The world was watching Hong Kong as its sovereignty was returned to China in 1997. Many predicted that it was the doomsday of press freedom in the city. Now, a decade after the handover, this book provides an up-to-date review of the dynamic relationship between media and political power in the post-handover years. It covers seven key issues including the mapping of the changing boundaries of press freedom, the impact of media ownership change on editorial stance, the development of national and hybrid identities, the tension between self-censorship and media professionalism, the rising importance of government public relations, the power and limits of hegemonic discourse, and the countervailing force posed by collective actions and public opinion. These studies combine to reveal how the media are transformed as power structure is reconfigured and how the media may act upon politics in exerting their roles as the people's voice. The book will serve as a reference for anyone who is interested in the evolution of political communication in a transitional society.

Since 2003, Hong Kong has witnessed a series of large-scale protests which have constituted the core of a reinvigorated pro-democracy movement. What drove tens of thousands of citizens to the street on a yearly basis to protest? What were the social and organizational bases of the protest movement? How did media and public discourses affect the protests formation and mobilization? How did the protesters understand their own actions and the political environment? This book tackles such questions by using a wide range of methods, including population and protest onsite surveys, media content analysis, and in-depth interviews with activists, politicians, and protest participants. It provides an account of the "self-mobilization processes" behind the historic July 1, 2003 protest, and how the protest kick-started new political dynamics and discursive contestations in the public arena which not only turned a single protest into a series of collective actions constituting a movement, but also continually shaped the movement 's characteristics and influence. The book is highly pertinent to readers interested in political development in Hong Kong, and as a case study on "the power of critical events," the book also has broad implications on the study of both media politics and social movements in general.

A comparative approach to media and communication research plays an important, if not indispensable, role in achieving a core mission of researchers: to delimit the generality and specificity of media and communication theories, enabling researchers to more readily identify the influence of social, political and cultural contexts in shaping media and communication phenomena. To de-Westernize and internationalize media and communication studies has thus become the way forward for overcoming the parochialism of mainstream media and communication studies. This volume reflects on what comparative media and communication research has achieved or failed to achieve, the epistemological and theoretical challenges it is facing, and the new directions in which it should be heading.

Since 2003, Hong Kong has witnessed a series of large-scale protests which have constituted the core of a reinvigorated pro-democracy movement. What drove tens of thousands of citizens to the street on a yearly basis to protest? What were the social and organizational bases of the protest movement? How did media and public discourses affect the protests' formation and mobilization? How did the protesters understand their own actions and the political environment? This book tackles such questions by using a wide range of methods, including population and protest onsite surveys, media content analysis, and in-depth interviews with activists, politicians, and protest participants. It provides an account of the "self-mobilization processes" behind the historic July 1, 2003 protest, and how the protest kick-started new political dynamics and discursive contestations in the public arena which not only turned a single protest into a series of collective actions constituting a movement, but also continually shaped the movement's characteristics and influence. The book is highly pertinent to readers interested in political development in Hong Kong, and as a case study on "the power of critical events," the book also has broad implications on the study of both media politics and social movements in general.

A comparative approach to media and communication research plays an important, if not indispensable, role in achieving a core mission of researchers: to delimit the generality and specificity of media and communication theories, enabling researchers to more readily identify the influence of social, political and cultural contexts in shaping media and communication phenomena. To de-Westernize and internationalize media and communication studies has thus become the way forward for overcoming the parochialism of mainstream media and communication studies. This volume reflects on what comparative media and communication research has achieved or failed to achieve, the epistemological and theoretical challenges it is facing, and the new directions in which it should be heading.

The world was watching Hong Kong as its sovereignty was returned to China in 1997. Many predicted that it was the doomsday of press freedom in the city. Now, a decade after the handover, this book provides an up-to-date review of the dynamic relationship between media and political power in the post-handover years. It covers seven key issues including the mapping of the changing boundaries of press freedom, the impact of media ownership change on editorial stance, the development of national and hybrid identities, the tension between self-censorship and media professionalism, the rising importance of government public relations, the power and limits of hegemonic discourse, and the countervailing force posed by collective actions and public opinion. These studies combine to reveal how the media are transformed as power structure is reconfigured and how the media may act upon politics in exerting their roles as the people's voice. The book will serve as a reference for anyone who is interested in the evolution of political communication in a transitional society.

