In most liberal democracies commercialized media is taken for granted, but in many authoritarian regimes the introduction of market forces in the media represents a radical break from the past with uncertain political and social implications. In Media Commercialization and Authoritarian Rule in China, Daniela Stockmann argues that the consequences of media marketization depend on the institutional design of the state. In one-party regimes such as China, market-based media promote regime stability rather than destabilizing authoritarianism or bringing about democracy. By analyzing the Chinese media, Stockmann ties trends of market liberalism in China to other authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the post-Soviet region. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Chinese journalists and propaganda officials as well as more than 2000 newspaper articles, experiments and public opinion data sets, this book links censorship among journalists with patterns of media consumption and the media's effects on public opinion.

Winner, 2015 Goldsmith Book Prize for Academic Book, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy

‘Daniela Stockmann’s Media Commercialization and Authoritarian Rule in China is a superb, comprehensive, and multi-method analysis of the introduction of market forces in Chinese media. By communicating from the bottom up as well as from the top down, Stockmann argues that market-based media provide regime stability rather than simply a democratizing force for change in China. She enriches our understanding of China’s dynamic media environment by making cogent comparisons to trends in other authoritarian regimes. These comparisons reveal the importance of institutional factors in determining the impact of media commercialization.’

Ann N. Crigler - University of Southern California

'Apart from cogent theorization that spans across several social science disciplines and a coherent theoretical framework that summarizes the insights of the work, the range of the original and secondary data and quality of data analysis make this work an excellent example of mixed methods and interdisciplinary research. The broad application of theories from other social science disciplines will be an inspiring example for scholars with similar interests. Stockmann’s detailed accounts of data collection, as well as her discussions of data quality and its effects on inference, will be valuable for both graduate students and junior scholars.'

Dan Chen Source: Journal of Chinese Political Science

'… a significant contribution to the literature on changing media-state relations in China. Readers of the book should find their reading time well spent.'

Francis L. F. Lee Source: Pacific Affairs