The Study Of Chinese Repository:Sino·Western Conflict Coverage And Public Opinion(1832-1842)

From the perspective of mass communication,when news events occur,reporters rush to the news site to plan the press releasese and publish news reports that will be welcomed by the audience.This kind of organizational communication not only promotes the formation of social consensus through "influential key stories",but also shapes the image of the media itself.Since the founding of Chinese Repository,both current affairs and business news have been devoted to finding opportunities for"influential key stories" and have been well received by society.As the first English-language monthly magazine to provide a comprehensive introduction to China,the Chinese Repository was typical.Compared to other foreign newspapers founded by the British in Guangzhou during the same period,the Chinese Repository was independently funded by American businessmen and was controlled by the Americans in terms of editing,printing and publishing.This not only ensured its independence and critical orientation to the greatest extent possible,but also made it easier to win the approval of the American public and to gain absolute power of speech by reporting on China from American perspective.As a monthly magazine,Chinese Repository can set its agenda with continuous coverage of current events within the same period,and by publishing news,commentary,and opinions from all sides,it allows for a more focused expression of public opinion than other newspapers.This study focuses on the Chinese Repository,published at Guangzhou port from 1832 to 1842,and explore how the newspaper triggered public opinion on the war against China and influenced Western public opinion through its coverage of the Sino-Western conflict.The study can be conducted on three specific levels:to explore the mechanism of the formation of the discourse of China coverage by Chinese Repository and the subjective and objective factors that influenced the newspaper’s public opinion;to analyze the interaction between journalistic style and public opinion,especially the role of organization,guidance and image construction;to examine the influence of Chinese Repository and its newspaper runners,and how they established media authority in the Western press and public opinion.This study focuses on the concepts of journalism and public opinion,and uses the agenda-setting theory as a basis to conduct a comprehensive raking and analysis of Chinese Repository with both documentary and case study methods.In addition to using Chinese Repository as the main object of study,this study also makes reference to personal monographs,newspaper materials,and historical documents on the Opium War published at home and abroad,and conducts an interdisciplinary and systematic study of Chinese Repository by combining history,sociology,editorial science,journalism and communication.In 1834,"Napier Fizzle" was the first major current affairs news reported by Chinese Repository after its founding,and it played an active political role in this historical event and began to show its political character.In 1837,the Chinese Repository used the "Hing-tae’s Debts" to direct criticism at the Guangzhou system,creating a platform for the British merchant community in China to organize and guide public opinion.The "Opium Trade Crisis" of 1839 was a major agenda item in Chinese Repository,showing readers the entire process of the breakdown of Sino-British relations.Among them,the first character interview was used in the "Destruction of Opium " report to construct the image of Lin Tsihseu as a great politician,while the "Lin Weihee Case" was a decisive issue for Chinese Repository to deepen the consensus of Western society and was a critical point for the transformation of public opinion in Chinese Repository.Thereafter,Chinese Repository’s public opinion on China began to reverse,advocating a hard line against China.During the Opium War,Chinese Repository closely followed the military movements of China and Britain,reporting on the entire war,and repeatedly accusing China of resistance and supporting British aggression.By this time,this missionary-sponsored publication,once quite righteous,opposed to the opium trade and critical of the tendency to advocate force,was treating the war no differently than the British press.After presenting a series of "influential key reports," Chinese Repository established itself as a newspaper authority during the Opium Wars.Through a systematic review and analysis of the reports on China in Chinese Repository,it can be seen that the evolution of public opinion on China in Chinese Repository is clear.A series of Sino-British conflicts that occurred between 1834 and 1840 led to growing discontent among Westerners,who came to China to trade under the Canton system and contained by the Qing dynasty’s xenophobic policies,they gradually generated public opinion about the use of force against China.In 1834,the"Napier Fizzle" led the Westerners in China to propose the idea of deterring China by force,breaking the Qing government’s concept of "barbaric diplomacy" and realizing free relations with China.In 1837,after the outbreak of the "Hing-tae’s Debts",this idea was changed to the abolition of the Canton System,the establishment of a modern tariff system,and realizing free trade.However,during the opium crisis that broke out in 1839,the Westerners were generally dissatisfied with Canton authorities’settlement of the "Lin Weihee case ",and their insistence on consular jurisdiction and war against China gradually became their unanimous proposition.The overlap of these contradictions also allowed scattered public opinions to converge into the mainstream,making war against China the general consensus of Western society.In short,in the decade before and after the outbreak of the Opium War,Chinese Repository consistently lived up to its mission of "providing the most reliable and valuable information about China and its neighbors" by reporting on news events related to it.The series of "influential key reports" published in the Chinese Repository,representing the long-standing public opinion campaign against China by businessmen and their groups in China,eventually contributed to the formation of a consensus in Western society to wage war against China,and the long-held desire of foreigners in China to change the pattern of relations between China and the West by force finally became a reality.