ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book traces the history of battles fought over "objective reporting" in China that has oscillated with persistent and erratic gusts of the political winds. It shows that journalists across the partisan spectrum have endorsed the concept of media professionalism. The book argues that information is hierarchically stratified in China: what purports to be public media available to the masses simply echoes official pronouncements, enforces mass conformity, and contains the least useful information, whereas the tiny power elite holds privileged access to the most useful internal information. It explains, the "limited openness" resulting from the legitimacy crisis has produced vigorous electoral politics, enabling the emergent oppositional forces to wage their little media guerrilla wars against official domination. The book provides a sober analysis of the choices confronting US journalists.
