The conference paper by Min Xu and Prof. Stijn Reijnders, entitled ‘Connecting audiences: An analysis of Chinese movie roadshows as a ritualised media event’, was awarded Best Paper at the 8th Global Communication Forum, ICA Post-conference, 2018. The paper explores the role and importance of face-to-face events in the Chinese media industry through the lens of media ritual theory.
Based on expert interviews with fifteen media practitioners, the authors discuss Chinese media professionals’ motivations for organising roadshows and the activities employed in its practice. This paper is one case study of the research project focusing on media rituals in contemporary China, which investigates the motives, experiences and event organisation associated with the popularity of ‘getting close to the media world.’
Special thanks
The authors would like to thank Balázs Boross, Henry Chow, Siri Driessen, Apoorva Nanjangud, Débora Ribeiro Póvoa, and Rosa Schiavone for helpful comments on the manuscript.