Critical Journalists and the State in China and Russia

• In Event: China and Russia: Communication and Power in Non-Western Societies

Abstract

The literature on comparative authoritarianism demonstrates that contemporary non-democratic regimes tend to combine control with tolerance for limited political participation. Whereas most studies focus on elections, little is known about other mechanisms, like the media. This paper examines the media as participatory political channel through the prism of the relations between critical journalists and the state in China and Russia. The analysis draws on over 100 interviews with leading investigative journalists in the two countries, as well as the analysis of official discourse on media policy.

Author

• Maria Repnikova, Annenberg School for Communication