Podcast Summary: New Books Network — Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media, 2nd Edition

Episode Overview
Title: Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley et al. eds., "Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media" (Routledge, 2025)
Date: February 12, 2026
Guests: Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley, Dr. Yiben Ma
Host: Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley (Mingye Wrongsley)

This episode features a rich and in-depth discussion between co-editors Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley and Dr. Yiben Ma about the new second edition of the "Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media." The conversation moves beyond a typical interview format, offering reflections on the profound changes in Chinese media over the past decade and the challenges and opportunities faced in capturing these in an academic handbook.

Main Themes and Purpose

The episode aims to:

• Introduce the expanded and updated second edition of the "Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media" (2025)
• Reflect on dramatic transformations in the Chinese media landscape over the past decade, especially the rise of digital media
• Discuss new methods, challenges, and interdisciplinary approaches to studying Chinese media across Greater China and the Sinosphere
• Highlight how current lived experiences—e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic, informatization, political changes—are woven into Chinese media research

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Handbook Structure and International Collaboration

[02:26] Dr. Yiben Ma

• The handbook is a flagship Routledge publication, with more than 40 international contributors from Greater China, North America, Europe, and Australia.
• It comprises 30 chapters organized around five major themes:
  1. Development of Chinese media studies (new in this edition)
  2. Journalism, press freedom, and social mobilization (especially post-COVID and with political shifts in Hong Kong)
  3. Internet, public sphere, and media culture (role of media in social change and in carrying alternative voices)
  4. Markets, production, and the media industry (political economy of media, gaming, music industry)
  5. Chinese media and the world (global communication and international reach)

Quote:
"We have five broad themes...The first one is the development of the study of Chinese media...this section is very new in this edition, which was not existent in the first edition."
— Dr. Yiben Ma [03:43]

2. Dramatic Shifts: From Print to Digital as Central Paradigm

[08:22] Mingye Wrongsley

• The last decade has seen a shift from peripheral Internet studies to digital media becoming the organizing principle for media analysis in China.
• The field now recognizes the Sinosphere as a constellation of diverse societies (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, diasporic communities), where media shapes power, identity, and activism.

Quote:
"By 2025...the digital world is no longer a theme among the others, but the organizing principle of media analysis."
— Mingye Wrongsley [09:14]

3. Reflections on Researching Online Nationalism

[10:42] Dr. Yiben Ma

• A decade ago, research focused on online forums. Social media barely existed.
• Now, social media platforms are central in shaping and spreading online nationalism, deserving new methods and theoretical approaches.

Quote:
"At the time social media was not really existent...in the second edition...we focus a lot on digital media, in particular social media, how social media actually contributes to...online Chinese national discourses."
— Dr. Yiben Ma [11:01]

4. The Pandemic as Media Watershed & Lived Experience

[11:41] Mingye Wrongsley and Dr. Yiben Ma

• The COVID-19 pandemic is a turning point in Chinese media studies. Several chapters address:
  • The media’s role in pandemic governance and collective memory (e.g., the "blank paper movement")
  • The Taiwanese government’s multifaceted anti-misinformation efforts
  • Challenges of both centralized political control and emergent digital practices
• Media systems are depicted as both closed/inventive, predictable/volatile

Quote:
"Media power today is marked by contradiction...simultaneously close and inventive, predictable and volatile."
— Mingye Wrongsley [13:16]

• Taiwan’s case highlights the fragility of democratic information ecosystems amid polarization and external interference.

5. Interdisciplinarity and Thematic Innovations

[21:08] Dr. Yiben Ma

• The handbook includes not only journalism and political communication but also chapters on digital games, museum collections, and LGBTQ+ media representations.
• These studies illustrate the breadth and evolving boundaries of “media” in the digital age.

