In 1994, China started to connect its computers to the Internet and since then, the number of users has been skyrocketing. By the end of 1998, the number of Internet subscribers had reached 2.1 million up from only 40,000 in mid-1990s. Many accounts were shared by more than one person. Actually millions of more are browsing through the net. It is expected that the next three years will see an increase to 10 million surfers in China.
Study is yet to be done to pinpoint how Internet affects the Chinese press.
But I don't think things have become tighter for journalists nowadays. It is true that the Chinese press is still expected to be at the propaganda service and will encounter ideological and operational dilemmas of press reform. But I believe more and more government and party officials are realizing that the public mood needs a prosperous new journalism and the government understands it very well that the mean of propaganda could not achieve the efforts of the mass communication. I am a humble journalist from China. I never expected that the prestigious Kennedy School of Government would accept me as its research fellow.