Alliance and Tactics among Government, Media Organizations and Journalists: A Description of Public Opinion Supervision in China

Abstract

This article analyzes a case of media supervision in China. The case shows that in the context of economic and bureaucratic decentralization, central and local governments as well as central and local media have respective interests in what is known as 'public opinion supervision'. The article concludes that the development of public opinion supervision (yuiun jiandu) is a result of strategic alliances among government bodies and the media. However, in a specific media supervision event, every party involved will evaluate their own potential gains and losses as well as their relationship to the other parties concerned and make decisions accordingly. The result of such deliberation between the party-state and the media propels the development of a public sphere in China. The different interests and goals of central and local government and media institutions, and the dynamic restructuring of power and interests in a society undergoing dramatic transformation create significant space for public opinion supervision in contemporary China.