TY - BOOK ID - 86100697 TI - Convenient criticism : Local media and governance in urban China PY - 2020 SN - 9781438480299 1438480296 9781438480305 143848030X 1438480318 PB - Albany State University of New York Press DB - UniCat KW - Television broadcasting of news KW - Local mass media KW - Investigative reporting KW - Press and politics KW - Reporting, Investigative KW - Reporters and reporting KW - Community media KW - Local communication KW - Local media KW - Communication KW - Mass media KW - Television broadcasting KW - Television coverage of news KW - Television journalism KW - Television news KW - Broadcast journalism KW - Political aspects KW - News KW - China KW - Politics and government KW - Politics and the press KW - Press KW - Advertising, Political KW - Government and the press KW - Journalism KW - S06/0438 KW - S11/0470 KW - S11/1400 KW - China: Politics and government--Policy towards press, Internet KW - China: Social sciences--Cities: since 1949 KW - China: Social sciences--Mass media: general UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:86100697 AB - "Why and how does critical reporting persist at the local level in China despite state media control, a hallmark of authoritarian rule? Synthesizing ethnographic observation, interviews, survey and content analysis data, Convenient Criticism: Local Media and Governance and Urban China reveals evolving dynamics in local governance and the state-media relationship. Local critical reporting, though limited in scope, occurs because local leaders use media criticism strategically to increase bureaucratic control, address citizen grievances, and improve governance, something that ultimately advances their political careers. This new approach to governance enables the shaping of public opinion while at the same time disciplining subordinate bureaucrats. The Party-state now not only monopolizes propaganda but also expropriates criticism. In other words, we must recognize that media control has evolved within authoritarian politics from the suppression of journalism to its manipulation. Nevertheless, we should not view this in an entirely negative light as these practices enable and invigorate a unique brand of advocacy journalism by China's television journalists"-- ER -