Plus ça change?: Media Control Under Xi Jinping

Ever since Xi Jinping became general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012, the government has tightened social, political, and economic controls in China and placed a renewed emphasis on CCP ideology. To what extent are Xi’s measures a continuance of policies established by his predecessors Jiang Zemin (1989–2002) and Hu Jintao (2002–2012)? Do they reflect a new direction for CCP media management? What is the agenda behind these changes and what do they tell us about the CCP’s hold on power? This article analyzes trends in media control during the Jiang and Hu eras and then examines to what extent Xi’s initiatives are a new direction.