Great Aspirations and Conventional Repertoires: Chinese regional television journalists and their work

Abstract

This paper examines Chinese regional television news packages to establish what congruence there might be between the declared beliefs of the reporters about their work, and the reports they produce each day. Chinese television reporters from Hangzhou were interviewed and their news product examined across a month long sample. Interviews conducted with Chinese journalists revealed that they see themselves as scrutinising government, representing the people to the government and vice versa. Examination of their news product, however, suggests that they are mere transmitters of the political line of the government and of the cultural prejudices of their masters. In being so contradictory they reflect an ambivalence in Chinese society as a whole, where market individualism coexists with political authoritarianism. Chinese journalists believe they have social responsibilities which, to an outside observer, they cannot fulfil while making news. Examining their product in the light of their declarations illustrates the considerable gulf that separates their aspirations from their practices.

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