Abstract
To avoid looking merely at how the transition of Chinese party-state system influenced the media industry, this study focused on observing news editors in a rather micro context. To analyze how the basic news editors apply to the principle of professional ethics in journalism, news editors in Southern Metropolis Daily was selected as the focus group in this study. Under the supervision of Chinese Communist Party, there are possibilities for grassroots news editors to uphold the principle of professional ethics in journalism and challenge the Party. Firstly, news editors could avoid conflicts with Chinese Communist Party by observing the party’s attitude towards the media censorship in certain period of time. Secondly, there are three main strategies to protect the principle of professional ethics in journalism. First is specific regulations analysis, second is regulations violation and the third is personnel rearrangement. The two former strategies were subjected to the pressure of the public opinion. The latter one was only applied after the failure of the two former strategies. Lastly, freedom of speech within Chinese media industry could only be achieved by reforming the Chinese political system.