"Guiding The Public As National Tongue"

Current Events Communique is one of the privately owned newspapers in modern China that assumes the most circulation with a long history of issue. It was first issued in 1920 and seized by the government in 1948. With the principle of "guiding the public as national tongue", Current Events Communique aims at delivering comments on current events, guiding public opinions and supervising the government. During the process of issuing for almost 30 years, Current Events Communique promoted the evolution of public opinions of Ningbo and had great effect on the democratic management of local politics of Ningbo in the 1920s, which has made great contributions to encouraging the morale of the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese War of Resistance in the 1930s. In the following one decade, it spared no efforts to speak for Chinese and lead public opinion while striving for democracy and unification of China. Current Events Communique symbolizes a kind of specialized and sophisticated issue of newspaper in its selection of issuing contents, the positioning and practicing of newspaper as a social media and its unwavering pursuit of social responsibilities as well.This article consists of six parts: the preface explains the significance of research on Current Events Communique; Chapter one indicates the issuing conditions and process of Current Events Communique, the causes of seizure by the government is also involved; Chapter Two illustrates the media characteristics of Current Events Communique, namely independence and straight-forwardness, through the discussion of its history relating to the coverage of such important events in modern China as Northern Warlords Government, Dr. Sun Yet-sen, and the twice cooperation between the KMT and the CPC; Chapter Three offers a discussion of its function of guiding public opinions based upon an analysis of one of Current Events Communique column—"the study of Japan" and the coverage of the War to Resist Japan in Songhu Area and Plague in Ningbo; Chapter Four indicates the characteristics of local news coverage, which implies its media function of "national tongue"; Chapter Five delivers a summary of the characteristics of Current Events Communique as part of mass communication and mass media and provides objective comments on its historical implications of Current Events Communique.Based on the discussion of the news coverage of more than two decades of Current Events Communique, we may safely conclude that Current Events Communique adheres to its principle of "guiding the public as national tongue" all the same in different historical periods and unwaveringly honors its social responsibilities of disseminating information and speaking for the public. Current Events Communique plays an indispensable role in the development of Ningbo in the 20^th century with its independent and professional way of mass communication and unique perspective stressing on patriotism, democracy, national unity and justice. The review of the history of Current Events Communique has important implications for mass media as for how to guide the public opinion, how to honor the social responsibilities of mass communication and how to treat the relations between mass media and social development in today's commercialized society.