Seeking news, making China information, technology, and the emergence of mass society Alekna, John creator author. text bibliography History. cau 2024 monographic eng print xiv, 359 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm "Contemporary developments in communications technologies have overturned key aspects of the global political system and transformed the media landscape. Yet interlocking technological, informational, and political revolutions have occurred many times in the past. In China, radio first arrived in the winter of 1922-23, bursting into a world where communication was slow, disjointed, or non-existent. Less than ten percent of the population ever read newspapers. Just fifty years later, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, news broadcasts reached hundreds of millions of people instantaneously, every day. How did Chinese citizens experience the rapid changes in information practices and political organization that occurred in this period? What was it like to live through a news revolution? John Alekna traces the history of news in twentieth century China to demonstrate how large structural changes in technology and politics were heard and felt. Scrutinizing the flow of news can reveal much about society and politics--illustrating who has power and why, and uncovering the connections between different regions, peoples, and social classes. Taking an innovative, holistic view of information practices, Alekna weaves together both rural and urban history to tell the story of rise of mass society through the lens of communication techniques and technology, showing how the news revolution fundamentally reordered the political geography of China"-- Introduction : the question of the sparrows -- The newsscape of 1919 -- Sun Yat-sen, Shanghai, and the technopolitics of semicolonial China, 1922-1925 -- The Manchurian state constructs a newsscape, 1922-1931 -- Reading the radio, listening in the streets, 1927-1937 -- The occupation of the mind, 1937-1945 -- Red news and red women, 1937-1949 -- Socialized media, 1949-1958 -- The technopolitics of disorder -- Conclusion : desire and the transformation of the newsscape. John Alekna. Includes bibliographical references and index. a-cc--- Press and politics China History 20th century Radio journalism Political aspects China History 20th century Radio broadcasting Political aspects China History 20th century China Politics and government 20th century Radio Aspect politique Chine Histoire 20e siècle Chine Politique et gouvernement 20e siècle Politics and government Press and politics Radio broadcasting Political aspects Radio journalism Political aspects China 1900-1999 fast PN5367.P6 A44 2024 070.4/4932095105 Seeking news, making China Alekna, John. Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2024 (DLC) 2023039426 9781503636675 1503636674 9781503638570 150363857X 9781503638587 2023039425 CSt/DLC 230822 20240430151845.5 in00004790049 eng