Chinese journalism reforms in the 1990s focused on the issues of "commercialization" and "marketization." Employing concepts developed in the "routine theory," "ideological hegemony theory," and the perspective of "social construction of reality," this paper analyzes observations from a field study and argues that the sociological meaning of the Chinese journalism reforms lies in Chinese journalists utilizing various kinds of symbolic resources to deconstruct the journalistic principles and practices that have been treated as "natural"; under China's "commandist media system" and to construct, interpret, and justify certain non-routine practices. Because the reforms took place within the parameters of the dominant communist ideology, they do not have the known features of "ideological opposition" rather, they represent the multi-dimensional social change activities.