| The modern society has witnessed a remarkable increase in the varieties, quantities and influence of mass media. As China is undergoing a shift from its long-existing planed economy to market-oriented one, Chinese people are experiencing changes in terms of values, ethics and guidelines of their social life. Therefore; they increasingly demand open and reliable media channel them information, guide them along the moral conflicts, and help them establish a new value system. To meet this requirement, journalistic practitioners should initiate their professional sensitivity to gather newsworthy stories of this vibrant society, and examine them with a true insight, and then uncover their implicit but significant substance in a community responsible fashion in order to enlighten the audience to improve interpersonal relationships and moral standards. Consequently it is necessary to reform the long-standing reporting style to meet this pressing demand.An attempt to reform the old style, journalistic planning has been a controversial subject since its birth in early 1990s. Media scholars and journalistic professionals are divided over this new mechanics even the former perceived it theoretically while the latter, practically. In spite of all the conflicting opinions, the last decade has seen the development of this new method in terms of its theory and practice. Some journalistic professionals have recognized that journalistic planning, an increasingly mature theory, is actually underlying news gathering, writing, editing and criticism. Therefore, there is an3urgent need to examine the subject critically to establish a theory framework for the pragmatic purpose on basis of the fruitful experience.With this five-chapter paper, the author summarizes the past of journalistic planning, observes its nature and theory, and analyzes its future development. The first chapter How to Understand Journalistic Planning offers its definition, connotation, extension and scientific nature. The second chapter Features of Journalistic Planning and the following one Functions of Journalistic Planning jointly demonstrate the general theory based on a comparison between it and other reporting strategies. A core of this paper, the fourth chapter Journalistic Planning and Modern Scientific Reasoning is intended to prove that journalistic planning is an artistic mass communication tactics. To conclude, the author contributes chapter five Future of Journalistic Planning to its development. |
