The Study On China’s Environmental Websites

Environme ntal websites p lay part in improving c itizens’ sc ience ability andenhance their se nse of protecting e nviro nment as an important p latform o fenvironme nta l communication. The environmenta l websites are class ified into sixcategories, such as green channe l of web porta ls, websites o f enviro nmenta lprotection department o f government, folk environmental protection organization,environme nta l media, environme nta l enterprises and green blo gs.The environme nta l websites in China ha ve basic functions inc lud ing informatio ncommunication, education and enviro nmenta l supervis ion and specia l functions,suchas improving governmenta l communicatio n and making government affa irs pub lic,furthering the develop ment of environmenta l NGO and nurturing environmentallyfriend ly citize ns, setting environme nta l affa irs agenda and big events, propagand izingenvironme nta l enterprises and products and link ing the enviro nment and greenecono my.The communicatio n mechanis m o f environmenta l webs ites inc ludes the subject,the content, the aud ience, effect and the communicatio n mode. In China, thecommunication subjects of enviro nmenta l websites mainly are SEPA (stateenvironme nta l protection ad ministratio n), loca l environmental protectio n bureaus andother governme nt departme nts, the mass med ia and environme nta l NGO.The ma in content of environme nta l websites constitute the enviro nmenta l lawsand regulations, docume nts and notices, environme nta l news focus ing on dailyenvironme nta l information, ecologica l construction, environmenta l laws andregulations, green industry, high-techs on enviro nmenta l protection andenvironme nta l emergenc ies, ads and organizationa l notices, whic h are contro lled byInternet Manage ment Ordinance and other rulers.The audie nces of environme nta l websites have two obvious features that majorpart of the m are young and highly educated.The audiences rece ive the mostknowledge by surfing the websites in all the channe ls. Besides, the classica l modes incommunication such as linear mode, syste matic mode and controlling mode areembodied in the communication o f enviro nmenta l websitesThe proble ms of environme nta l webs ites in China founded in the study are theune ven quality of porta l channe ls, the lake of uniform standards of build inggovernme nta l websites, the ins uffic ie ncy o f two-way interaction o f the websites, thelack of environme nta l pub lic ity o f enterprises’ websites and the weakened environme nta l b logs. Some of e nviro nmenta l webs ites are found lacking the e noughability of dealing with the report of environmenta l emerge nc ies and early warningmecha nis m.Hence, the related suggestions are provided here that we sho uld enrich theresources of environmental websites, put emphas is on information communication,strengthen the pub lic awareness of environme nta l protection, build appealingenvironme nta l websites, make uniform sta ndard of b uild ing the governmenta lenvironme nt websites, improve the two-way interactions and site performa nceevaluation and the ability to respond to environme nta l emerge nc ies.