MEDIATIZED POLITICS IN CHINA: A PERSPECTIVE OF GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION ON WEIBO AND WECHAT

The Chinese government has expanded the use of social media to communicate information about government affairs in the Web 2.0 era. This study aims to examine the sources who posted the Chinese government’s messages on Weibo and WeChat, the focus of their posts, and Chinese netizens’ responses to the posts. The issue of the Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang’s death during the Covid-19 pandemic was selected. A census sample of 431 Weibo posts and reposts, 145 WeChat articles, and 27,094 comments were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that media organizations had more influence than the authorities in communicating the government’s messages. They were the dominant sources to forward government press releases, and posting positive commentaries about government actions. This study also found that there were almost equal positive and negative responses from netizens, whose comments reflect a diversity of opinions. Based on Schramm’s interactive model of communication and the theory of mediatized politics, this study filled the research gap by considering the Chinese government as an active communicator who receives the public’s messages and gives feedback