On Liang Qichao's Journalism Thought

Liang Qichao was a scholar, political personage and journalist with distinguished reputation of modem China. In his fifty-six years' life course, he had engaged in the activities relating to press circle for 27 years, presided over 17 different journals. He regarded running a journal as an effective means to realize their politics ideals. He became one sharp-felt journalist and also got a comprehensive expression of a set of modern journalism theories of bourgeoisie in China, an outstanding news theoretician.Liang Qichao had explained the journalism thought of a set of bourgeoisie systematically. He regarded the view of public opinion and the view of function as the body of his journalism thought. He carried the press freedom and speech freedom under the national reason into each respect of the thought of the news. He thought that the public opinion was the expression of a view of public things of the masses. It itself can be divided into perfect public opinion and not perfect public opinion. Journals grasp media words power to reflect and recommend the perfect public opinion to the greatest degree, to lead and make perfect public opinion. The public opinion itself was a powerful supervision means. He adhered to speech freedoms and press freedoms under the reason of national doctrine. Basing on the strength of public opinion, Liang Qichao made it realizable through periodicals to supervise government and guide people that he regarded as two natural duties of press office. Basing on a strong sense of duty and sense of calling inspiring social people, Liang Qichao had put forward the self-discipline view of the journals. He held that the journalists should have raised abundant learning and independent personality, and then to realize the journals' responsibility to society. Liang Qichao had a perseverance of keeping improving on running a journal business, andhe had put forward the requests that a series of improvement periodicals editorial work. He put forward "literary form revolution", and put forward the reforms of the literary form of the journals, and made the new form of literary with the features of concision and unobstructed and abounding emotion an intermediate transition between Chinese classical literatures to the modem writings.Liang Qichao engaged in propagating through periodicals in the capacity of genius thinker and tireless scholar. He had injected vigor into progress of modem China, and made a great contribution to the development of China's modem press industry too. Liang Qichao's news theories had strong political function and had became China's modem news institutions development and typical mode of the theory, the deep social responsibility and feelings of the patriotism condensed among the press cause has become the fine tradition that later generation's journalists inherit.