Peixin Cao's exciting study of media incidents in contemporary China breaks new methodological ground. It combines cultural and media studies perspectives to illuminate the political and historical complexities of China's present-day mediascape and to demonstrate how, despite the system of cencorship ruling the Chinese media world, each media incident manages to widen, within the framework of the system, the scope of action of those involved. The author's examination of the Chinese public sphere will have important consequences for the discussion of this much debated subject. Peixin Cao earned his PhD from University of Mainz in 2008. This book is his PhD thesis.