China's state media embraces microblogs to guide public discourse

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2013-06-27

Microblogs have become a powerful tool for state media to direct public
discourse in China. (Photo/Xinhua)

China's state media outlets have taken control of public discourse in the country by carving out a dominating presence on popular Chinese microblogs.

According to the 2013 Report on Development of New Media in China produced by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, national-level state media such as the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily, China's official Xinhua news agency and national broadcaster CCTV have all embraced the Twitter-like microblogs such as Sina Weibo, which has more than 500 million registered users as at the end of last year.

Netizens have, in return, also embraced the opportunity to engage in discussions on these microblogs. The People's Daily official microblog, for example, registered 15.56 billion visits in the second half of 2012 alone, with total page views reaching nearly 74 billion and the total amount of time spent on the site exceeding 1.5 billion hours.

While microblogs are still behind search engines, internet videos, online shopping and traditional blogs in terms of generating traffic, their power to drive public discourse has far exceeded that of community forums, social media and mainstream media websites.

According to the report, as at the end of 2012 there were more than 110,000 media-related microblog accounts on Sina Weibo, with major media outlets such as the People's Daily, Xinhua, CCTV and China National Radio each possessing several microblog pages focusing on different topics ranging from breaking news to society and charity. The CCTV News microblog alone has more than six million fans.

Analysts say the increased use of microblogs by Chinese state media can significantly boost its power to guide public discourse while also greatly minimizing its former weaknesses, namely slow reaction time and incorrect statements.

On the other hand, microblogs have also become the main channel for online rumors in China. There were 617 reported rumors in China in 2012, one third of which were spread primarily through microblogs, the report said.

The statistics show that political rumors accounted for 16.1% of all tabulated rumors, followed by rumors about people's livelihoods (11.3%) and financial rumors (11%).