Abstract

Who, if anyone, is more influenced by state media in China? While scholars have discussed people's resilience and response to state apparatus under authoritarian systems, few studies have directly tested the relationship between personal political characteristics and trust in state media in China. Drawing data from the 2019 Asian Barometer Survey, I employ factor analysis and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to examine the relationship between three personal political characteristics, i.e., political orientation, political awareness and perception of democracy, and individual trust in China's state-controlled media. Results consistently show that political awareness significantly and negatively influences trust in state media, challenging the prevailing view that those in the broad middle range of political awareness present the highest political trust within authoritarian regimes. Chinese respondents with lower political awareness tend to show higher trust in the state media, while pro-regime political orientation and perception of democracy from an authoritarian perspective are not significant characteristics of individual-level trust. These findings suggest that even though some people may be critical of the official media, those with low political awareness are not sophisticated enough to resist state media influence, which potentially threatens the democratic transition of Chinese society.