Understanding subjective inequality in China.

This article investigates how rising income inequality in China is perceived and publicized under the influence of government-controlled media, highlighting the political mechanisms shaping public misperception. Using a large-scale analysis of over 45,000 news articles and social media posts from 2003 to 2018, combined with data from multiple national surveys, the study finds that state-owned media, subject to tighter government censorship, report less on economic inequality and focus more on topics like rural–urban and historical inequality. In contrast, marketized and social media cover a broader range of inequality issues, including economic inequality, leading users of state media to underestimate the severity of inequality compared to users of other media. The findings underscore that in China's non-democratic context, media control plays a central role in shaping public perceptions of inequality, reflecting political priorities aimed at maintaining social stability rather than providing transparent information.