Radio Guangdong and the liberalisation of Chinese media: 1978 - 1997

自1949年中华人民共和国成立以来，中国的广播一直被视为“中国共产党和人民的喉舌”。三十多年来，它的主要功能是启蒙、引导和教育公众，其口语节目都是预先编写和录制的，以确保政治正统。然而，在1986年，广东人民广播电台推出了第一个真正的现场广播频道，其中包括其他重大变化，声称要确立观众为“广播的主人”。在接下来的十年里，广东广播电台将继续引领媒体改革，寻求将广播作为一种企业和国家机关来经营。这个项目将追溯中国广播系统转型的历史，揭示媒体在被视为“公共事业”的地方所面临的困境和紧张局势，无论是以执政党的直接机关的形式，在中国，或作为一个半自治但公共资助的机构，如英国广播公司，但也需要越来越多地表现得像一个公司在市场上。这个项目将-调查为什么广东广播电台成为坩埚的激进变革开始于80年代末，换句话说，是什么力量在发挥作用，带来了变革，从中国南方开始。探索中国共产党不断变化的政策和相互冲突的议程（Fewsmith 1994; 2001; 2013; Vogel 2011）以及日益增长的市场力量如何塑造1986年至1996年的广播产出和管理实践。调查广播公司和媒体学者在媒体和自由化进程中的广泛变化中的作用。调查观众在广播改革中扮演了什么角色，以及他们有什么选择。研究中国媒体自由化的局限性。研究方法除了参考上述出版物和广东电台获奖节目的文字记录外，该项目还将审查该电台的档案材料，如每周列表文件《声音》（1993年前称为广东广播）和内部季刊《广播方法》。它还将借鉴过去和现在的广播员，其中许多人是我在广东广播电台的同事。上述活动将包括至少每年前往中国，以获取新材料并进行面对面的采访。我将以自己在广东广播电台的经历为例，首先是在教育栏目担任制作人，后来又在两个现场广播频道担任西方音乐和文化节目的编辑和主持人。目的是调查中国广播公司如何理解和定义他们在社会中的角色，以及这些理解与他们的西方同事有何不同。

Since the birth of the People's Republic in 1949, broadcasting in China has been conceived as 'the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party and its people'. For more than thirty years, its principle function was to enlighten, guide and educate the public, and its spoken word programmes were all pre-scripted and pre-recorded in order to ensure political orthodoxy. However, in 1986, the first genuinely live radio channel was launched by Guangdong People's Broadcasting Station, which, among other significant changes, claimed to establish the audience as 'the master of broadcasting'. For the next ten years, Radio Guangdong would continue to lead media reform by seeking to run broadcasting as a business as well as an organ of the state.This project will trace the history of a process which transformed China's broadcasting system, and uncover the dilemmas and tensions that confront broadcasters wherever media are regarded as 'a public utility', whether in the form of a direct organ of the ruling party, as in China, or as a semiautonomous but publicly funded body like the BBC, yet are also required to behave increasingly like a company in the marketplace.This project will- Investigate why Radio Guangdong became the crucible of the radical transformation that began in the late eighties, in other words, what were the forces at play that brought about the transformation that started from Southern China.- Explore how the Chinese Communist Party's changing policies and conflicting agendas (Fewsmith 1994; 2001; 2013; Vogel 2011) together with increasing market forces shaped broadcasting output and management practices from 1986 to 1996.- Investigate the roles of both broadcasters and media scholars in the sweeping changes, both in media and the liberalisation process.- Investigate what roles audience played in the broadcasting reform, and what choices were made available to them.- Examine what were the limits of media liberalisation in China. Research methodsBesides drawing on the above-mentioned publications and on transcripts of Radio Guangdong's award-winning programmes, the project will review the station's archive materials, such as its weekly listings paper The Voice (known as Guangdong Broadcasting until 1993), and the inhouse quarterly journal Broadcasting Approaches. It will also draw on with past and present broadcasters, many of whom were my colleagues at Radio Guangdong. The above activities will involve at least yearly trips to China both to source fresh materials and to conduct face to face interviews. I will reference my own experiences at Radio Guangdong,first as producer in its education section, and later as editor and presenter of western music and cultural programmes on two of its live radio channels. The aim will be to investigate how Chinese broadcastersunderstand and define their roles in society, and how such understandings might differ from those of their western colleagues.