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China's 1.3 billion population may make the country the world's largest, but the vas... MOREt majority of Chinese share remarkably similar views on these and a wide array of other issues, thanks to the unified message they get from tightly controlled state-run media. Official views are formed at the top in organizations like the Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television and allowed to trickle down to regional and local media, giving the appearance of many voices with a single message that is reinforced at every level. As a result, the Chinese are remarkably like-minded on a wide range of issues both domestic and foreign.

• Takes readers beyond China's economic miracle to show how the nation's massive state-run media complex not only influences public opinion but creates it
• Explores an array of issues, from Tibet and Taiwan to the environment and US trade relations, as seen through the lens of the Xinhua News Agency
• Tells the story of the official Xinhua News Agency along with its history and reporting over the years, as the foundation for telling the story

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Agenda

Telling the Party’s Story

Tool for Social Stability

Changing with the Times

Chapter 2: Spreading the Word

The Machinery

Rise of the Internet as a New Major Force

Breaking News: an Uneasy Truce

Chapter 3: Ultranetworked

Caught Up In Connections

Promoting the Party’s Agenda

Steering Clear of Well-Connected Organizations

Chapter 4: Repo... MORErters

The Party’s Eyes and Ears

Investigating Trouble in the Provinces

Xinhua: the Party’s First Take on History

Chapter 5: Korea and Tibet

China Finds Its Voice

Four Media Approaches

Tibet: a Lost Family Member Returns to the Fold

Chapter 6: Cultural Revolution

The Ultimate Media Movement

Guerilla Coverage at Fever Pitch

Educator of the Masses

Chapter 7: A Nixon Visit, the Death of Mao and Road to Reform

A Softer Approach

Kissinger’s Secret Trip

Starting with a Handshake

Chapter 8: The Tiananmen Square Divide

The Media Gains, Then Loses, Its Voice

Key Moments: Death of a Former Reformer

Students Go on Strike

Chapter 9: Falun Gong

Guerilla Coverage Returns

Starting with a Stealth Demonstration

Explaining the Evil

Chapter 10: A Bombing in Belgrade and Anti-Japanese Marches

The Nationalism Card

Putting out the Flames

Japan: a Case of Old Resentments

Chapter 11: SARS

Don’t Spoil Our Party

Cracks in the Monolithic Facade

Breaking Open the Coverage

Chapter 12: The Beijing Olympics and Sichuan Earthquake

Rallying Points

Resurrecting the Laundry List

Proud to Be Chinese

Chapter 13: Google in China

Editorializing

When Issues Go Viral

Breaking the Silence: China’s Internet Is Open

Afterword

About the Author

Index

Doug Young is an associate professor in the Journalism Department at China's Fudan University in Shanghai. He has worked in the media for nearly two decades, half of that in China, where he witnessed the massive changes that have taken place in the country since the earliest days of the reform era in the 1980s. Most recently, he worked for Reuters from 2000 to 2010 covering the China story out of the agency's Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taipei bureaus. Prior to relocating to China, he worked as a journalist in Los Angeles. A native of Washington, DC, he received his bachelor's degree in geology from Yale University and a master's degree in Asian studies from Columbia University. In addition to his current roles as teacher and author, he is a closely followed commentator on the latest Chinese business news and industry trends on his blog, www.youngchinabiz.com.