Online News-Prompted Public Spheres in China

This book argues that there are constant formations of online public spheres in present-day China, prompted by never-ending news. It contends that these publics are chronic, although individually they are usually transient. They are networked, which enables them to go viral in hours, and they may engender unexpected consequences. These features explain why online public spheres survive in China even though censorship and information manipulation are pervasively and strategically maneuvered to guide or manufacture ＂public opinion＂. The book also proposes that there are deeply entangled structural factors bolstering China’s online news-prompted public spheres: the continuous flow of news information, the countless public spaces facilitated by China’s digital infrastructure and the rise of rights-conscious netizens. Pushing forward a new way of conceptualizing the idea of public spheres, this book contends clearly that public spheres are most often sparked by chronic news in today’s media-saturated societies. Delving into the life cycles of public spheres, it goes beyond static analysis of individual public spheres and instead studies their five qualities, which, except for the networked quality, have never been systematically addressed in scholarship.

Xuanzi Xu completed her PhD at the University of Sydney, Australia, and her MA at the Sorbonne University, France. Her research focuses on how the everyday news participation of ordinary Chinese Internet users contributes to the formation of online public spheres in China. More broadly, she is interested in the interplay between ICT, civil society and the state, and is keen to explore the political implication of the unfinished information revolution.