Audience research: research on audience satisfaction theory and critical school's communication methods: please refer to or Feng's book Method.
On China's Contemporary Communication
China's contemporary communication should include Chinese mainland, Hongkong, Taiwan Province and Macau. This is not only because they have the characteristics of the same language, the same species and the same country, but more importantly, they have the same or similar research history, research scope, research tendency and some issues that must be paid equal attention to. This paper outlines three difficult courses of communication science in introduction-research-innovation, describes the characteristics, gap and imbalance of communication science in research scope horizontally, reveals three research trends of communication science: dependence, enthusiasm and practicality from the historical process and present situation, and puts forward some feasible countermeasures and problems worthy of attention.
"Old communication theory, young communication theory." It can be said that this sentence very aptly describes China's long-standing research on communication phenomena and emerging research on communication theory. As an exposition of human communication, China's communication theory has a history of nearly three thousand years. As a research subject, the history of communication in the United States is only 50 years, and the history of communication in China is even shorter. Since lasswell and others first put forward the term "mass communication" in the book "Propaganda, Communication and Public Opinion" (1946). It is only 40 years since the word "mass communication" was first translated into Chinese in China. It was only 18 years ago when the word "mass communication" was first translated into Chinese.
In the Third Series of Translation Series of Journalism 1956 edited and published by the Department of Journalism of Fudan University, the western mirror image of free and independent newspapers was exposed. Translator Liu Tong Shun translated English "mass communication" into "mass transportation" and thought that "mass transportation organizations are big enterprises and their bosses are big entrepreneurs." When translating the same series "The Function of American Newspapers", Zheng also translated it as "the ideological traffic of the masses". Newspapers are one of the tools. Other major' mass communication' tools are: magazines, radio, movies, etc. " Starting from 196o, the journalism department of Renmin University of China has compiled six volumes of news materials criticizing the bourgeoisie. Zhang Longdong extracted and translated an article from William Aileen's Research on Mass Communication (1958) and translated it into Mass Communication. According to Professor Ding Ganlin's introduction of 65438-0993, Professor Wang Zhong, a famous journalist in China, attaches great importance to the study and application of new knowledge, and most of the examples he quoted in his lectures are fresh. 1957 begins with a reference to relevant knowledge of mass communication. Professor Ding Ganlin's article "Journalism Research in China" (199 1) said: "However, it took twenty years for the study of communication (in China) to really start." This refers to two articles published by Professor Zheng in the No.1 1 issue of Foreign News Information in July, 1978, and the research on mass communication and American bourgeois journalism: mass communication edited by him, which aroused the interest of journalism circles. In September of the same year, the journalism department of Fudan University opened an elective course of Introduction to Communication among senior students. In September, 1983, Professor Chen published a translation of the book Origin, Research and Application of Communication as an elective course of Introduction to Western Communication. International Journalism, edited and published by the Journalism Department of Renmin University of China, started from the second issue 1979. The book "The Process, System and Effect of Public Communication" translated by Professor Zhang Longdong in hibbert has been serialized for three consecutive issues, which further promoted the establishment of Beihou Journalism University 198 1 Start, International News 1982 and News Front 1983. Serialized Chen's Lecture on Communication, Zhang Longdong's Introduction to American Mass Communication and Zheng's Introduction to Communication. During the period of 1982, the newsletter of the School of Journalism published two articles, namely "Biography, News and Others" by Xuan Weibo () who gave lectures in Beijing and "The Possibility of Studying Biography in the Motherland" by Yu, which caused a sensation. Media such as Journalism Essay, News Radio and Television Research, Journal of Fudan University, and Journalism Research (Shaanxi) are not far behind, and they all start to publish translations and papers on communication. In June, 198 1, a graduate student in journalism at Fudan University, wrote the first master's thesis on American communication theory in Chinese mainland and passed the thesis defense. 1982165438+10 In October, the Institute of Journalism of China Academy of Social Sciences held the first national communication seminar in Beijing, and decided to hold it every two to three years. In the second year, the Institute edited and published Introduction to Communication, and collected 10 western communication works and translations of Cary, Xu Yaokui, Zhang Li and Fan Dongsheng in Ming Dynasty, which is a popular reading. Around this time, Four Theories on Newspapers (1980), Introduction to Communication (1984) and Origin, Research and Application of Communication (1985) translated by the journalism department of Renmin University were translated into Introduction to Communication.
