This cross-disciplinary course explores China’s media evolution since 1978 through perspectives from sociology, media and cultural studies, and political science. Students will analyze historical turning points—including the roots of Mao-era propaganda systems, analysing its political, social and cultural foundation and continued evolution. This will be followed by an in-depth look at how Deng’s market-driven reforms infused profit making mechanisms reshaping media practices amid persistent party-state oversight. Case studies and empirical analysis will be used to illustrate how the emergence of new media technology enabled the voice of the people to be heard online, while Xi’s media convergence strategy have amplified public discourse domestically while expanding China’s global influence in the “public opinion battlefield.” By utilizing the “people, propaganda, profit” analytical framework, students will assess how shifting power relations among state, market, and society reshape state messaging, commercial imperatives and audience engagement, while evaluating China’s dual identity as both a controlled media environment and an emerging global information power. The course unpacks the dynamic interplay of political control, economic liberalization, social agency, and technological innovation that simultaneously preserves party authority and fuels cultural transformation. By engaging with diverse media forms such as newspapers, television, film, arts, advertising, and digital platforms, students will understand how media reflects and propels societal change, offering critical insights into China’s modernization paradoxes.

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