International Journal of Communication Publishes a Special Section on Mediating Asia: Information, Democracy,
and the State In and Before the Digital Age

What are the political, economic and cultural implications of an increasingly robust and globally penetrating Asia-based media industry?  How have Asian states tried to manage the diffuse representations of Asia emerging from informal yet globalized media channels?

Guest-edited by Tim Oakes, this Special Section on Mediating Asia by Asian media scholars and professional journalists explores the changing relationships between Asian states and Asia-based media institutions and industries as the nature and role of media in Asian society undergoes profound change.  With the increasing visibility and power of Indian film, Korean television, and Japanese animation industries, and of Asian broadcasting networks such as Star TV and Aljazeera, there has been no shortage of scholarly attention devoted to the rise of Asian media.  This collection, however, focuses less on the meteoric rise and power of Asian media itself and more on how that rise has been negotiated by Asian states, with a particular focus on China and Indonesia.  As digital media technologies become ubiquitous, both formal and informal media platforms push beyond state boundaries, challenging state efforts to control the content of and access to information and entertainment.  This challenge is addressed in commentaries by three journalists with extensive Asian experience, and three academics exploring the spatial and historical contexts of an increasingly mediated Asia.

We invite you to read these articles that published in the International Journal of Communication on March 23, 2017.  Please Ctrl+Click on the article titles below for direct linking to the papers of interest.

Mediating Asia: Information, Democracy, and the State in and before the Digital Age ―  Introduction
Tim Oakes, University of Colorado Boulder

Mediating Indonesia: The Slow Emergence of a Young Nation ― Commentary
Endy M. Bayuni, The Jakarta Post

Reporting From China: 400 Reports, on 1.4 Billion People, in One Authoritarian State ― Commentary
Melissa K. Chan, Al Jazeera

Guidance and Transgression: The Contest for Narratives of Environment and Pollution in China ― Commentary
Isabel Hilton, Chinadialogue

Pressing the Issue: Sino-American Discourse on the Proper Role of the Media, Past and Present
Timothy B. Weston, University of Colorado Boulder

Enlightenment and the Revolutionary Press in Colonial Indonesia
Rianne Subijanto, Baruch College, City University of New York

Between State and Capital: Asia’s Media Revolution in the Age of Neoliberal Globalization
Michael Curtin, University of California Santa Barbara

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Larry Gross
Editor                                                            

Arlene Luck
Managing Editor

Tim Oakes
Guest Editor