Introduction to Communication Studies

Author: She Shaomin (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-11-01
Features: The history of communication is as long as that of human society, and the transmission of communication ideas is as enduring as human culture. Communication studies originated directly from journalism and information science. Westerners took the lead in shaping communication into a discipline. For this "imported discipline," to take root and grow in China, it is essential to study and summarize the history and practice of communication in China. After the introduction and initial stages, communication studies began to provide theoretical support for China's press reform and communication education in the new era. Everyone in the field of communication studies acknowledges that without the nourishment of multidisciplinary knowledge, there would be no communication studies today. The origins of communication studies lie in traditional philosophical and political theory frameworks, sociological and social psychology theories, anthropological, linguistic, semiotic, structural, and post-structuralist theories, as well as cultural critique theories from the Frankfurt School to new Marxist thought. Communication also exists as a discipline of social practice. In our contemporary society, the significance of communication is hard to imagine. Therefore, on one hand, communication studies have benefited greatly from the nourishment of multidisciplinary knowledge, and on the other hand, communication studies continuously provide society with perspectives and methods to observe reality, connecting this diverse society and the human beings separated by cultural gaps. Based on this consideration of the history and reality of communication studies, we have gathered some experts and scholars long engaged in journalism and communication education and research to compile and publish the series "New Horizons in Communication." The goal is to examine communication phenomena from different angles and fresh perspectives, expand the application scope of Western communication studies introduced into China, and summarize the practical experience of the localization of communication studies in China. The contributors include senior journalists from Xinhua News Agency who have long been stationed abroad, leading scholars in the field of applied communication research, communication scholars with over a decade of study overseas, and emerging academic talents dedicated to communication studies research. Some of the topics in this series are rarely explored in domestic communication studies, such as the book "Foreign Publicity Reporting and English Writing," which is based on the author's nearly 50 years of practical experience in news reporting, writing, and translation at Xinhua News Agency. The target audience of foreign news communication is foreigners and overseas Chinese, who have different ways of thinking, behavioral habits, and value standards. It is not appropriate to blindly copy the domestic publicity methods in news communication. The book "Development Communication and China's Development Reality" explores the role and position of mass communication in the construction of socialist spiritual civilization in response to the new challenges posed by China's socialist market economy. Through case studies, it discusses the new development of "development communication" in China's new era. The book "Introduction to Film and Television Communication and Techniques" broadens the perspective of film and television art, summarizing the development process of film and television art from a communication perspective, which helps improve the appreciation of film and television works.