The Mass Media Under The One Country, Two Systems: Interactive, The Border Open

Interactions between Hong Kong and Mainland China have been intensifying since they were reunited under the scheme of "one country, two systems" in 1997. As the roles performed by the mass media in capitalist Hong Kong and socialist Mainland China are so different that they sometimes clash with one another, making it necessary for them to make mutual adjustments. This unprecedented situation has opened up a new form of transborder communication for research which serves to add to our understanding of how cultures influence one another. This dissertation studies how the mass media system in Mainland China responds to the Hong Kong media, whose impact has been increasing over the last ten years.Through interviews with journalists and documentation analysis, I have arrived at the following conclusions: Firstly, the Chinese central government has changed some policies to accommodate the pressures from within and without, an important source of which is Hong Kong. The policies are unstable though, reflecting the government's inconsistence. During the course of Sino-Hong Kong exchanges, Mainland China is passive while Hong Kong is active. Overall, the interactions between these two regions have given impetus to the opening up of the Chinese media system. Secondly, the responses of the local government of China vary with the situations and are not balanced. It is not necessarily true that the economically prosperous regions will embrace Hong Kong's influence with open arms. Their responses are determined largely by the mindsets of the local leaders and whether the central government is intervening. Thirdly, the media groups in Mainland China and in Hong Kong co-operate occasionally in the last decade. Hong Kong media have their impacts felt in Mainland China in various areas, notably in the form of media professionalism, administrative rules and journalistic practices, as exemplified by the reforms made at Guangdong TV. Although it is far from reality that media from Hong Kong and Mainland China are having direct competition, Phoenix TV, a Hong Kong-based station exploiting the scheme of "one country, two systems," is a positive force for television reforms in Mainland China.