ABSTRACT
This concluding chapter discusses the theoretical implications of Chinese newspapers’ experience of digital disruption. The situation the Chinese newspapers have encountered since 2012 suggests that digital technology constitutes a major force outside the state and the market in shaping the configuration of the media. However, we can hardly say that the changes in Chinese journalism in the recent decade have been caused directly by the diffusion of digital technologies. Rather, we can only say that these changes have occurred simultaneously with that process. The changes to the practices of journalism depend upon the interaction of a complex set of factors. At least in the case of the Chinese press, the key developments in the recent decade still followed the logic of political economy. The role of digital technology, albeit powerful in many ways, is limited in challenging the political economic power that shapes journalism.
