Reconfiguring global communication for a multi-polar world 

Rebecca Briscoe
BA Chinese & German

Reconfiguring global communication for a multi-polar world 

On 21st March 2018, the School of Media and Communication invited Daya Thussu, a Professor of International Communication, to give a talk on global communication with a focus on Asia and particularly Mainland China. Thussu’s talk was a genuine eye-opener, as it made myself and others in the audience really realise the growing prevalence of the People’s Republic of China, especially in terms of its social media, as well as media more generally. With this in mind, it also made us realise that this is a massive change as part of the globalisation of world media.

The most interesting point was the fact that China is overtaking the US as the face of global media. The speaker showed this with an example of author Jeremy Tunstall’s books. In 1977, he wrote a book entitled The Media are American, then in 2007 he wrote another book entitled The Media were American. When Thussu made the point that US mass media is in decline, with reference to these book names, I realised that he was right – nowadays people search wider for their information, or even for ways to stay in contact with others abroad. For example, there has been a noticeable growth of international media outlets and news broadcasters, such as Russia Today (RT), Al Jazeera and China’s CCTV and CGTN.

The growth of Mainland Chinese media is even bigger, not least because of the so-called Chinese Firewall imposed by the Chinese government, which involves the banning of Facebook and Youtube in China, along with other forms of censorship. Yet, more and more people are travelling to China, not just Chinese people, not just Asian people, and not even just those who study Chinese, such as myself. Currently, China is seeing an influx of tourists from around the world, not least the western world. In this sense, the growth of China’s mass media is inevitable, and it helps that CCTV/CGTN’s reputation does not have an incredibly sharp reputation (aside from being pro-China in the China-Taiwan debate), unlike Russia’s RT for being anti-West, as Thussu states.

How do we know that China’s mass media is growing? 

1. News agencies 

The popularity of China’s numerous news agencies, such as CCTV, CGTN and Xinhua literally speaks numbers when you compare it with other international news agencies. For example, Chinese news agency Xinhua currently has 180 news bureaus around the world, not far from the 200 that AFP have. They also have 7 regional offices. Additionally, Xinhua publishes 600 news stories and 700+ photos every 24 hours, and in 8 languages. For a news outlet from a country where the mass media industry is still growing, this is pretty impressive.    

2. Chinese websites as ‘replacements’ 

When censorship is mentioned, most people think that means the thing being censored bears no existence in said country. With regard to Mainland China, however, this is definitely not the case. As I had learned in past modules on the Chinese programme, one of the main reasons for media censorship in China is the protection of the Chinese economy. To a great degree, this is the case. China’s Tencent, owner of popular instant messaging app WeChat, is China’s biggest technology company which has overtaken Facebook and already has shares in apps such as Snapchat (which is interesting considering it is blocked in Mainland China).  Thussu rather comedically and interestingly referred to China’s dominance in the industry as “cyber-capitalism with Chinese characteristics” (a pun on the phrase ‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’, often used by Chinese government officials). However, it is true. Whilst websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Google and Snapchat are blocked, their own Chinese equivalents still exist, with user numbers much more impressive than those of the Western websites. For example, for Youtube there is Youku (优酷), for Ebay there is Taobao, for Twitter there is Weibo, for Google there is Baidu – and also, while Thussu claimed that the Facebook equivalent is Renren, I would argue that WeChat is the better comparison, as you normally will not find a Chinese person without this app, just as we are most likely to have Facebook as a form of social media.   

Nevertheless, it will still take China around 20 years to catch up with the US and western world, although the fact that it is happening is fascinating, especially as it will also see the de-westernisation of the world as we know it, as well as for Media Studies, with a greater focus on China. It will also see the so-called de-Americanisation of the internet.   

Social media, as well as other forms of media, play a very important role in Chinese society, arguably more so than in the western world. As such, it is definitely important for students of Chinese to keep track of Chinese media outlets and their progress domestically and internationally. Whereas in the west, social media apps are simply a way of keeping in touch with friends and family, in China, apps such as WeChat are not only used for this but are used at all levels (e.g. businesses) and for all purposes, such as paying utility bills. Without WeChat and other forms of media which exist in China, the country would be extremely different to how it is right now, regardless of the setting.