The Media And City Under The Third Space Theory

Edward W. soja’s third space thinks that all the spaces are the mix of objectivity and subjectivity, as well as the mix of extensity, society and history. Media have been playing an important role that cannot be ignored in news narration about the physical space, and in the imaginative expression, as well as the rebuilding of the social space of cites.That is, in the regard of space theory, media involved in the process of urbanization to some extent, reflected the society and historicity.In short, in this context with the help of the Space Theory, this doctoral dissertation is to look into the following questions:What is the relationship between the urban physical space and the media in the backdrop of marketization? What is the relationship between the media and the change of the social structure? From the class level the upper transnational class has appeared. The civilian group, the middle class and the global consumerism have become hot topics. In addition, the working class and the farmers have been degraded while the ever-increasing farmer-turned-workers are becoming new bottom class nowadays.This doctoral dissertation is made up of six parts:The first part is the introduction which includes the research background, the problems that need to be studied, the study results,and the meaning of research, its methods and innovations.The second part gives an analysis of the relation between the medium and city based on the historical periods since 1978. Two periods are divided by Deng Xiaoping’s talk during the inspection tour to the south in 1992. If the urbanization is directed by the governmental power in the first period, then the urbanization in the second period is pushed by both the market and the government. In addition, the marketization of medium is much stronger marked by the arrival of city newspapers, magazines, TV channels and radios.Although we claim that all spaces are third space featured with society and historicity, for the sake of easy analysis and explanation we may begin with the physical space in the third part,which is named as the first space by Edward W. soja. The first section gives an analysis of the most direct news expression of the urban image since urbanization, and regards this expression as the best city view. In the second section we look at the suburb, paying attention to all news and discourse in the urban-villages, aiming at the special city space and its implied new social relationship. The third section offers a summary of the city journalism picture presented by the media, which is the city-countryside division of media----among the media resources, the urbanization of media content and the value orientation. Judged by the internal urban social relation, the middle-class-oriented media is self-evident actually.The fourth part is to discuss the second space which is expressed through media about the city, in other words, the imaginary urban expression. It involves an analysis of the city image video, urban love TV play, LED product and e-expression of city image. We intend to combine the imaginary city expression with urban politics and economics, state politics and economics, and globalization, putting city, state and globe together, which may stress again on culture, politics, economics and social content of urban space.In the fifth part we emphasize the social aspect with the media third space, adding more to the interference of social relation with media. On the background of the new media ecology and urban space, this part focuses on the three classes, they are the new bottom class----the mobile workers, the middle class, and the upper class. As to the the middle class, to stress the consuming middle class made with media and how the middle class protect their property with new media. This section is to deal with the upper class, which will focus on their current evolution and being transnational. Their dominance either in the mass media or in the new media is stressed, and their internal diversity in the context of new media is also mentioned.The sixth one is the the conclusion part, which includes the summaries of the relationship between the urban physical space and the media in the backdrop of marketization,and the reflection on the research process.With the help of the ode of porosity to the urban culture from Benjamin this doctoral dissertation maintains that the urban space is diversified and space is not unified or not accessible. Actually, space is porous and its porosity is in conformity with human porosity. So is media, which means multi-voice and multi-value instead of city centralism and urban middle-class-oriented discourse. Besides, all urban classes work hard to expand their space with media technology, which may change with the up and down of the social power. Moreover, we will set our ideal and goal, making all the media technology (including mass media) go over limitations and enter the community of communications.