Research On Chinese Media Development From Classical Theories Of The Political Economy Of Communications

Although the development of the Chinese media produced inspirational results in recent years, the mass media appeared to be over-entertaining, and to a certain extent,"overwhelmingly-entertaining". This has resulted in a hindered performance of its rightful functions, such as public service and international dissemination, bringing about adverse effect on the dissemination of social information and the development of the mass media, making it a critical issue to address in the course of development of the Chinese mass media.My study stayed oriented around this issue and employed the relevant theories of the Political Economy of Communications to depict the current development of the Chinese media, aiming to provide new thoughts and methods for solving the problems arising herefrom. Taking into account the realities and problems arising from the development of the Chinese mass media, my study employed a number of classical theories, e.g. the "Audience as Commodity" by Dallas. W. Smythe, the "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" by McChesney. R.W. and the "Media Imperialism" by Herbert I. Schiller, to illustrate the development opportunities for the Chinese mass media as well as effective ways to cope with the actual challenges.My study indicated that "Audience as Commodity" by Dallas. W. Smythe is the starting point for problem analysis and solution. Starting from "Audience as Commodity", I illustrated the adverse impact of "Audience Rating Is Everything" on the development of the Chinese mass media, with reference to a large number of facts and figures, based on which, I pointed out that the Chinese mass media need to stay alert not to get to the dead end of criticism of "Audience as Commodity", while adhering to and utilizing the audience market, improving and effectively performing the functions of the mass media. The "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" and "Communication Revolution" by McChesney. R.W. reminded us to reconsider the direction of development of our mass media, as "Serving the People" is one of the incomparable advantages in the development of our mass media and building of its public functions. The in-depth analysis of the "Media Imperialism" by Herbert I. Schiller on the external dissemination of the American mass media also inspired us to further build up the capacity of international dissemination of our mass media.My study benefited from the analysis of the theory of Political Economy of Communications on the development of the Chinese mass media, and is expected to be able to provide new thoughts for the healthy development of the Chinese mass media, and the proposals and solutions herein will be beneficial in optimizing the path of development of the Chinese mass media, and will be of theoretical and practical significance.