The Research Of Newspaper’s Media Role In The News Reports On The HK Aided School Got Torn Down

On May20th,2012, an article, Can I curse? HK aided Mianyang Middle School Tore Down To Build Mansion, had triggered heated discussion and massive concerns, major medias covered this story overnight. Until sichuan daily published the regulations on the mitigation of earthquake disasters in sichuan province on June1, which stipulates,"alter endowed, rebuilding the project purpose or demolition, demolition of such act constitutes a crime, shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law." thus arose great concern from media and society, and this incident has become a typical news event on social conflicts of China in transition period. This article adopts content analysis method to analyze domestic paper media news reports focusing on the "HK Aided School Torn" incident. It analyzes the role paper media plays and its role deviation, further more, it analyzes the transition and develop trend of newspapers’ social role. Meanwhile, author provides her own perspectives on the future development of paper media and its social function.As to the news reports on the HK aided school got torn down, this article collected27reports from16party newspapers, i.e. People’s Daily,106reports from60market-oriented newspapers, Southern Metropolitan Daily for instance, from May20th,2012to July1st,2012. The author analyzes in terms of report quantity, report subject, news sources and report types, and compares them with800plus relevant micro-blogs from Sina Weibo. Through research, the author found out that party papers and market-oriented papers are mostly playing the conventional roles as information-passager or government agents despite their different role in the reporting on the relocation of the school. As to their roles as public instruments of supervising authority, party papers and market-oriented papers have been playing in different extent, but all rather limited. As to their role of the platform of people participate in social affairs, newspapers have done nothing.While social conflicts gets more severe during the transition and new media like the internet are playing bigger role,this article holds the opinion that,as conventional media, newspapers should transit and develop their role and social function and become the social instrument of balancing opinions, forum for supervision and critics, become a platform for social groups to voice their opinions.