Political Communication And Mass Media In Political Socialization

According with the human society development, we have stridden forward the political societies from the primitive clans. From solving the existence problem of initial life to finishing the human socialized process, and from socialized people to political people then, the process of political socialization has given the humanity a higher social evolution way. In fact, political socialization is the course of cultivation which targets at making the general political people with political culture of a certain social mainstream. Meanwhile, it is the course of maintaining or changing the political system. In terms of the theory of communication, political socialization could be regarded as a compound of political information communication and a psychological transforming process. That is to say, political socialization is a process in both mentality and external after the receivers get the information.Different from general mass media communication mode, as the political socialized target receives the content, the second stage of the political socialization process has just begun. From beginning here, political socialization enters the stage of mentality. This course is a psychological course; receivers i.e. political socialized targets should turn the information to the realizations and consciousness. The forming of personal consciousness just marks the forming of the attitude, at this time, and it enters the third last step."It is simultaneously that the procedure of attitude and personal political socialization are done."That is to say, it is directly at the same time that forming and changing the political attitude and political socialization. The course of political attitude accompanies with the political socialization longitudinal development, which have run through the whole political social life. From combing of political socialization course, it is not completion at one time but being finished through the communicating of political cultural information, the internal transforming and the attitude forming. Meanwhile, in this course, the political socialization process finished the same time. In the forming of the individual attitude, passing political value of political culture are done. The maintenance or change of the political system was finished in this complicated politics communication in the political society immediately.As main channel of politics travel, comparing with family, school, the same generation, and the mass media has larger space and better result. Mass media, as the main channel in political socialization process, is not merely confine to the simple information dissemination course .Their function stretches into the receiver mentality and more invisible corners. The main social functions of modern mass media are environment measuring, culture education, organization coordinating, amusement and leisure, advertising. Particularly in the field of political life, the political functions of mass media are mainly summed up to political information dissemination, political communication, the agenda setting up, supervision on public power, and political control. As one of the political functions of mass media, political socialization has close contacts with other political functions described above. If want to be understood deeply it must be put in the background of general functions and political functions of mass media. It is not reasonable by judging the isolated case. In politics communication, the political socialized functions of mass media mainly embody in the passing on political culture, constructing political value, forming or changing political attitude, forming political personality and maintaining or changing political system.So strong the political socialized functions of mass media are, in thus, mass media suffers the control from politics. Nowadays, the globalization process grows in intensity, facing to the all-pervasive situation of information dissemination, newspapers and periodicals, broadcast, TV no matter in which kind of the social systems and political systems, the adjusted and controlled destiny can't escape. Through the analysis of the third part in the article, generally speaking, the regulation and control of the political socialized function of mass media in China is mainly controlled by Party and government's power .The western countries mainly regard law regulations and controls as the main channel. On the content of adjusting and controlling, China is patient to prevent the abuse to the freedom of the press. On the contrary, western social ensure mass media freedom in the case that mass media could afford to the social responsibility. Such disparity is the difference show between the properties of mass media and the legal status at first; secondly, it is a difference understanding to the basic concepts. It is two basic reasons that cause the control and adjust in China and Western societies display so different.In this way, on one hand masses' media utilizes one's own communication advantages to accelerate politic communication, and on the other hand mass media are controlled by the principle part of politic communication. They achieve the best condition forcing the process of political socialization ahead in adapting each other constantly.This text plans to use the theory models of relevant fields such as mass communication, political science, psychology in communication, sociology, and make the process of politic communication clearly. By analyzing the functions of mass media in such process and discussing the control to mass media, it could be sketched out the role and the status of mass media in political communication of political socialization process.