China’s monopolization of newspaper ownership in the context of changing policies

Aya Kudo
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Aya Kudo: Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

No 2220, Working Papers from Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics

Abstract: This paper examines the mechanism of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) monopolization of media outlets, especially newspaper ownership, from the 1950s by analyzing the process of the institutional development of newspaper ownership. The CCP’s substantial monopolization of newspaper ownership and the exclusion of private and foreign capital influence on media outlets leaves the CCP in the position of the owner of all newspapers. This study reveals institutional changes by examining the institutional development and path dependency of “newspaper owner-sponsor institutions” (主管主办单位制度) from the perspective of Historical Institutionalism. The Newspaper OwnerSponsor Institution evolved as an institution to ensure that the party owns newspapers while avoiding controversies over the property rights of newspapers. The development of the Newspaper Owner-Sponsor Institution was fostered by the threat of private and foreign capital inflows. The Newspaper Owner-Sponsor Institution has led to the stability of the control over newspapers, but the institution might generate instability because the CCP is stuck in a path dependency and cannot change the institution.

Keywords: China; Chinese Communist Party; Newspaper; Ownership; Institution; Non-public capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18 pages
Date: 2023-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-his and nep-tra
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