This article examines the multifaceted roles of provincial media and officials in China’s Guangdong province in the national policy process, and their patterns in articulating policy influence through policy implementation and learning. Key issues are (1) the role of the province in policy formulation, implementation and learning; (2) the mechanism whereby provincial media can influence national policy makers; and (3) the function of policy learning in the overseas television channels policy process. Analysis has found: (1) despite there being little space for provincial media to participate in national policy formulation, they have practised great discretion in policy implementation; (2) policy input is primarily through the policy learning process; and (3) the policy learning process in Guangdong not only functioned as a response mechanism to the legacies of previous policies, but also provided a legitimate platform for provincial media to negotiate with central government for both policy change and policy incentives.
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