Newspapers in China (Political Lens)

Although we take the right of speech as a given in the United States, in China it is not so. In fact, individual rights in general were not incorporated as we know them when democracy in China first began to take root. In fact as we learned in class, Liang Qichao, the writer that introduced democracy in China, believed that "there was no difference between individual interests and public interests; individual citizens were granted rights in order to better strengthen the state" (the full article is linked here - http://www.tsquare.tv/themes/essay.html).

Taking this into account, it is no surprise that government severely limits freedom of speech through censorship in the People's Republic of China. Newspapers especially are a highly censored and controlled form of media.

The following BBC Q&A article addresses China's growing newspaper industry. Unlike many developed countries, the circulation of newspapers is actually increasing. It's largest newspaper, Reference News, has more papers circulating then the Wall Street Journal. The press is becoming more focused in lifestyle and entertainment (similar to the US). Sometimes it is prone to yellow journalism tactics to discredit other papers. However, all newspapers can only run with approval from the government. Recently, a Chinese newspaper, Southern Weekly, protested the censorship and propaganda policies of the Chinese government - asking the top propaganda official to step down. To read more about this, see the second article linked below.

BBC Q& A - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20970543
Guardian - Southern Weekly - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/14/china-censorship-southern-weekly-incident

Looking from a political/governmental lens, censorship is the way that the government controls information and prevents its legitimacy from being questioned. Withholding information gives the government more control over the people and can elicit their support in a much more convenient question. With censorship and propaganda, it is near impossible for the media (and newspapers) to fulfill their role as the government's "watch dog." Hopefully, in the coming years, China will relinquish its tight control on newspapers and the freedom of speech.