Media, Litigation, and Regional Discrimination in College Admission in China.

In 2001, three high school graduates from Shandong province sued the Ministry of Education, claiming that the province-based quota system used in college admission in China violates the constitutional principle of equal protection. This paper traces the emergence, evolution, and termination of the lawsuit as well as its aftermath, giving particular attention to the role of the media in this social movement against regional discrimination. Through an integrated legal and media analysis, the paper suggests that the litigation dramatizes the social problem and helps to levy public support. Yet, the real battlefield for this social movement is indeed in public opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]