Defective online public opinion? Analyzing effectiveness and validity of Chinese online public expression: a case study of 2015 Tianjin explosion
dc.contributor.advisor
Gentz, Natascha
dc.contributor.advisor
Hammond, Daniel
dc.contributor.author
Zipeng, Li
dc.date.accessioned
2021-09-02T13:12:34Z
dc.date.available
2021-09-02T13:12:34Z
dc.date.issued
2021-07-31
dc.description.abstract
The internet has developed rapidly since it entered China in the late 1980s. With the
assistance of major online news portals, more and more Chinese people can join
online discussions on public affairs. Existing research focuses on the media
propaganda conducted by the state, the potential of media digitalization to challenge
the authoritarian rule in China, the government censorship to online information and
the online public sphere development. However, very few scholars aim at solving the
puzzle that whether online public opinion, represented by online news comments, has
value for public policy reference in the Chinese domestic environmental disaster case.
Are online news comments relevant to public issues representative of the Chinese
population and consistent? Are online discussions related to public affairs valid in
articulating public demands? What is the gatekeeping criteria and procedure of online
news comments from the internet companies if there is any? Can potential grass-root
online opinion leaders attract and influence online discussions on public issues from
the perspective of attitude? With a case study focusing on online news discussions of
Sina and Sohu during the Tianjin explosion case in 2015, I endeavour to answer these
questions by conducting content analysis and textual analysis to the online news
discussion data combined with in-depth semi-structured interviews with editors of
online news companies. I argue that there is a tendency of being generic and
standardized when discussing public affairs in online news comment during the
Tianjin Case. Not enough evidences can be found to demonstrate the consistency and
representativeness of online news comments in articulating public demands. Staff at
the News Interactive Centre of online news companies play a significant role of
implementing the censorship of political sensitive online news comments. Under the
model of “governance based on location”, it is very difficult for local governments
located outside of Beijing to intervene into the gatekeeping of online opinions.
Moreover, online public topics are hard to influence topics of the government as most
of the online public concerns and the prioritized topics by the Chinese government
officials do not share the similar priorities. Although evidence showing that potential
grass-root online opinion leaders have attracted attentions on public issues discussion,
they have not really influenced online opinions on public affairs from the perspective
of attitude.
en
dc.identifier.uri
https://hdl.handle.net/1842/37975
dc.identifier.uri
https://doi.org/10.7488/era/1246
dc.language.iso
en
en
dc.publisher
The University of Edinburgh
en
dc.subject
Chinese Internet
en
dc.subject
Online News Comments
en
dc.subject
Online Public Opinion
en
dc.subject
Civic Engagement
en
dc.title
Defective online public opinion? Analyzing effectiveness and validity of Chinese online public expression: a case study of 2015 Tianjin explosion
en
dc.type
Thesis or Dissertation
en
dc.type.qualificationlevel
Doctoral
en
dc.type.qualificationname
PhD Doctor of Philosophy
en
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