Shanghai-based former journalist and China media expert Doug Young
provides a fascinating look into the crucial but poorly understood
relationship between China’s media and the Communist Party in the new
publication of ‘The Party Line: How The Media Dictates Public
Opinion in Modern China’.
China’s Communist Party, using the media as its megaphone, is more
interested in reporting a version of the truth that it wants its people
to believe, in contrast to the media’s more traditional role as public
watchdog in Western societies. The Party Line explains
how China’s 1.3 billion people share remarkably similar views on a wide
array of domestic and global issues ranging from foreign relations, to
government corruption and global warming.
The official version of news is formed at the top in organizations like
the Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television before being allowed
to trickle down to regional and local media. As a result, the average
consumer gets strikingly unified messages despite the appearance of many
voices in the local media.
The Party Line presents a holistic look at the media to
help readers understand how Chinese media operate, and in turn how that
influences the view that Chinese people have of their country and the
outside world.
The book includes detailed analyses on several major historical events
from the 1950-53 Korean War, to the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989,
and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In exploring these events, Young provides
insight into why the Chinese media reported on those events the way they
did, and what their approach said about the Communist Party’s agenda at
the time.
“After more than a decade of working as a reporter in China, I find the
Chinese media especially fascinating for their remarkable focus and
ability to stay on message,” said Young.
Written in a straightforward prose for ordinary readers, The
Party Line is the only mainstream English book which offers an
unparalleled insight into China’s media industry and how it has changed
over time.
The Party Line is now available online and at all leading
bookstores. For more information, go to: www.wiley.com/buy/9780470828533.
