Politics and Propaganda in the Digital Media Age

“When it comes to disinformation, one of the first big signs is if you’re getting more and more content that’s really just agreeing with you ... Either that or, in the case of Twitter, sometimes they mash together different echo chambers, because that drives more engagement ... [If] it’s really making you feel an extreme emotion, whether positive or negative, there’s a good chance that, whether deliberately or not, there is some amount of disinformation going on here.”

—Brandon Zheng, Contributing Expert, China Studies Program, Baker Institute

About the Episode

China Studies Program experts Steven W. Lewis and Brandon Zheng join guest host Michael O. Emerson to explore how governments and organizations around the world are leveraging digital platforms in increasingly savvy ways — from TikTok videos to anime mascots — to spread political messaging and shape public opinion. They draw on their recent research examining urban propaganda in China and the use of “cuteness” as a communication tool to illustrate how the global political landscape has transformed in the age of digital media.

This conversation was recorded on Sept. 26, 2025. 

Mentioned in this episode:

• Brandon Zheng, “The Conquest of Cute: Political Communication, Public Diplomacy, and Anime,” Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, September 4, 2025.
• Brandon Zheng and Steven W. Lewis, “Central Versus Local Propaganda Under Xi Jinping: An Introduction to Images in the China Urban Outdoor Propaganda Image Archive, 1998 to 2019,” Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, June 3, 2025.
• Thomas Frank, The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism (The University of Chicago Press, 1997).

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About ‘Baker Briefing’

Hosted by David M. Satterfield,  the “Baker Briefing” podcast delivers timely analysis on breaking policy developments and other critical policy issues of the day in conversations with experts at the Baker Institute. New episodes are released weekly.

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This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.