In the evaluation and research stage, Chinese mainland communication scholars adhere to the principles of "systematic understanding, analytical research, critical absorption and independent creation" put forward by the first national communication seminar and the goal of "establishing communication with China characteristics" put forward by the second national communication seminar held in Huangshan, Anhui Province in June 1986, starting from the specific national conditions and communication reality of China. On the one hand, it conducts large-scale national or local mass communication effect surveys, public opinion surveys and audience surveys (for details, see China Communication Effect Perspective edited by Chen Chongshan and You), and conducts a series of special surveys (for details, see China's Socio-psychological Track: Report Collection of Asian Games Publicity Effect Survey edited by Zhao Shuifu,1991; Zhang Fan and Ke Huixin's investigation on the effect of radio and television coverage of the Gulf War,1991); On the other hand, the scientific world outlook and methodology are used to collect, sort out, analyze and study western communication theories, clarify the context, distinguish right from wrong, and then write and publish them.
In Chinese mainland, his representative works mainly include: Information Communication and Communication in Yan 'an (1986), Communication Principles and Applications by Dai Yuanguang, Shao Peiren and Gong Wei (1988), and Communication Principles by Fan Dongsheng and Zhang Yabin (1990). Zhang Yonghua's Mass Communication (1992), Zhang Long East Mass Communication (1993), Bing Lin Communication (1993) and Xu Yaokui's Mass Communication (1993). In Taiwan Province province. Its spread entered the evaluation and research stage significantly earlier than that of Chinese mainland, and it was powerful and effective. His major works are: Theory of Mass Communication by Xu Jiashi (1966), Notes on Mass Communication by Shi Yonggui (197 1) and Oral Communication by Zhu Zhenhua (1968). Mass communication and modern society (1975), news and mass communication by Zheng (1978), sociology of communication by Chunrong Yang (1979) and mass communication theory (1982). Hong Kong's introduction and research on communication may be earlier than Chinese mainland's and later than Taiwan Province's, and its research strength and achievements are not as good as those of Chinese mainland and Taiwan Province (except for a few scholars). Moreover, some scholars write in English and then publish them abroad. However, in the sea of Wang Yang in western academic circles, it is difficult to find and identify the communication research achievements of Hong Kong scholars. Among the communicators in Hong Kong, professors are the most admirable and eye-catching. During his tenure as director of the Communication Research Center of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, he not only actively performed his duties as director, but also promoted local communication teaching and research to a new level. He also publicized communication knowledge in the mainland with Professor Xuanweibo and actively promoted communication research in the mainland. He also helped arrange for young scholars to study communication abroad. Even after his retirement, he still bridged the gap between domestic and foreign universities in communication teaching and research, raised funds for some universities to establish journalism and communication departments, and ran for the "China" of communication research. If Xuanweibo () is a perfectionist of American communication, then we should say that he is the sower of China communication, and he is a diligent sower! Professor Yu's writings are rich and distinctive. In addition to the translated Introduction to Communication (1983), there are other books: Inside and Outside-Talking about Modern Communication with Modern Youth (1980), Communication, Education and Modernization (1988, co-author) and Starting from scratch-the first. Other Hong Kong scholars have written Political Communication-Theory and Practice by Wang Jing (1984) and News and Communication by Zheng Jingbin (1988). These works are similar to those of scholars in Taiwan Province Province in style and characteristics.
It is worth pointing out that the development of communication industry in Chinese mainland is not smooth sailing, but full of twists and turns and hardships. No matter 40 years ago or 16 years ago, communication was critically introduced as "bourgeois news". Fortunately, everything has passed. Today's situation is just as described by Professor Chen in the preface of the article 1988 "Principles and Applications of Communication": "Not only have more colleges and universities offered communication, but also communication majors and communication research institutes have been established one after another." Many readers are looking around for exchange books with book lists. "Even a few comrades who once doubted this subject and even asked questions are not satisfied with knowing only a little about communication ABC, but are trying to learn xYZ of communication." After Professor Chen wrote this passage, the study of communication in China has gone through eight years. Professor Zhang Longdong pointed out at the Third National Communication Seminar held in Xiamen University in May 1993: "Now we can say that China is moving from the stage of analyzing and translating foreign communication theories to the stage of establishing a communication system with China characteristics in combination with China's national conditions."
