.1956 "people's Daily Revision Origin

The 1956 reform of The People's Daily is referred to, in the history of Chinese journalism, as the second media reform of CCP's party newspaper. This thesis describes in detail the cause and process of this reform and the phenomena it brought about, in an attempt to reveal its great significance as a return to the "news-centered" journalistic mode, while explaining, through a discussion of the fundamental logic of Chinese social development, the intrinsic cause of its abortion.Starting from a careful retrospection of the development of party newspaper, which has come along inseparably with the process of Chinese Revolution, this thesis demonstrates that, the propaganda-centered party newspaper mode, emerged in "revolution" and congruent with war time, faced an unavoidable reform in light of a changed running condition and social needs in the socialist construction era. Therefore, after the completion of socialist reform, thoughts on "how to run a party newspaper well in accordance with newspaper's essence in the new era" initiated. 1956 reform of The People's Daily echoed such an essence. Through reflection on the previously prevalent "Soviet mode", it focused on the needs of readers and the probe into journalistic essence, and completed in practice the "return to the news-centered mode". Benefiting for Chinese media development as it was, the reform was halted because of its incongruence with mainstream logic guiding Chinese social development at the time.Therefore, while analyzing the cause for the adoption of the reform, this thesis reveals and explores the logic guiding Chinese social development at the time, namely: Initiating economic construction through political mobilization launched invariably by ideology. In another word, social development, guided by the party, relies on "ideological guiding force" as well as activity and creativity sparked by people's yearning for a socialist society. Under such a logic, "propaganda mode" of newspaper naturally served as an incomparable underpinning force, leading to a half-way abortion of the 1956 reform of The People's Daily.