Online Censorship and Journalists' Tactics

Abstract

This paper explores the dynamics between journalistic practices and the mechanisms of internet control in the Chinese context. Principally drawing on interviews and focus group discussions with journalists, this paper investigates in detail the key tactics employed by journalists to counter online censorship, which include: journalists working undercover; the use of “transformed words” or alternatives to “sensitive” words to evade blocking filters; and de-verification on microblogs (Weibo in Chinese) where critical alternative accounts on social media oblige officials to recant earlier versions of events reported on traditional media. Informed by Scott's research, this paper argues that journalists employ these strategies as weapons against the party-state's censorship. Such strategies avoid direct confrontation with the authorities, and are conducted on a “quiet” but substantial scale. Consequently, it is not easy to apply sanctions against particular individuals. The strategies have a profound impact on the dynamics of the relationships between journalists and the powerful party-state. On the one hand, the strategies can empower journalists with psychological gains. On the other, these strategies weaken the party-state's authority. But such strategies are not new and can also be found in traditional journalistic practices. However, one phenomenon worthy of note is the association between journalists and scholars facilitated by microblogs, since increased associations among various professional groups may spark resistance to the party-state's information monopoly.

KEYWORDS:

• discourse strategy
• elite alliance
• everyday resistance
• identity strategy
• journalists' tactics
• online censorship

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to thank Professor Philip Schlesinger, Professor Raymond Boyle, and two anonymous reviewers for their critical comments on the earlier draft of this article.

Notes

1. Yan, Lianke is a well-known Chinese writer who had owned a house in a Beijing suburb. However, the local government planned to relocate residents from that area. Yan, Lianke wrote an open letter to top party leaders appealing for them to stop the demolition plan. Yet he failed to save his house. His house was destroyed without advance notice. A report regarding this from the New York Times can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/world/asia/harassment-and-house-evictions-bedevil-even-chinas-well-off.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

2. See NetEase News (2009).

3. On 23 July 2011, two high-speed trains collided on a viaduct in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, China. The incident caused 40 deaths and injuries to 191 people (see Wines and Lafraniere 2011).