Jingrong Tong

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM IN CHINA TODAY

The situation of investigative journalism in China is precarious. There are serious pressures from both the party-state and advertisers that have reduced the opportunities for this kind of journalism. On the other hand, investigative journalism has proved a very important tool in the economic development of some newspapers, and has been integrated into their organizational structure as well as providing what might be termed a professional ideology for journalists. But as the pressures on news organizations have grown, they have been forced to respond. Some, notably television but also many newspapers, have more or less abandoned investigative journalism. Others attempt to retain the practice, but adopt a very cautious strategy. In some cases, however, the market position of the newspaper and the self-identity of the journalists mean that they retain a strong commitment to investigative journalism. In this, they are aided by the development of the Internet, which provides a good source for stories, an arena in which it is possible to publish material that could not appear in the traditional media, and a way of ensuring that sensational stories gain a wider audience. On the other hand, even those newspapers that pride themselves on maintaining their commitment to this kind of journalism have developed strategies to minimize the negative political and economic consequences of their activity. The article concludes that while investigative journalism in China faces a difficult future, it is very far from entirely defunct.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLACE

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, this article examines how changes in investigative journalism have taken place in two Chinese provincial newspapers—the Dahe Daily and the Southern Metropolis Daily—in the period from 1997 to 2006 and what such changes mean for investigative journalism in the country as a whole. Investigative journalism started almost simultaneously in the two newspapers in the late 1990s but developed along different trajectories in the following 10 years. The differences are the result of interaction between investigative journalists, news organizations, and the varying local and national social contexts in which investigative journalism takes place. The practice of investigative journalism benefits from the institutionalized choice of journalistic values in a given social context. Chinese journalism within news organizations reflexively looks for an appropriate position in the social space of the locale where it operates and seeks to construct a proper social identity to join in the production of culture in that space. These dynamics have generated various levels of journalistic autonomy in different places across China.

Guerrilla tactics of investigative journalists in China

Thanks to socio-economic and political change in China, investigative reporting had emerged as a new genre of Chinese journalism by the 1990s. Both the Party and the people seemed to welcome its rise (Zhao, 1998, 2000). This tendency reached its peak in 2003, when both domestic and foreign media hailed coverage of several important stories, especially the SARS epidemic and the Sun Zhigang event, as a breakthrough in Chinese journalism. Such stories were often covered first and best by Southern Metropolis Daily (nanfang dushi bao), which became very popular for its tough investigative reporting on social issues and dodgy doings by local officials. Recently, however, political control has been tightened and the signs of free media seem to have disappeared. Bans on coverage of ‘riots’, ‘calamities’, and ‘serious epidemics’ are now regularly issued and media personnel know they may well be punished for entering such ‘mine fields’ (leiqu). The enragement of authorities has led to the removal and even imprisonment of senior media managers as well as the closure of news organizations. Two managing editors at Southern Metropolis Daily, for example, were imprisoned in 2004. The Editorin-Chief of the Beijing News (xin jingbao) and the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Southern Metropolis Daily were dismissed and ‘Freezing Point’ (bingdian) in the China Youth Daily (zhongguo qingnian bao) was ordered closed in 2006. In this context Chinese journalists are required to always place political compliance above professional values and goals if they are to keep themselves and their organizations safe. This does not mean, however, that journalists avoid covering banned issues. But to do so they must engage in a constant problem-solving process during the collection of information and the writing of reports about how best to overcome constraints and to achieve their goals. Safely reporting on politically risky events has become a key element of the Chinese journalist’s craft. Journalism

Environmental Risks in Newspaper Coverage: A Framing Analysis of Investigative Reports on Environmental Problems in 10 Chinese Newspapers

Economic modernization has been Chinas national priority since the establishment of the Peoples Republic. Since the authorities retain control over the media, which is also now subject to commercial influences, it might be expected that the Chinese news media would construct a discourse of assurance, endorsing economic modernization. A framing analysis of newspaper investigative reports on environmental problems in this article, however, shows that these reports have portrayed environmental problems in a manner that opposes rather than supports the national priority for economic growth. It challenges rather than reinforces the current institutional discourse of development and criticizes rather than contributes to the present structure of the capitalist mode of production in China. In this case, the prominence of the critical reflective discourse demonstrates the critical role investigative journalism potentially plays in arousing the publics awareness of risks in order to create a society in which such risks can be minimized. Factors in the wider social context contribute to our understanding of the critical discourse of environmental problems.

