Page 137 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Chapter 5. The Sun Zhigang incident

The in-depth and high-profile reports made by the traditional media consisted the

pivotal reason that led to the abolishment of the C&R system and the issue of a new
regulation. Content on the new media platforms during the Sun Zhigang case is not
comparable to the traditional media reports, especially under the condition that the tra-
ditional media channels had already established long-term reputation and gained public
trust. Also, a majority of credible public opinion originated from the traditional media

channel as well.

Figure 15. Which medium do you prefer to believe?
As can be seen in Figure 15, 56.19% of respondents preferred to believe in the
new media platforms when searching the information resources on the Sun Zhigang in-

cident, but there was still 43.81% of the respondents who trusted the traditional media
resources from television, radio and newspaper reports. It indicates that in the initial
age of China’s cyberspace, although the new media technology was developing rapidly,
traditional media was still perceived as a reliable information source and people treated
it as the official platform.

The extensive and diverse public discourse on the internet made it a powerful me-
dium to form public opinion. Interviewee 5 indicated that:
‘the new media implemented an all-dimensional reporting pattern. Due to the

market competition, the commercial (new) media channels use ‘content’ to attract
users. It leads to more comprehensive, more objective, and more knowledgeable
19
information appeared on the internet’ .
The online platforms provided an expansive public space, which allowed the as-

19 Translation provided by the author.

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