| In 1990s', a large number of journals as "news weekly" appeared in China.Recognized by in-depth reporting, in-depth analyzing and in-depth thinking, news weekly constitutes to be an infusive media power. Sanlian Life Weekly (SLW), entitled as "NO. 1 News Weekly", "Chinese Times" and "successful News Media in New Economy", proves to be one of the best by its circulation and advertising amount. By employing SLW as a typical case, this paper is a close study of its textual structure, brand-constructing and brand-managing from the different perspectives as Communication, Journalism, Literature Science, Socialism, Semeiology as well as Aesthetics. The aim of this paper is to discover the fundamental reasons of its success so as to offer some inspirations of powerful brand construction and international competition skills for Chinese journal industry which is challenged by WTO entrance.SLW, produced by Sanlian Publishing House, is originated from Mr. ZhouTaofen's Life Week. A grand birth and glorious history does not offer it a smooth market experience. In fact, SLW witnessed "life and death" as "five timeschange of editor in chief', the "four times change of capital of investment" and the "stopping publication" from 1993 to 1995. How can it overcome all these difficulties and becomeNO.1? The question has puzzled the author for a long time. After a close reading of over four hundred journals and several interviews with the head of SLW, the author finds that the success of SLW is a reasonable result of its construction of "core value". This paper focuses on the core value of SLW. Core value here refers to the distinctive brand supporting advantages and capacities accumulated in a specific journal. To be move specific, the advantages and capacities here is the chief operations of one journal used to win the audiences, to take possession of the markets,to make social and economical profit and to retain advantages. The core competitive capacity is derived from the core value which is the most fundamental principle for a journal to characterize itself in content and management sense, to compete with peers and to win larger markets. "Core" means the importance and distinctive, one feature cannot be copied by others. A journals can only win by its content and quality. The single charm formed by the difference is the only way for journals to attract more readers.Core values cannot be separated from the culture atmosphere. The core value of SLW manifests as the dream, faith and responsibility. People with dreams working for a journal with dreams so as to unite readers with dreams is the positive life philosophy created the clerks and texts of SLW. The core value inspires Sanlian to overcome all the difficulties and improve itself. SLW demonstrates it core value as a deep sympathy for human being in every case and its news reporting. The idea of SLW's news reporting is employing cultural critical reading and judgment for every information resources. Besides, unique eyeshot and distinctive narrative style is an important parts of its core value system. The core value helps Sanlian get out of the predicaments and guarantee it to be a most distinctive one.Rome cannot be built in a day, the core value of SLW cannot be built in a short period of time. It is constructed by painful frustrations, hard interviews and wonderful reports. The author of this paper regards this process as a "becoming" course in this paper. Chapter One is a retrospection of SLW's ten year history. The first part will elaborate on its social political background, the historical and media milieu from the perspective of media ecology. The key details and great events are the focus of the second part. The details of the hardships witnessed by Sanlian, which is demonstrated by the author, is an intended reminding for common journals. Chapter Two is to dissertate on the relationship between its core value and brand construction. The niche construction theory here is use to analyze news weekly. The author considers that the exact reason of the comparatively less keen competition is the diverse existence caused by the niche construction instead of the friendly market environment. Even though they share similarities in content and readers orientation, they can all get their own living space. The second part emphasizes the brand image, which results from the core value. The brand image is built through the core value, while the core value transmits through the brand image. The mutual benefits accomplish SLW.Chapter Three focuses on the vision transmission and the influence exerted by the core value. The first part emphasizes on the force of the visual symbols. The visual symbols include edition code, publish emblem, cover picture, cover titles, standard color, etc. which are used to attract potential readers. The visual force cannot be neglected by a visual world. The cover of SLW is recognized by a vivid character of combination of culture and information instead of the eye's attraction merely. The second part is to explain the interior visual system. The catalog, column organization, the edit composition, the pictures, the insets and the titles are what they care for. All of the ones mentioned above as well as the cover attract the readers respectively.Chapter Four is a close reading of SLW's contents from the perspectives as news languages, news writing, details and characterized column. The first part is to expound on the language characters. The author considers that the language employed by SLW is vivid, humorous and appealing, which is achieved by the original words but not by the gaudy ones. The second part approaches the subjects choosing, point of views, and the interests arising skills through news two angles and four quadrants. The news reporting techniques addressed by Mr. Qian Gang are adopted by other journals prove to be a magic weapon for SLW. There are mainly four elements mentioned as follows: the depth, the authenticity, the vitality and the risk avoiding. The fourth part is a case study of one column named "Readers Response". Readers Response and the communication between editors and readers are very important for a mature journal. The author analyzes the fidelity of readers, mental reliance cultivated by this column by the 250 theory in marketing, the influence exerted by readers to SLW by the agenda setting theory and the mutual influence by the cultivation theory.Chapter Five is to discuss the advertising in core value context. The first and the second part explain the advantages shared by the journals and the specific advertising respectively. It is noted that the advertising and the edit of SLW was separated from each other. In April, 1998, the adverting issues is turned over to Beijing Tianyihua Company. Therefore, the focus of this paper is the contents presented in SLW rather than the management of it. This part is to get a better understanding of the relationship between the style of advertising and its contents , as well as the orientation of its advertising.
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