'Ranging from original photographs to pictures from university archives, the insightful curation of images in this book further enhances the reading experience ... An authoritative and comprehensive synthesis of both primary and secondary sources, Nobel and Lasker Laureates of Chinese Descent offers unparalleled insight into the most eminent twentieth-century physicians and scientists of Chinese descent. The book is of broad interest to anyone interested in the history of science and medicine, especially when there is a growing recognition of both the importance of diversity in STEM and the impact of Chinese research on the global scientific community.'Current Biology MagazineAt the turn of the 20th century, the Boxer Uprising marked the culmination of a violent and tragic chapter in Chinese history. Out of the ashes of this calamity, scholarships funded by Boxer Indemnity and many others fostered some of the greatest minds in the Chinese modern era. This book celebrates notable luminary scholars of Chinese descent, with a special focus on 1 Wolf Prize, 4 Lasker, and 11 Nobel laureates spanning a wide range of disciplines in both literature and science. We visit the struggles of pioneers Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang as the first Chinese Nobel prize recipients for characterizing fundamental laws in elementary-particle physics. Their pioneering works have paved the way for many to follow. We chronicle the careers of more recent recipients, including Mo Yan and his celebration of peasant life in China through the lens of hallucinatory realism. We delve into the lives of these Laureates, witness the obstacles that they overcame, and testify to their lasting contributions to humankind. In recounting the intellectual struggles and triumphs of these pioneers of Chinese heritage, we hope to inspire the next generation of scholars in literature and science worldwide in the hope that they too might become laureates one day.

'Ranging from original photographs to pictures from university archives, the insightful curation of images in this book further enhances the reading experience ... An authoritative and comprehensive synthesis of both primary and secondary sources, Nobel and Lasker Laureates of Chinese Descent offers unparalleled insight into the most eminent twentieth-century physicians and scientists of Chinese descent. The book is of broad interest to anyone interested in the history of science and medicine, especially when there is a growing recognition of both the importance of diversity in STEM and the impact of Chinese research on the global scientific community.'Current Biology MagazineAt the turn of the 20th century, the Boxer Uprising marked the culmination of a violent and tragic chapter in Chinese history. Out of the ashes of this calamity, scholarships funded by Boxer Indemnity and many others fostered some of the greatest minds in the Chinese modern era. This book celebrates notable luminary scholars of Chinese descent, with a special focus on 1 Wolf Prize, 4 Lasker, and 11 Nobel laureates spanning a wide range of disciplines in both literature and science. We visit the struggles of pioneers Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang as the first Chinese Nobel prize recipients for characterizing fundamental laws in elementary-particle physics. Their pioneering works have paved the way for many to follow. We chronicle the careers of more recent recipients, including Mo Yan and his celebration of peasant life in China through the lens of hallucinatory realism. We delve into the lives of these Laureates, witness the obstacles that they overcame, and testify to their lasting contributions to humankind. In recounting the intellectual struggles and triumphs of these pioneers of Chinese heritage, we hope to inspire the next generation of scholars in literature and science worldwide in the hope that they too might become laureates one day.

In this age of global communication, local identities and nation-states reassert themselves when cultural boundaries are dissolved and reconstructed. This collection of essays by noted scholars in many fields provides a wide range of theoretical approaches and empirical studies that, together, shed light on how local cultural identities resist the forces of globalization by virtue of tradition, transculturation, domestication and hybridization. Examining how people make sense of the world and their own identities as cultural and national boundaries are crossed, In Search of Boundaries transcends many traditional dichotomies between East and West and, more importantly, between tradition and modernity. Interest in the study of boundaries has grown in sociology, anthropology, geography, and other social sciences, but it has not focused on communication processes. This book fills that void with a series of wide-ranging approaches, from the critical to the liberal, the empirical to the cultural, and the Occidental to the Oriental, and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the increasingly global nature of nationality, culture, and identity.

In this age of global communication, local identities and nation-states reassert themselves when cultural boundaries are dissolved and reconstructed. This collection of essays by noted scholars in many fields provides a wide range of theoretical approaches and empirical studies that, together, shed light on how local cultural identities resist the forces of globalization by virtue of tradition, transculturation, domestication and hybridization. Examining how people make sense of the world and their own identities as cultural and national boundaries are crossed, "In Search of Boundaries" transcends many traditional dichotomies between East and West and, more importantly, between tradition and modernity.

Interest in the study of boundaries has grown in sociology, anthropology, geography, and other social sciences, but it has not focused on communication processes. This book fills that void with a series of wide-ranging approaches, from the critical to the liberal, the empirical to the cultural, and the Occidental to the Oriental, and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the increasingly global nature of nationality, culture, and identity.