Research On The Media System Reform In China: From Two-Detachment To Three-Detachment

Media system reform is a hot topic in the field of journalism and communication research. It is considered as the basic power for the further development of China's media. However, both the government and the academic circle and the practical circle have no overall consideration about how to carry out the system reform and how to develop China's media. This paper uses system theory,Polanyi's theory of embedding and de-embedding and the theoretical paradigm of structural functionalism to make scientific researches on China's media system reform and its future development.The research of this paper is carried on from two aspects. On the one hand, from the diachronic angle, the paper makes a historical inspection of China's media system transformation which started from the year of 1978. The beginning of China's media system transformation is the policy of "public institutions, industrialization management", and to today the characteristic of "mixed system" has been already established, and the mixed system has been facing insurmountable theoretical and practical obstacles. The selection of gradual reform has its rationality, but the "mixed system" and the system arrangement named "two-detachment of editing and management" have their shortcomings. The mixed system itself has become the greatest barrier in the process of China's media development. On the other hand, from the synchronic angle, the paper discusses the overall characteristics of media system reform through analyzing the relationship among government, society and market, which are the three factors that influence media system reform and media development most. Through the analysis of the vicissitude of government, society and market and their game since reform and opening up, the paper inspects China's existing media system reform and its current situation under the conditions of strong government, imperfect market system and weak society. In the game relations among government, media and society, the media has realized its market profits and the government has realized its goal of the ideology control. But there is no safeguard for the public benefit. The society is forgotten in this kind of development path. The current situation is obviously not the ideal situation of the media development and system reform. The current situation of social break and game imbalance proposes new demand for media functions, which include the profit maintenance of the minority groups and the supervision of the public authorities and power. However, the media has not realized the historical functions. Therefore, on the basis of the establishment of society-oriented which is considered as the rational relationship among government, society and market, the paper holds the idea that the fulfillment of media's historical functions should be oriented by society. And the media development path inevitably oriented by society proposes the objective need for media structural adjustment.The core viewpoint of the paper is that the strategy of China's media system reform should be transformed from two-detachment to three-detachment which means the separate development of state media, public media and commercial media, and the media system structure should be reconstructed. These three kinds of media fulfill different social functions and responsibilities, have different institutional arrangement and system design, so as to maintain social public benefit. The paper points out that the development path from two-detachment to three-detachment follows the way of gradual reform. On the one hand, the paper holds the viewpoint that the media development and three-detachment in our country must follow the way of gradual reform. On the other hand, the paper points out that because of the negative consequence of gradual reform, the media development should not only follow the way of gradual reform, the more important thing is to realize the development from "form gradualness" to "essential justice". The media development must be fair and just, and maintain the benefits of all kinds of social groups and classes. With the need of essential justice, media system reform and media development must take public benefit as the basic values.Under the background of China's current complicated social situation, the media development from two-detachment to three-detachment is actually a long and winding way. In the process of the construction of the rational relations among government, society and market, media try to realize the maintenance and enlargement of the social public benefit. However, the media development from two-detachment to-three detachment is a way which must be followed in China's media system reform and media development.