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Cited by 14Digital Economy and Work TransformationMedia Studies and CommunicationMedia and Digital Communication

Platforms, politics and precarity: Hong Kong television workers amid the new techno-nationalist media agenda

Open access
Tse, Tommy, Shum, Holy Hoi-Ki·2023·European Journal of Cultural Studies
DOI 10.1177/13675494221105534
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Abstract

In contrast to the infrastructural properties of Western media platforms aiming at market power expansion, the digital platform model in China is designed and developed with a techno-nationalist media agenda. In the case of Hong Kong, we look into how exactly the platformisation process restructures and interacts with its surrounding cultural, economic, political and social activities. This article contributes to the Creative Labour Studies by analysing the intricate linkages between the city’s unique socio-historical, technological and political trajectories and the lived dynamics of television work. Through in-depth interviews with Hong Kong TV workers, we reinstitute the techno-political to the analytical lens of Creative Labour Studies. We posit that the ebb and flow of Hong Kong’s TV industry and its creative labour process are not just guided by economic considerations under global media platformisation, but also uniquely entangled with its historical legacies, socio-technical contexts, and political and ideological framework. Our empirics show how the conflicting strategies directed by both the platformised business models and an unprecedented techno-nationalist media agenda generate ambiguity and inconsistency in daily TV operations. The elevated self-censorship and loss of editorial autonomy alongside the rapid media platformisation reinforce a normative ‘moralist regime’ creating specific forms of precarity and dissatisfaction among Hong Kong TV workers, undermining the development of the creative industry and a creative career. But the changing techno-political conditions also alter TV workers’ perceived nature, functionality and value of creative work, enacting a self-governed ‘ethical regime’ in their professional practices, and open up new creative opportunities.

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  • Most existing research on platform creative work draws on European and US social media like YouTube and Instagram.

    “Existing studies (Tse and Shum, 2022;Alacovska and Gill, 2019) on creative work on platforms are mainly based on social media in Europe and the United States, such as YouTube and Instagram.”

    From ‘Traffic rewards’, ‘algorithmic visibility’, and ‘advertiser satisfaction’: How Chinese short-video platforms cultivate creators in stages (2024) · cites this paper as Tse and Shum, 2022

    The Introduction (p. 3) says Creative Labour Studies has primarily focused on Western creative workers, and “De-westernising CLS” (p. 7) describes the field as centred on Euro-American contexts. But the paper does not establish that most existing research on platform creative work is based on YouTube or Instagram; its mention of those platforms concerns Hong Kong TV workers starting their own accounts (p. 19). (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Cheng S (2021) Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK deletes shows over a year old from internet as viewers scramble to save backups. Hong Kong Free Press , 3 May. Available at: https://hongkongfp.com/2021/05/03/hong-kong-broadcaster-rthk-to-delete-shows-over-a-year-old-frominternet-as-viewers-scramble-to-save-backups/ (accessed 9 September 2021).
  2. Grundy T (2021) Ex-RTHK broadcaster and HKFP columnist Steve Vines leaves Hong Kong for UK citing 'white terror'. Hong Kong Free Press , 3 August. Available at: https://hongkongfp. com/2021/08/03/ex-rthk-broadcaster-and-hkfp-columnist-steve-vines-leaves-hong-kong-foruk-citing-white-terror/ (accessed 9 September 2021).
  3. Hao Y (2017) A three-perspective theory of cyber sovereignty. Prism: A Journal of the Center for Complex Operations 7(2): 108-115.
  4. Leung LK (2019) Innovation and Creative Industries in Hong Kong . London: Routledge.
  5. Williams R (1974) Television: Technology and Cultural Form . London: Routledge.

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Authors
Tse, T., & Shum, H. H.-K.
Affiliations
  • University of Amsterdam (NL)
  • University of Hong Kong (HK)
Corresponding author
Tse, Tommy
ORCID
Venue
European Journal of Cultural Studies
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2022-06-29
Volume
26
Issue
3
Pages
289-312
ISSN
  • 1367-5494 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-3551
DOI
10.1177/13675494221105534
OpenAlex
W4283705608
Cited by
14
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4
FWCI
3.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • European Journal of Cultural Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • The HKU Scholars Hub (University of Hong Kong) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • Public Policy Research Funding Scheme from the Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office of The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2015.A8.035.16A, SR2020.A8.028)
  • Seed Funding for Basic Research programme from the University of Hong Kong (201511159032)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Economy and Work Transformation
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Media Studies and Communication
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › Media and Digital Communication
Keywords
techno-nationalism, creative labour, precarity, television workers, self-censorship, editorial independence, creative careers, creative industries, Hong Kong-China relations

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