Page 45 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Chapter 2. Literature review

put economic development first, and this could guarantee the legitimacy of the Chinese

governmental authority and obtain support from the public (Zheng, 2008). It explains
why the Chinese government has treated the internet and ICT as a technological sup-
port for economic development over the last three decades. Zheng (2008) emphasised
the mutual empowerment between the state and enterprises: internet-driven economic
development enables the provision of internet goods to the public, which helps main-

tain and even reinforce the government’s legitimacy.
The internet has fostered a new media market that underlines the influence
brought by the development of ICT. As Kalathil and Boas (2003) concluded, the pro-

gression of ICT leads to ‘the invigoration of an independent private sector or the emer-
gence of new domestic business elites’ (cited in Zheng, 2008, p.31). Lu and Wong (2003)
studied the expanded influence in the context of China, indicating that the internet is an
important source of economic growth and creates essential opportunities for entrepre-
neurship. It has already been acknowledged that the internet is beneficial to the expan-

sion of the media market and other forms of business; however, how it influences the
democratic change to Chinese society, and the mutual empowerment between the state
and the government, need further investigation.

One noticeable advantage of ICT is that it enables an immensely greater volume
of information flow than other forms of media, and at a much lower cost and higher
speed (Bimber, 2003). With this insight, Tai (2006) pointed out that the internet, as a
new media format, compensates for the weaknesses of the existing media forms and
fundamentally changes the types of conventional media, bringing new options to the

market. The internet is gradually turning China into a western-style information society,
albeit with modifications and adaptations (Zhang and Woesler, 2002).
What changes exactly did ICT and the internet bring to Chinese citizens? First of

all, Chang and Tai (2003) have stated that:
‘whether the Chinese government likes it or not, the burgeoning public awareness
and demand for a free press, the commercialisation and internationalisation of the
Chinese media, and the increasing pressure from the world community may make
the next step – what to say and what to publish without fear of state interference –

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