To Mobilise or to Mediate? Re-assessing the Democratic Role of News Media in Social Protests in China

Abstract

Protester-sympathising media reports validate activists’ claims, expose official wrongdoing, and mobilise public support, which allows scholars to highlight the importance of the media in promoting democratic participation in authoritarian China. Reaffirming media’s crucial role in sustaining communicative rationality, the article re-evaluates media coverage of four rural protests against land expropriation in China, combining framing analysis of media reports, in-depth interviews, and an extensive reading of court files, etc. It unveils that two storylines—transgressive collective action for maximising economic gains and conflicts inside villages—are tailored off, when information is woven into the dominant media frame “struggle of the weak”. Simplified, but logically coherent, the media narrative is likely to exclude the necessity for public deliberation, reduce the fleeting public activism into anger-venting, and pressures local governments into makeshift concessions at the cost of public good. The one-dimensional civic engagement urges Chinese journalists to consider innovating protest reporting frame.

KEYWORDS:

• civic engagement
• public deliberation
• media mobilisation
• rural protests
• land expropriation

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

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3 Mu – one of the Chinese measurements of land area, equal to 667 sq. meters.

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7 Wang, Keqin, and Guodong Qiao. 2005. “Hebei ‘Dingzhou cunmin beixi shijian diaocha [Investigative Report on the Attack on Villagers in Dingzhou, Hebei].” China Economic Times, June 20. https://wangkeqin.blog.sohu.com/510478.html.

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9 Wang, Chen. 2014. “Yunnan tuixiu lingdao jie zhongtu shimo: qiangzhan nongtian wie daohuosuo [Retired Official Explains the Cause of Clashes in Yunnan: Trigger is Farmland Seizure].” Sohu, October 15. https://news.sohu.com/20141015/n405152455.shtml.

10 Min, Yunxiao. 2014. “Jinning chongtu diaocha [Investigative Report on Clash in Jinning].” Sina, October 22. https://news.sina.com.cn/c/zg/lrs/2014-10-22/1214327.html.

11 Personal communication, November 30, 2017.

12 Ling, Xin, and Jianbiao Yan. 2011. “Qian Yunhui min’an xijie [Details of the Death of Qian Yunhui].” Caijing, January 18. https://focus.news.163.com/11/0118/09/6QM1B0BK00011SM9.html.

13 Ni, Jianing. 2014. “Jinning can’an beihou de shengji zhi kun [Subsistence Crisis behind the Mournful Jinning Incident].” Beijing Youth Daily, October 21. https://pic.people.com.cn/n/2014/1021/c1016-25875076.html.

14 Pi, Wen, and Bing Song. 2012. “Yueqing cunzhang zhi si [The Death of Village Head in Yueqing].” China Business News Daily, December 28. https://news.sina.com.cn/c/sd/2010-12-28/021521716016.shtml.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yan Liu

Yan Liu (corresponding author) is Assisstant Professor at the School of Journalism and New Media, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China. Email: [email protected]