Investigative journalism, environmental problems and modernisation in China

Introduction 1. Modernisation, Environmental Problems and Chinese Society 2. Twenty-years of Environmental Investigative Reporting: Agendas, Social Interests and Voices 3. The Discourse of Risk: Environmental Problems and Environmentalism in Chinese Press Investigative Reports 4. Environmental Investigative Journalists and their Work 5. Offline Investigative Journalism and Online Environmental Crusades 6. Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony: Investigative Journalism between Modernisation and Environmental Problems Bibliography

The defence of journalistic legitimacy in media discourse in China: An analysis of the case of Deng Yujiao

This article examines the response of Chinese mainstream journalists towards their citizen counterparts, through an analysis of how journalists constructed a discourse of ‘netizens’ and journalism in the case of Deng Yujiao. The analysis is mainly drawn from a discourse analysis of the newspaper coverage of this case in the Southern Metropolitan Daily (SMD) and the relevant journalists’ reflexive articles on the same topic published in the Journal of Southern Media Studies (JSMS). The discourse analysis is supplemented by interviews with 60 journalists in 2011 concerning their views of netizens in general and of the conflict between journalism and netizens in this particular case. Based on these three elements of analysis, this article offers an account of how institutionally-shaped journalistic norms and values have been used to set up and maintain the occupational boundaries of Chinese journalism, in an attempt to defend journalistic legitimacy by making a clear distinction between ‘amateur netizens/them’ and ‘professional journalists/us’.

The formation of an agonistic public sphere: Emotions, the Internet and news media in China

This article discusses the importance of emotions to China’s public life and the way in which the Internet and news media channels have publicized emotional outbursts by the public in China in recent years. An agonistic public sphere is being formed, the basis of which is the expression of emotions, especially hatred, resentment, anger and compassion, both on the Internet and in the news media. As a result, conflicting interests are contested and paradoxes in society are exposed. This development is close to what radical democracy theories conceptualize as an agonistic public sphere. This emotional dimension in public life is a crucial means for China’s subordinated citizens to strive to utilize resources to change the current hierarchy in society. The formation of an agonistic public sphere democratizes communication processes, opens a space for public participation and gives voice to the public who are otherwise silent. The expression of emotions has the potential to break down the Chinese Communist Party’s hegemony.

Being Objective With a Personal Perspective :How Environmental Journalists at Two Chinese Newspapers Articulate and Practice Objectivity

This article examines what objectivity means to 15 environmental journalists at two Chinese newspapers and how this value guides their practices. It reveals that although objectivity is central to their journalistic ethos, the participants see it as ethical to organize reports within a framework arising from their personal judgments of news events. The appropriation and particular definition of the American journalistic norm of objectivity increases the participants’ political safety and justifies them in playing their perceived role as guardians of society and educators. In so doing, they negotiate with other social actors and consolidate their cultural authority over defining reality.

Journalistic Legitimacy Revisited: Collapse or revival in the digital age?

Journalism in general—Anglo-American journalism in particular—has undergone a number of profound changes within and outside the newsroom. This paper explores whether these changes have weakened the basis of journalistic legitimacy, or have offered new grounds for journalistic legitimacy, and, in each case, to what extent. It is argued that a number of factors, including the financial difficulties of news media, the decentralisation of public communication as facilitated by the internet, the dual dilemmas faced by both objective and partisan journalism, and the belligerent public discourse about journalism are delegitimising journalism. However, the legitimatisation of journalism can be found in the efforts of news organisations—not only leading news organisations such as the Guardian and the New York Times but also regional and local ones such as the Trinity Mirror group and the Palm Beach Post—in adopting and possessing digital and technological tools and skills, and in defending their journalism. The relegitimation of journalism reiterates and reinforces the historically shaped essence of journalism that reflects a continuity of legacy journalism; and this is an organisational and occupational response to, and boundary defence against, the trend of delegitimation of journalism in the digital era.

The Epistemology of Environmental Journalists: The case of China

This paper offers a case study of the epistemology of Chinese environmental investigative journalists, drawn from 42 in-depth interviews conducted between 2011 and 2013. The study proposes that it is the knowledge that journalists form, rather than whether the knowledge is objective, which is important for understanding the epistemology of environmental investigative journalists. The analysis reveals that four types of knowledge are central to what participants come to know about environmental issues in the process of validating evidence and making judgments. The importance of experience, cognition and evidence-based judgment in the knowledge formation process means there is an inevitable (but covert) involvement of journalists’ subjectivity in their reports. This suggests that the participants practise an advocacy and ethnographic journalism, characterised by pragmatism, existentialism and particular standpoints, while making a strong claim to “truth”. These standpoints are generated in the pre-writing investigation stage rather than in the writing-up stage. Therefore, in this case study, the epistemology of environmental investigative journalism is concerned with how and when meanings and opinions are generated in the process of knowledge acquisition, rather than whether the knowledge is objective.