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The Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (simplified Chinese: 中共中央宣传部; pinyin: Zhōnggòng Zhōngyāng Xuānchuánbù) is an internal division of the Communist Party of China, and therefore is not formally considered to be part of the Government of the People's Republic of China. Nevertheless, it is the "most important of all the organizations in the propaganda system."[1] As such, it enforces media censorship and control in China, even though no state law explicitly gives it such authority.
[edit] Function
The Central Publicity Department has a "direct leadership (lingdao - 领导)" role in the media control system, working with other organizations like the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and the General Administration of Press and Publication.[2] Its scope is to give instructions to the media on what is and what is not to be said about certain "delicate" issues, like Taiwan, Tibet, etc., that can affect state security, or the rule of the Communist Party.
These guidelines are not known to the public, but are communicated to media workers via secret bulletins. Such directives are considered imperative, and are enforced by disciplines within the Party, as all media in China are required to be loyal to the Party, and are to serve as propaganda organs for the Party in principle. Operational and reporting freedom has significantly increased in the Chinese media in the recent decade. However, open defiance against the Central Publicity Department directives is rare, as dissenting media organizations or journalists risk severe punishment, including restructuring, closure and/or dismissal from post. One important way the Central Propaganda Department ensures that the media system remains well controlled is by ensuring that the boundaries of acceptable reporting are kept "deliberately fuzzy" in an effort to ensure that "news workers self-censor to a critical degree."[3]
It's not unusual that Chinese journalists disclosing the secret Propaganda Department directives to foreign media be charged with the very grave accusation of divulging state secrets.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Anne-Marie Brady, Marketing Dictatorship: Propaganda and Thought Work in Contemporary China. (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008), p13.
- ^ Brady (2008), p 17.
- ^ Jonathan Hassid, "Controlling the Chinese Media: An Uncertain Business." Asian Survey. 48(3), (May/June, 2008), 414-30, p415.
[edit] External links
