Abstract

This seminar will explore the roles of the media in participative deliberation. Using a case study approach and drawing upon in-depth interviews and content analysis, this seminar will focus on Wang Jiang Si Lao (望江四老), who are four senior and retired Chinese Communist Party cadres in Wangjiang County, Anhui Province. Along with citizen activists, they had been protesting against the Jiangxi Pengze Nuclear Power Plant since 2011. We examined how Wang Jiang Si Lao (望江四老), shortly after the Fukushima nuclear accident, proactively and strategically strived to receive endorsement and support from local county, provincial, and Central governments, and used traditional and new forms of media to bring the issue of “inland nuclear power” into public spotlight and gain social visibility and influences for public agenda building. Their endeavor, as a part of China’s ongoing anti-nuclear movement, was regarded as one of the main reasons why the proposed Pengze Nuclear Power Plant was suspended, and had a significantly impact on China’s nuclear power policy in The Twelfth and The Thirteenth Five Year Plan respectively in 2012 and 2016.

About Dr. Deng Lifeng

Dr. Deng is an associate professor of communication with the School of Communication and Design at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. His research interests include science communication, risk governance and communication in China. He has published several research papers on science communication and risk communication, and a book, Competing Voices? Deconstructing the mechanism of corporate public relations’ impacts on news production (Communication University of China Press, 2014).

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