Media in Hong Kong: Press Freedom and Political Change, 1967-2005

by Carol P. Lai

Overview

This book examines the Hong Kong media over a forty year period, focusing in particular on how its newspapers and TV stations have struggled for press freedom under the colonial British administration, as well as Chinese rule.

Making full use of newly declassified material, extensive interviews and specific case-studies, it provides an illuminating analysis of the dynamics of political power and its relationship with media censorship.

Overall, this book is an impressive discussion of the evolving face of the Hong Kong media, and is an important contribution to theoretical debates on the relationship between political power, economics, identity and journalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415544214
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/03/2009
Series:	Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Carol P. Lai is Assistant Professor at the Department of Media and Communication, the University of Macau. She is a veteran journalist who has travelled extensively from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s to cover mainland China news. Elected as the chairperson of the professional trade union, Hong Kong Journalists Association, in 1997, she played a leading role in lobbying for press freedom internationally and in raising public awareness about free speech in the 1990s. She has also written book chapters and articles on journalism, media independence and the importance of pluralism in Hong Kong politics.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. British Policy and the Hong Kong Communist Press, 1967-1970 3. Reporting on a Jailed Journalist: A Textual Analysis during the Transition Period 1993-97 4. Reporting on the Taiwanese Presidential Election: A Textual Analysis of News Coverage in the Post-Handover Period 5. Regime Change and Media Control 6. Journalism’s Norms and People Power 7. Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

'This book is a piece of serious academic work, scrutinising the role played by the media during critical periods of political transformation in Hong Kong...]...[Lai's volume distinguishes itself from many of the postmodernist-inclined media studies in that she anchors her studies in concrete historical events, and probes, if not pushes, for a role and relevance for anyone interested in the political role of the media in Hong Kong in particular and in the developing world in general' - Alex H. Choi, University of Macau, Journal of Contemporary Asia, February 2009

From the Publisher