Mass media and socio‐political formation in Hong Kong, 1949–1992

This paper aims to provide an institutional and systemic analysis of the interactions between mass media and socio‐political formation in Hong Kong in the last four decades. In the first stage of political development (1949‐early 1960s), the mass media served as the weak linkage between society and polity. Coupled with the Hong Kong Government's monopoly of the power to define social reality, the mass media's apathy to local politics was functional in maintaining the colonial status quo. The second stage of political development marked the growth of local identity and pressure groups (mid 1960s‐early 1980s). Demographic change and the development of an indigenous media culture contributed to the rise of a local identity. The third stage of political development is an intermix of the gradual return of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China and democratization (mid 1980s to present). While the mass media were instrumental in legitimizing China as the future political master, they have also been serving as the battleground for and as participants in public opinion wars that are waged between China and Britain over transitional issues. Meanwhile, the mass media play an indispensable role in legitimizing local party politics that the public and mass media abhorred so much before the 1970s. In the on‐going crisis of Hong Kong, the multiple roles demanded of the mass media, as an informer and interpreter, will intensify.