Abstract
In the past four decades, China has witnessed the rising trend of reporting polls in news. The increasingly important role of public opinion in China's political process has compelled us to investigate how the authoritarian regime mediatizes the public opinion to enhance its authoritarian governance, and how the media and the poll walk between the line of professionalism and that of politics to shape the nature of public opinion in China over time. Through a historical survey on the development of polls and poll reporting in China since 1978, this study argues that "the name of the people" has been contingent on the institutional dynamics among the state, the media and the poll industry in different time periods. Precision journalism in China is more a process of politicization and commercialization rather than that of professionalization. Such infrastructure of public opinion not only offers insights on the social construction of public opinion in Internet era, but also invites us to engage in the further discussion on the state-media relation in the authoritarian context.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - May 2019 |
| Event | 69th Annual International Communication Association Conference (ICA19): Communication Beyond Boundaries - Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington, United States Duration: 24 May 2019 → 28 May 2019 https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.icahdq.org/resource/resmgr/conference/2019/2019printprogram.pdf https://www.icahdq.org/page/2019Conference https://www.icahdq.org/general/custom.asp?page=2019Conference |
Conference
| Conference | 69th Annual International Communication Association Conference (ICA19) |
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| Abbreviated title | ICA19 |
| Place | United States |
| City | Washington |
| Period | 24/05/19 → 28/05/19 |
| Internet address |