How To Build The Credibility Of The Local Government In The New Media Era

The shaping and spreading of the government credibility works in the interaction between government,media and the public in a mediated society. People’s impression about the government credibility often bases on a complex mediated experience,which is enhanced by new media environment.Based on the theory of Pseudo-environment in communication,the author in this article analyses how "the government imaged"is created by the new media environment.Supported by a field research and survey among the citizens in Nanjing, the author finds that the new media environment exerts a great impact on the work of building local government credibility on at least three aspects:the change of people’s communication, the change of public opinion environment and the change of governance,which is driven by media empowerment.A study on the pubic opinion crises in Nanjing shows clearly how the media empowerment shapes people’s impression on the government.As a coin has two faces,the new media empowerment brings both opportunities and risks to China’s democracy and modernization.In order to maintain a sound image in front of the citizens, the local government should learn how to use the new media to improve its capability of public communication, public service, policy making and publicity.