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Media control characterizes authoritarianism. In China, the news media are under strict state control, and although media reform has given Chinese journalists more freedom to cover news stories, both traditional and new media outlets still assume the political task of propaganda while being closely monitored and controlled by the state for politically sensitive reports.
Earlier studies have examined the news media's political role as well as the institutions and methods used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to control the media.1As reform has granted more autonomy to Chinese journalists,2recent studies have probed the evolving strategies used by the state to maintain its hold over the media,3as well as the techniques used by journalists to test the boundaries of political reporting and dodge state control.4A growing consensus in the literature is that the Chinese news media have moved away from "ideological brainwashing and conversion"5and have become more skilled at propagating official ideologies and policies. They now use softer messages and more covert techniques to promote the image of the Party and justify its legitimacy.6They have descended "from an ideological highland to a pragmatic publicity plateau."7For example, scholars have found that since the reform, the Chinese news media have helped to forge a consensus among the public by providing "social knowledge" and strengthening the basis for CCP rule.8
While the compelling arguments and evidence of these studies show how effective the news media have become, their findings are based upon the conventional notion that the media are political tools used by the CCP to influence the public. This is an important media function, but this assumption overlooks the circumstances in which local media may aim to influence lower-level government officials rather than the public. Therefore, a largely overlooked effect of the media reform is that limited autonomy and commercial pressure have led to local media being used as a political tool by local governments to rein in lower-level officials.9The political nature of the news media lies not only in their function to manipulate public opinion but also in the role they play in influencing the behaviour of political elites.