Quote:
"That chapter actually offers a very concrete, non-western and empirical example of transmedia storytelling, illustrating the innovative use of museum collections and literary works..."
— Dr. Yiben Ma [21:33]

6. Methodological Developments

[22:36] Dr. Yiben Ma

• New research methods are prominent, such as netnography (ethnography in digital spaces), reflecting both the rise of new digital phenomena (short videos, online celebrities/"wanghong") and the need for innovative approaches.
• Continued focus on "soft power" and its evolution in Chinese policy and global outreach

Quote:
"Social media has been discussed literally in every single chapter...they actually give rise to new practices and new phenomenon that worth academic scrutiny..."
— Dr. Yiben Ma [23:28]

7. Soft Power, Public Diplomacy, and State-Led Communication

[27:47] Dr. Yiben Ma

• Analysis of how China's official soft power efforts—like global media expansion (CGTN) and public diplomacy—differ from Joseph Nye’s original soft power concept
• Discussion of limits to “telling China’s story” abroad, noting issues of credibility and journalist independence

Quote:
"The Chinese government has actually invested enormously in its international communication efforts...trying to project an image which President Xi calls a lovable, respectable and also credible image of China."
— Dr. Yiben Ma [26:11]

8. Regional Case Studies: Hong Kong and Macau

[29:38] Dr. Yiben Ma & Mingye Wrongsley

• Hong Kong’s media landscape has been transformed since 2015, especially following the National Security Law, with constricted press freedom but emergence of new journalistic forms ("solutions journalism").
• Macau is included for the first time, illustrating the role of colonial heritage, religion, and geopolitics in media development.

Quote:
"Even under these conditions, journalists continue to search for adaptive practices that preserve professional purposes without crossing increasingly rigid red lines."
— Mingye Wrongsley [31:34]

9. Concluding Reflections and Aspirations

[32:50] Dr. Yiben Ma

• The editing process was both challenging and rewarding, especially in attempting to summarize such a vast and dynamic field within an introduction.
• The field remains only partially covered; the editors hope to inspire further research, noting the highly interdisciplinary and ever-evolving nature of Chinese media studies.

Quote:
"Even though there has been so many different topics...still what we have covered about Chinese media study is actually very limited."
— Dr. Yiben Ma [34:26]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Digital Transformation:
  "The digital world is no longer a theme among the others, but the organizing principle of media analysis."
  — Mingye Wrongsley [09:14]
• Methodological Innovation:
  "That chapter actually offers a very concrete, non-western and empirical example of transmedia storytelling..."
  — Dr. Yiben Ma [21:33]
• Media Contradictions:
  "Media system appears simultaneously closed and inventive, predictable and volatile."
  — Mingye Wrongsley [13:16]
• Soft Power & Credibility:
  "The lack of autonomy and credibility within the state system can actually limit the effectiveness of China's public and cultural diplomacy."
  — Dr. Yiben Ma [26:55]
• Hong Kong Press Freedom:
  "Even under these conditions, journalists continue to search for adaptive practices that preserve professional purposes without crossing increasingly rigid red lines."
  — Mingye Wrongsley [31:34]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:26] Overall structure and editorial process
• [08:22] Reflections on the dramatic transformation from first to second edition
• [10:42] Online nationalism: from forums to social media era
• [11:41] Impact of COVID-19 on Chinese media and new research focuses
• [21:08] Interdisciplinary approaches and expansion beyond 'traditional' media
• [22:36] Methodological developments (netnography, digital ethnography)
• [27:47] China's global communication and "soft power"
• [29:38] Hong Kong’s media transformation post-National Security Law
• [32:50] Macau’s inclusion and concluding reflections

Summary

This episode provides a nuanced and insider view of how the study of Chinese media has evolved, especially in light of technological, political, and social transformations over the last decade. The editors emphasize the complexity, contradictions, and dynamic innovation in Chinese media, and highlight the value of interdisciplinary, comparative, and locally grounded approaches. The "Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media" stands as a testament to both the richness and the challenges of capturing such a fast-changing field, while serving as an invitation for scholars to explore further.

For listeners or readers new to the subject, this episode offers a comprehensive roadmap of the changing landscape of Chinese media studies, combining scholarly rigor with deeply personal reflection.