The Transformation of Investigative Journalism in China

From Journalists to Activists

By (author) Haiyan Wang

Publication date:

29 April 2016

Length of book:

188 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498527613

Investigative journalism emerged in China in the 1980s following Deng Xiaoping’s media reforms. Over the past few decades, Chinese investigative journalists have produced an increasing number of reports in print or on air and covered a surprisingly wide range of topics which had been thought impossible by the standards of the Communist era. In the 2010s, however, investigative journalism has been replaced by activist journalism. This book examines how, with the aid of new media technologies and in response to new calls for social responsibility, these new-era journalists vigorously seek to expand the scope of their journalism and their capacity as journalists. They tend to perceive themselves as more than professional journalists, and their activities are not limited to the physical boundaries of newsrooms. They are not only detached observers of society but also engaged organizers of social movements—they are social activists as well as responsible journalists who challenge state power and the party line and point to the limitations of the more traditional conceptions of journalism in China. This book analyzes how journalism in China has been gradually transformed from a tool of the state to a means of broadening calls for democratic reform.

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Chinese Media Reform and Its Critique
Chapter 3: Investigative Journalism: Triumph and Failure
Chapter 4 Reporting Space for the Chinese Journalists
Chapter 5: Advocacy Tradition in the Chinese Press History
Chapter 6: Media Professionalism and Activism
Chapter 7: The Rise of Activist Journalism: Four Cases
Chapter 8: The Chinese Activist Journalists
Chapter 9: Conclusion

Wang (Shenzhen Univ.) describes how elite Chinese journalists recently created a professional paradigm that blends social activism with investigative reporting. Wang suggests the formation of an investigative and advocacy journalistic model is a unique adaptation to contemporary governmental controls, social norms, and journalistic practices in China. Wang explains that leading Chinese journalists are increasingly focused on fostering democratic reforms in China and sometimes help organize social reform movements.... [T]he text is well researched with helpful chapter footnotes, a bibliography, and an index. The book’s thesis contrasts with the portrayal of Chinese journalism in some recent books, such as Doug Young's The Party Line: How the Media Dictates Public Opinion in Modern China (Wiley, 2013). Recommended for collections in international journalism as well as contemporary Chinese culture. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals.