A New Media Era: Innovation Of Local Government Public Communication Models

With the continuous reform of the governmental administration system and progress in science and technology, there is a great improvement of the public communication between local governments and the public. The necessity and importance of public communication has been paid more and more attentions. At present, office automation and government online project have obtained initial achievements and given the public communication a new meaning, especially after the establishment of government affairs openness, public hearing system, and the press spokesperson system.The present communication model between the government and the public is characterized as one-way and asymmetric. Local governments are still accustomed to the information monopoly, and the traditional media are general aphasia due to the strict control from the government, thus, as public management and public policy audiences, the public cannot express interest demands through official channels. However, the arrival of the new media age makes the access to information more easy and the two-way interaction possible. Public opinion transmission is far beyond the officials' control, which brings tremendous changes to the subject status of public communication. Individuals begin to create an enormous social pressure through new media to affect the public policy process. The shortcomings of the traditional public communication model have seriously affected the government's public image and status of legitimacy, which makes the government to put public communication model transformation on the agenda.This dissertation employed a case analysis method. By analyzing the relevant information and data of the PX Project Event happened in Xiamen, Fujian, the author tried to describe the impact brought to the traditional public communication models by the new media era and suggest that the importance and urgency of the transformation. Three phases of communication models transformation has undergone after the games between the local government and the public and by holding the public forum for debating the PX, the local government eventually regain public trust, support, and understanding. The author concluded that a two-way symmetrical communication model is a virtuous way out of the traditional one-way or two-way asymmetrical communication dilemma.