Observing, examining and evaluating the academic achievements of China's communication circles in the stage of exploring innovation and establishing a new system, we obviously feel that low-level repetitive work is still going on, academic exploration is faltering, helpless and very difficult, and independent innovation is like Kuafu's pursuit of the sun, which can't keep up with the rapid development of communication practice; The lag of communication theory is worrying, but many temptations of commodity economy can not be ignored. China's communication studies lack the competitive situation of winning the world and Ma Benteng, the profound traditional cultural foundation and persistent exploration spirit. However, we don't want to deny the optimistic views of some young and middle-aged communication scholars, and we don't want to underestimate the promotion of Contemporary Communication Series, Cross-century Communication Research Series, Taiwan Province News Communication Series and Mass Communication Series to China's communication research. In fact, we have seen some in-depth communication research monographs. Among them is Communication edited by Chinese mainland Shalianxiang (1990); Dai Yuanguang's Introduction to Modern Propaganda (1992); Public opinion communication edited by Zhang Xuehong (1992); Wu Yumin's Invisible Network —— Looking at China's traditional culture from the perspective of communication (1988); Shao Peiren's economic communication (1990), political communication (199 1), artistic communication (1992), educational communication (1992), communication sociology (1992) In Taiwan Province Province, there is a message from Li Maozheng: Goodbye! Xuan Weibo (1992); Peng Yun news media and politics (1992), political advertisements and elections (1992); Pan Jiaqing's Social Responsibility of News Media (1984). These works do not copy the theoretical system and research model of western communication, nor do they "say that you speak Greek". They look for theoretical basis in western academics everywhere, but take China culture as the background, China's national conditions as the coordinates, integrate multidisciplinary knowledge, adopt scientific and reasonable research methods, closely link with practice, and strive to serve practice, thus showing the pioneering courage and innovative spirit of China communication scholars.
After reviewing the three courses of introduction-research-innovation of communication in China, this paper analyzes the research scope, research trend and problems that must be paid attention to in communication in China.
In the research scope of communication in China, if divided by content and theme, its achievements are mainly manifested in the following 20 aspects: (1) communication principles; (2) mass communication; (3) organizing communication; (4) interpersonal communication; (5) Transnational communication. In these five aspects, communication, mass communication and interpersonal communication have accumulated many achievements and published many works, even a little too much and low-level repetition. Now we need to make great efforts to strive for by going up one flight of stairs at least in theory. In the study of organizational communication and transnational communication, there are no original works except Zheng Ruicheng's Organizational Communication (1983) and the works of Li Zhan and Peng Yun. The whole situation at home and abroad requires communication scholars to strengthen their research in this field and produce academic achievements. Besides, it is (6) political communication; (7) Economic communication (including advertising communication, public relations communication, marketing communication and economic informatics); (8) Art communication (including literature communication); (9) Educational communication; (10) journalism and communication; (1 1) Cultural communication; (12) Public opinion dissemination. There are all these works, but there is only one except journalism, education and political communication, such as Economic Communication edited by Shao Peiren (1990), Art Communication (1992) and Wang Qi's. This tells us: don't engage in basic research of communication together, and don't just engage in research of branches. We should pay attention to the balance of research and strive to make the basic research of communication and the research of branches go hand in hand. Then (13) communication sociology; (14) communication psychology; (15) Communication pedagogy; (16) communication semantics. This is an interdisciplinary study of communication, such as sociology of communication (1979), mass communication and social change of Chen Yamin (1989), pedagogy of mass communication of Zheng (1984), mass communication psychology of Zhang Cihan (65438), etc. The research of existing disciplines needs to be strengthened, but it is marginal. (18) Communication and modernization; (19) communication with children; (20) Communication and women. The first two aspects are actually the development of communication science, which is most valued by UNESCO and governments all over the world, with the strongest practicability and the most research funds. During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, the government of China invested a lot of money to organize national experts and scholars to study the giant topic of news and modernization, including more than 20 sub-topics, some of which have been included in the book China News and Modernization (1992). Other achievements in this field include Communication and National Development edited by Pan Jiaqing (1983), Essays on Communication and Modernization (19) and Essays on Cross-Strait and Social Development edited by Zhu Li and Chen (1986). In China, the research on development communication is far less than that of Indian academic circles, and it is even more important to lack the special research on communication and rural development. Bu Wei and Yang Ruiming conducted a series of investigations and studies on the spread of children's and women's studies, and published some influential papers, but their representative works have not yet been seen. There are also some communication topics that UNESCO attaches great importance to, such as communication and youth, cross-cultural communication and communication and life, which do not seem to have entered the research field of communication scholars in China.
