An Analysis Of News And Politics Magazines' Reporting On Issues Concerning Agriculture, Countryside And Farmers Through The Spirit Of Public Sphere

This thesis is based on the theory of"Public Sphere"of Habermas, but not purely copied from this ideal type. By means of refining and extending it, the author arrives at a conclusion, the "Spirit of Public Sphere" with the five dimensions of it, which is not changeable along with state forms or historical processes.Research methods used here are content analysis and depth interviews. All articles related to issues concerning agriculture, countryside and farmers from all the issues of Oriental Outlook, China Newsweek, Xinmin Weekly, Life Week, and Phoenix Weekly in 2009 will be analyzed. And several experts on issues concerning agriculture, countryside and farmers, and commentators on magazines will be interviewed.Through the "Spirit of Public Sphere", this thesis will survey all the research results in order to verify whether these news and politics magazines are in conformity with its five dimensions.Furthermore, taking the "Spirit of Public sphere" as criteria of elite media, practical suggestions will be proposed for reference in the end.