Consumption and Leisure essay

According to Kevin Latham (2011) “Consumption and Leisure”, there was observed huge progress in the spheres related to leisure and consumption in China during the previous three decades. The Chinese society stopped being a state-capitalist community as it was in the earlier years. Today, it represents a sophisticated society characterized by ever-growing wisdom and astuteness within the consumer and leisure sectors. The consumer society of modern China is likely to remain as it is now for a long period of time without losing its basic features in the predictable future. However, the article suggests that the pattern of consumption adopted by modern Chinese society is likely to move to the less developed and distant parts of the country. This may happen even if the drastic gap between the different parts of the country in terms of leisure and consumption is not eliminated and even if the economically undeveloped regions remain the way they look like nowadays. The author of the article assumes that the tendency of Chinese consumers to grow more and more sophisticated in their product selection is likely to penetrate the remote parts of China as well. The author concludes that this process is foreseen to continue developing at a high rate in the nearest future.

Hugo de Burgh in his article “Kings without crowns? The re-emergence of investigative journalism in China” suggests that the fact that the journalists in China consider “investigative journalism” to be of much importance indicates the on-going changes taking place within the Chinese society and represents a proof of their own significance in the process of China’s development. However, “investigative journalism” arouses crucial differences in viewpoints as to what exactly such kind of journalism implies. The author of the article claims that one of the interpretations of the fact that “investigative journalism” has reemerged is the establishment of a new set of rights. In fact, “investigative journalism” can be viewed as an expression of the process of “Westernization”. In his article, Hugo de Burgh attempted to analyze possible interpretations of the “investigative journalism” phenomenon including myths and facts related to it. The author also explains the expression “Kings without crowns” suggesting that in modern days journalists fulfill the traditional and culturally acceptable roles, at the same time using certain renewed concepts. It suggests that journalists turned into the reproducers of the traditional and cultural values of China.

According to Zhao Yuezhi (2008) “Entertaining the masses”, the essence of engaging the outside social powers in the system of Chinese communication has considerably changed since the times when the private newspapers have been part of the post-revolutionary mass media back in the 1950s. It also happened along with the establishment of mass media run by the citizens during the reform process in the late 1970s. Nowadays, in terms of the citizen-run mass media still being oppressed and private capital still being prohibited, unstable organizations are officially acknowledged and encouraged to take part in a vast variety of activities within the cultural and mass media business spheres. As a result, a new system has been established. This newly formed system allows the country to keep to its ideologies in the mass media industry. The article suggests that all this is a complex process of involving private capital into the modern media industry in China. The author concludes that today, Chinese mass media and cultural industry is viewed as a new scene for conducting “the game of capital” rather than an area of cultural expression and social communication.

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