After reviewing and summarizing the research course and contents of China's communication studies, the author thinks that there are three research tendencies in China's communication studies, namely, dependence tendency, experience tendency and practice tendency.
China's communication studies have great dependence on American communication works. Its main manifestations are: (1) transplanting or applying American theoretical system and research model, but there are few new ideas and concepts. No matter in Taiwan Province, Hongkong or Chinese mainland, no matter the "process framework" composed of disseminators, information, media, receivers and effects, or the "hierarchical framework" composed of internal perception, interpersonal communication, organizational communication, mass communication and transnational communication, there are few breakthroughs. Even the curriculum and arrangement of communication are based on the curriculum of American universities. (2) Follow or follow the pace and direction of American research, but few of them have their own advanced research and characteristic research. (3) Reference or quotation of American communication works and viewpoints, but few people draw nutrition from China's 5,000-year-old cultural treasure house and seek theoretical basis. (4) List or pile up American research results and experimental data, but few people make critical analysis, and pay enough attention to the dissemination of China research results.
The empirical method in China's communication research is gradually gaining the upper hand. This is to gradually abandon the early humanistic tradition, no longer use logical reasoning to deduce the unknown from the known, but gradually adopt a method that mainly uses human sensory organs (such as vision and hearing) to obtain research evidence from the empirical level to the theoretical level through rational analysis. The application of empirical methods is indeed highly scientific and can give people a sense of trust. But if abused or used improperly, it may be counterproductive. Bu Wei (1994) once analyzed the empirical study of communication in China, and thought that except for Taiwan Province and Hongkong, Chinese mainland mainly used the sampling survey method, while the observation method and interview method were ignored, the literature research and model method were not reasonably developed, the experimental research was not taken care of, and at the same time, it was not good at comprehensively using various means, and even the application of sampling survey method was somewhat immature. Therefore, although the empirical method is optimistic year by year, the problem still exists and will not be solved soon.
Paying more attention to practicality than learning is another tendency of communication studies in China in recent years, which is more obvious in research reports and papers, as well as in Taiwan Province and Hongkong. Communication pays more attention to the discussion of communication problems, and it is understandable to solve the problems encountered or possibly encountered in communication through research. The problem is, don't despise or give up the spirit of academic discussion and criticism, don't decide whether to allocate funds for a certain topic, and don't judge whether a certain research result is valuable. Facts have proved that this kind of worry is not out of thin air and unnecessary. In fact, the empiricism tendency and the pragmatism tendency are not that communication scholars hide in it, or deliberately do it when they see it, but are driven by social needs and influenced by the entrusting unit. That is to say, sometimes the "what to study" and "how to study" of communication scholars are not decided by researchers, but by investors, who pay attention to "income". Therefore, under the pressure of money, don't expect the tendency of empiricism and pragmatism to change greatly.
Of course, we say that contemporary communication is dependent, empirical and practical, but only in terms of some signs, trends and trends in its research, it does not mean that the whole contemporary communication has such characteristics, and these trends (such as practical trends) are not all to be denied, but just pointed out to remind people. In any case, we should not underestimate the great achievements and contributions made by contemporary communication in the short historical process of China. The author believes that as long as we adhere to the guidance of dialectical materialism and historical materialism and follow the principle of "systematic understanding and learning from others". Based on the principle of "focusing on self, surpassing innovation", connecting with the reality of China, adapting to the national conditions of China, and highlighting the China characteristics of communication, we will surely become one of the world's communication schools and become a strong one.
Quoted from Journal of Hangzhou Normal University, No.4, April 23, 2002, 1999.4