In her new book, Media Politics in China: Improvising Power under Authoritarianism, Maria Repnikova reveals the webs of an uneasy partnership between critical journalists and the state in China. More than merely a passive mouthpiece or a dissident voice, the media in China also plays a critical oversight role, one more frequently associated with liberal democracies than with authoritarian systems. Chinese central officials cautiously endorse media supervision as a feedback mechanism, as journalists carve out space for critical reporting by positioning themselves as aiding the agenda of the central state. Drawing on rare access in the field, Media Politics in China examines the process of guarded improvisation that has defined this volatile partnership over the past decade on a routine basis and in the aftermath of major crisis events.
Maria Repnikova is an Assistant Professor in Global Communication and a Director of the Center for Global Information Studies at Georgia State University. Her work focuses on the intersection of media and politics in non-democratic regimes, with a regional focus on China and Russia. Dr. Repnikova's work has appeared in Journalism, Post-Soviet Affairs, Problems of Post-Communism, China Quarterly and Journal of Contemporary China, as well as in popular media outlets, like Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs and the Wall Street Journal.
