State-Media Relations in China: Media Commercialisation and the Rise of Citizen Journalism

In recent decades, economic reforms and technological developments have provide Chinese citizens new channels for obtaining and spreading information, namely the commercialisation of media and the rise of citizen journalism. Although state-media relations have not been evidently improved, as monitoring and self-censorship are ongoing, there have been instances that the media are getting greater attention from the Government.

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Commercialism “with Chinese characteristics”

Commercialisation is the detachment of media outlets from political parties. It is the transformation of a state-owned organisation into a privately-owned corporate, which depends on advertising and other business activities for revenue. It is commonly identified that commercialisation will “foster liberalisation, establish or deepen democracy, and encourage the development of a globalised media culture” (Hadland, & Zhang, 2012). However, this is not the case for China. Some extreme opinions argue that commercialisation causes destructive consequences to China, both politically and socially (Hadland, & Zhang, 2012).