Research On The Social Control Of Yellow Journalism During The Reign Of Nanjing National Government

In the 1920 s and 1930 s,influenced by American-style journalism,yellow journalism emerged one after another in Chinese press,and appeared in newspapers and periodicals all over the country and stretched throughout the period of Nanjing National Government.In this regard,the government issued laws,regulations and policies to control,the knowledgeable people criticized and attacked,the social organizations submitted bills to the government to regulate,and the news industry also paid much attention to it.But the yellow journalism was still the same,and the above social control was on the verge of failure.This is the core problem of this thesis.Therefore,based on the viewpoint of system theory,author borrows the concept and theory of social control,through the review of a large number of historical materials such as newspapers and archives,combined with three representative cases to analyze the social control of yellow journalism from three dimensions of politics,public and journalism peers,and examines the results and causes.On this basis,author explores the interplay between journalism and social subsystems during this period.The study finds that in terms of politics,the government issued a large number of laws,regulations and policies to try to control yellow journalism through a combination of compulsory prohibition and persuasion.In terms of public,the general public resisted the yellow journalism by submitting books and newspapers,criticizing and condemning,refusing to buy and read,and exposing.The cultural elites strongly criticized the yellow journalism from the perspectives of commercialism,colonialism,propaganda and so on.And social organizations such as women’s groups,literary and artistic groups,lawyers’ groups,and religious groups resisted yellow journalism by petitioning for prohibition,joint declarations and banning members from providing original pleadings to journalists.In terms of journalism peers,the press on one hand carried out self-reflection,revealed the social harm of the yellow journalism and the negative impact,reaffirmed the concept of media function,strengthened the sense of news community,and called on the press to assume more social responsibilities.On the other hand,the press took action to carry out border work,excluded the demarcation of yellow journalism,and at the same time formulated rules and regulations to restrain journalists’ behavior,promoted the excellent examples of foreign newspapers,advocates the "countermeasure" concept of news and called for improving news reporting.Above-mentioned social forces have taken a series of measures to control the yellow journalism in direct or indirect,formal or informal,compulsory or noncompulsory ways,and formed a basic control framework combining law and public opinion,which had certain warning,restraint and punishment effects on the yellow journalism.However,by examining these mechanisms and processes of social control,it was found that the rule of law was not clear and law enforcement was ineffective,especially politics implies special intentions.Yellow journalism has become a tool and meant for the Kuomintang to implement authoritarian rule.Economically,business was paramount,and the newspaper industry competed viciously.Yellow journalism has become the main weight to earn commercial profits.Culturally,the hedonism and extravagance prevailed.Yellow journalism has become the main mental product for entertainment.The above structural factors made the social control of yellow journalism difficult.In addition,there were numerous internal contradictions and constant conflicts in the press,and external forces such as the gang and the regime eroded and penetrated,which led to difficult social control and failed to achieve the expected results.Ultimately,on one hand,the solution to the problem of yellow journalism lies in social reform,which is getting rid of structural factors such as corrupt rule and degenerate culture,and creating a good social environment for the healthy development of journalism.On the other hand,the press industry should also do something,such as the professional organizations,newspaper office and journalists should mediate internal conflicts,strengthen communication and cooperation,and establish a standardized and institutionalized management mechanism to restrict the behavior of journalists.In addition,if the public can cooperate together,a powerful pressure group would be formed to participate in social correction.