.  Also the fact that three Chinese newspaper agencies were analyzed also makes this publication credible.