Gianluigi Negro

Framing Edward Snowden: A comparative analysis of four newspapers in China, United Kingdom and United States

This article sheds light on the framing of Edward Snowden in four newspapers in three different countries. The authors analysed online editions of a major American daily (The New York Times), one prominent European newspaper (The Guardian), one mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (The People’s Daily) and The South China Morning Post. The study seeks to explore how the role of Edward Snowden was framed and how digital whistleblowing was descripted by newspapers with different levels of Internet control, perception and culture on whistleblowing. The research is based on the framework proposed by a recent study of the framing of Bradley Manning. The results of a content analysis will present to what extent the press supported or criticized the role of Edward Snowden and his revelations. This article used four out of its five categories (‘Hero’, ‘Victim’, ‘Villain’, ‘Whistle-Blower’) plus a new addition of ‘Mole’, proposed by the authors. The findings provide evidence of the differences in the framing of Edward Snowden and the rhetoric behind reporting about whistleblowers and Internet governance.

The ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in China: the limits of the cyber-utopia

The study of the Chinese Internet plays a fundamental part in an on-going global discussion on the role of the new media as tools of political change. It is undeniable that the development of the Internet in China is terrific both in terms of infrastructure investment and citizen involvement. Yet, even though this process has already been studied extensively and with varying perspective, several issues regarding its impact on Chinese society remain open. This paper will specifically delve into the conflicting nature of the Internet in Chinas political context. It will argue that in China, the Internet can favour political change as much as it can assist the authorities in their struggle to maintain the status quo. The argument will be structured in two parts: first, we will outline the “cyber-utopian” discourse in the Chinese context, underlining how the Internet has been perceived as a powerful instrument for political change since the Nineties; second, we will describe the various strategies employed by the Chinese authorities in order to control the Internet, specifically through modes of censorship, manipulation of information and judicial intimidation.

Chapter 7 Chinese Internet Governance—Some Domestic and Foreign Issues

The management of the Domain Name System (DNS) remains a crucial issue for Internet governance. The aim of this chapter is to provide a historical overview of the relationship between the Chinese government and the DNS implementation decision-making process.

2008–2011: From the Social Network Services Copycats’ Struggle to Sina Weibo (the Most Popular Microblogging Platform)

This section is devoted to the most successful Chinese microblogging platforms in 2010 and 2011. It will provide a historical overview of microblogs in China, illustrating the role played by Sina Weibo, through the analysis of four different categories of using the service, but also apply them to combination theories. More in detail, this section starts mapping the economic competition of microblog platforms at the beginning of the microblog phenomenon in China; afterwards, it provides a focus on the experience of Sina Weibo. Last but not least, this chapter investigates how microblogs were used in online journalism, as a platform for opinion leaders, to support local elections and to improve local governments’ transparency.

BBSs and Blogs: The First Participatory Online Spaces (2003–2008)

This section introduces the first successful experiences of Web 2.0 participatory platforms in China analyzing the arrival of Bulletin Board Systems and weblogs and considering a period that starts in the late 1990s and ends at the end of the 2000s. This chapter also includes three cases studies of successful weblogs, which are thne of Wang Xiaofang focused on a provocative style, Muzi Mei, considered a female testimonial of one for the first Chinese blogging platform, and Han Han, one of the most influential bloggers, especially for younger generations. The conclusion of this section provides some considerations on the role of most prominent bloggers between the end of the late nineties and the beginning of the noughties.

Studying the Internet in China. Relevance of the Topic

This section highlights the main reasons why studying the Internet in China is important and the historical context that marked the Chinese media environment before the Internet. The author provides a literature review on the evolution of the Chinese civil society proposing three categories optimistic, pessimistic and with a more balanced approach and contesting Habermas’s approach to the Chinese experience.

A Historical Overview of the Media Political Economy of the Internet in China

This part of the book investigates the role and the framework of Chinese civil society. First, some translation issues are defined. The second part of this section defines a general overview of Chinese Internet users analyzing the most important historical trends through the collection of the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reports. This chapter also includes 28 interviews divided in three groups: Chinese scholars and think tanks; employees of the most popular Chinese Internet platforms at that time; media and Internet experts. Moreover, this section also includes the presentation of key phenomena such as shanzhai 山寨, e’gao恶搞 and online neologisms. Finally, three government online government strategies are presented (management of public opinion, channeling of public opinion and struggle with public opinion).

How Chinese People Use the Internet

This part of the book investigates the role and the framework of Chinese civil society. First, some translation issues are defined. The second part of this section defines a general overview of Chinese Internet users analyzing the most important historical trends through the collection of the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reports. This chapter also includes 28 interviews divided in three groups: Chinese scholars and think tanks; employees of the most popular Chinese Internet platforms at that time; media and Internet experts. Moreover, this section also includes the presentation of key phenomena such as Shanzhai 山寨, E’gao 恶搞 and online neologisms. Finally, three government online government strategies are presented (management of public opinion, channeling of public opinion and struggle with public opinion).

The Development of Mobile Internet. Weixin (WeChat): A Killer Application for Sina Weibo?

This last section provides an overview on Wechat (Weixin 微信), one of the most commonly discussed topics in the Chinese media in 2013. This last chapter also defines the main reasons that contributed to the success of the mobile application, highlighting similarities with former online services and platforms such as blogs and microblogs. A first specific section is addressed to the SOLOMO phenomenon, which combines social, local and mobile characteristics, and is more focused on the economic implications; a second section will describe how Wechat is also used to monitor public opinion discussions. The last part of this section provides some considerations on the shared features between Sina Weibo and Wechat as well as some possible future scenarios of Wechat.