[csaa-forum] REMINDER: Media at Sydney Joyce Nip, Challenging official propaganda? Public opinion leaders on Sina Weibo 28 March

[Cesar Albarran Torres]

 Media at Sydney presents
Challenging official propaganda? Public opinion leaders on Sina Weibo
Joyce Y.M. Nip


This study seeks to understand the implications of the Internet on freedom of information and opinion in China by studying the mechanism of formation of public opinion in a series of corruption cases exposed after the Chinese Communist Party's 18th Congress in 2012.

Focusing on Sina Weibo, the study examines the prominence of various users as public opinion leaders in these corruption cases. The research found that ordinary citizens made the largest category that initiated the cases, whereas news organizations and online media were the main actors that set the agenda of and disseminated information about corruption. Reading the messages found that news organizations and online media mainly published similar content to that of official agencies, suggesting that the commonly-held view that the party-state has little influence on Weibo needs revisiting.
Among the most eye-catching cases, cultural and news workers played a significant role in getting messages reposted and commented upon. These findings suggest that while Weibo provides channels for citizens to publish information and opinion, the news media and online outlets remain as the main vehicle of agenda setting and public dissemination. Reputable individuals are able to triumph as public opinion leaders in certain cases. The party-state, with the media under its control, is able to maintain its general domination of public opinion on the Sina Weibo platform.
Date: Friday 28th March, 2014
Time: 15:00-16:30
Location: S226 Seminar Room, Department of Media and Communications, University of Sydney,
John Woolley Building (A20)<http://db.auth.usyd.edu.au/directories/map/building.stm?ref=d08h15> level 2, entry off Manning Road.

Register at http://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/challenging-official-propaganda-public-opinion-leaders-on-sina-weibo-tickets-10682129537

Joyce Y.M. Nip is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications and the Department of Chinese Studies at The University of Sydney. She was a journalist before becoming an academic, and is an editorial board member of Journalism Practice and Digital Journalism.



Media at Sydney is presented by the

Department of Media and Communications<http://sydney.edu.au/arts/media_communications/>, University of Sydney

For more information contact
Dr Fiona Martin
ph: 428391122 or 02 90365098
e: fiona.martin at sydney.edu.au<mailto:fiona.martin at sydney.edu.au>

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