July  2012 21
傳播論壇Communication Forum
媒體與地緣政治區的治理: 兼及媒體與傳播地理學 對粵港澳地區的洞察
Media and the Governance of Geopolitical Areas: With Some Insights on the Geographies of Media and Communication in the Regions of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao
  (3400)
作者 李蕾蕾
Author Lei-Lei LI
關鍵詞 批判的地緣政治學、媒體與傳播地理學、第三空間、想像共 同體、粵港澳地區
Keywords critical geopolitics, media and communication geographies, the third space, imagined community, the region of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao
摘要 地緣政治區的治理難題是一關乎國內穩定和國際關係的重大問題。本文在討論媒體如何參與地緣政治區的治理問題時,從「谷歌中國」將搜索服務轉至香港一事出發,將其理解為一家新媒體公司對香港這一獨特地緣政治地點,加以利用和動員的事件,引出地點或地理位置與媒體(機構)之間互動關係的討論。這一問題與西方國家媒體研究的「空間轉向」或「媒體與傳播地理學」的出現和發展有關。本文首先引介和評述了媒體與傳播地理學的主要研究內容,及其在地理學界和傳播學界的明顯分工,然後指出,類似粵港澳這類分佈於國家邊境的、眾多地緣政治區而言,其媒體發展與媒體生態問題以及國家如何運用媒體工具對地緣政治區治理的問題,均可借助媒體與傳播地理學的視角和方法,以及批判的地緣政治學基本思想,加以分析和考察。文章以粵港澳地區但非局限於此,作為案例依託,說明和論述了地緣政治區的邊緣性、先鋒性和「第三空間」的特點,這些特點對於國家運用媒體工具建構想像共同體,意味着挑戰和機會的並存。
Abstract Google started redirecting search queries from Google.cn to Google.com.hk (Google Hong Kong) in March of 2010. Most people explained this as Google’s bypassing Chinese regulators for uncensored simplified Chinese search results. However, from the perspective of media and communication geographies, this event implies a specific function for the geopolitical location of Hong Kong in that a new media enterprise can use it to resolve a business crisis. This paper concerns the issue of interactions between geopolitical places and media. From the approach of media and communication geographies, this issue is related to a wide range of “spatial turns” or “geographic turns” in media and communication studies. The paper first provides a brief introduction and review of the newly developed subject of media and communication geographies, as well as the labor division between geographers and researchers in media and communication studies. Next, the paper indicates that geopolitical areas within the boundaries of a country are regarded as a type of place for media research about how the state government can make use of national media for the governance of sensitive geopolitical areas in reality.

Based on the spatial relationship approach and with some insights and empirical materials based on the geopolitical areas of Hong Kong, Macao, and Guangdong, as well as other geopolitical areas along the Chinese border, the author attempts to apply several key concepts and notions in political geography and critical geopolitics. These include “boundary,” “scale‚” and “proximity” to illustrate media behaviors and functions in spatial permeation, regional integration, trans-locality, and national identity building. It is revealed that the nature of a geopolitical area as a marginal, peripheral, liminal, frontier area, and as “the third space” has brought both challenges and opportunities for the construction of imagined community by national media instruments. First, the marginal location of geopolitical areas makes border areas normally less represented in media coverage compared to non-geopolitical core areas, in which a sort of core-peripheral structure of media coverage can be constructed. However, since the location as spatial relationship depends on the scale of the space of observation and is not absolute, the marginal status of border areas may change over time. This implies an opportunity for scale jumping of media development in those areas. Second, a geopolitical area as a kind of hybrid culture, contact zone, the third space, or the liminal area may hinder local residents from building a strong one-nation identity or consciousness that is promoted by central media institutions. Third, the nature of a geopolitical area as a frontier area can easily catch the attention of international and foreign media. This point makes the region of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau the pioneer of developing media economy in the process of Chinese media transformation. With regard to the governance of geopolitical areas, national media must take in the thoughts of critical geopolitics highlighting media discourses on politics for developing a systematic strategy of how to build an imagined community for residents in both core and peripheral areas, instead of entrapping them into instrumental tactics. In one word, the study of interactions between media and geopolitical areas is apparently a cross-disciplinary area, needing further attention to make contributions to the governance of geopolitical areas.



本文引用格式

李蕾蕾(2012)。〈媒體與地緣政治區的治理:兼及媒體與傳播地理學對粵港澳地區的洞察〉。《傳播與社會學刊》,第21 期,頁151–170。



Citation of this article:

Li, L. L. (2012). Media and the governance of geopolitical areas: with some insights on the geographies of media and communication in the region of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Communication & Society, 21, 151–170.
No.66  2023 October
No.65  2023 July
No.64  2023 April
No.63  2023 January
No.62  2022 October
© 2017 Communication & Society Journal. All Rights Reserved.