Polls in an authoritarian space: reporting and representing public opinion in China |
| |
| Authors: | Yunya Song Yin Lu Tsan-Kuo Chang Yu Huang |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Journalism, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong;2. Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong;3. College of Communication, National Chengchi University of Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan;4. School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong |
| |
| Abstract: | The news media’s use of polls is by no means the special preserve of democracies. Using the case of Chinese government’s official medium (i.e. the People’s Daily), this study set out to assess how poll results are communicated to the public in China by examining the presentation of methodological information in its poll stories, and how its web counterpart, the People’s Daily Online website, differs in its coverage of polls from a technical point of view. It then examined the outlets’ interpretations of poll results and the media logic the coverage implies in comparison with the political logic that shapes poll reporting in China. Further critical discourse analysis reveals the use of authoritarian populist rhetoric as a discursive strategy in both outlets’ representation of public opinion. Compared with the print outlet, the online outlet showed a more marked inclination to describe a certain class as ‘the people’ in anti-elite rhetoric. |
| |
| Keywords: | Media logic political logic opinion polls online offline authoritarian |
|
|
