News Communication Quality Reading Guide: News (Message) Volume Paradigm and Classic Expansion

Author: Liu Hugui, Chief Editor-in-Chief, Kong Xiangjun, Volume Editor-in-Chief and Principal Contributor
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-05-01
Features: The proposal of the "News Excellence Strategy" was one of the most visionary slogans put forward by the Chinese news industry in the 1990s and also one of the most practically valuable and meaningful initiatives. Throughout the history of Chinese and world news, any transformation and development in news dissemination, or the proposal and formation of any news dissemination concept, has been closely related to the social development and historical context of the time. At the turn of the century, as the world stood at a crossroads and China was deepening its reform and opening-up, new phenomena, contradictions, and problems were emerging every day, innumerable in quantity. Under the market economy, news, as a special commodity, was inevitably involved in market competition. With the maturation of the news market, it can be said that the market has shifted from a seller's market to a buyer's market, and the market demands high-quality news works. Any media that wishes to avoid stagnation must demonstrate its talent in fierce competition to secure space for survival and development. Therefore, the proposal and implementation of the News Excellence Strategy naturally became a priority on the agenda. This is an inevitable trend, not subject to individual will. The audience is the lifeblood of the media, and everything the media does is for the audience. The vast Chinese audience, in the past, had frequently encountered news reports that were often exaggerated, hollow, vague, and superficial. They longed for authentic and excellent news works. Thus, we can fully say that implementing the News Excellence Strategy is a need of the times, a need of news competition, a call from the audience, and an urgent and significant issue faced by the Chinese news industry in the new era and new circumstances. The Party Central Committee, having carefully assessed the situation, proposed the famous four sentences in the historic 14th Plenary Session of the 6th Central Committee and its resolution: "Arming people with scientific theory, guiding people with correct public opinion, shaping people with noble spirit, and inspiring people with excellent works." This was both a requirement for the entire ideological and cultural front, including news, and can be seen as the clarion call for implementing the News Excellence Strategy. The term "excellence" originally referred to a commercial term, meaning high-quality goods. News excellence, therefore, refers to high-quality, high-standard news works, commonly known as good news, including good news reports, good commentaries, good editorials, good layouts, good columns, good special reports, good photographs, good advertising works, and good public relations cases. The famous four sentences proposed in the 14th Plenary Session of the 6th Central Committee can be fully regarded as a criterion for evaluating news excellence. In light of news practice, the specific criteria for evaluating news excellence mainly include—
Political nature. When judging whether a news work qualifies as excellence, the political perspective should be the primary consideration. We must firmly regard political nature as the foremost value standard of news excellence, which is also a clear distinction between the working class and the bourgeoisie in terms of news values. News excellence must possess the ability to move people and have a significant impact to a certain extent and scope, and it must be able to guide public opinion, resolve difficulties, and set a precedent. This is because news work itself is inherently a politically oriented profession, as a seasoned news professional once said: "News professionals are not mere 'writers'; they should approach things with the perspective and attitude of a statesman, extracting 'treasures' that can resolve social contradictions and promote social progress." It can be said that if a news work contains weak or no political elements, it will lack strong appeal and, let alone impact and, and thus cannot truly be considered news excellence. Of course, truth can sometimes become falsehood if taken to extremes. Blindly pursuing so-called political heights, arbitrarily adding or exaggerating, or obsessively high, grand, and all-encompassing standards, can cause news to deviate from objective reality. Alternatively, failing to handle sensitive issues that affect social stability or problems in the exploratory stage with caution, in a futile pursuit of a "shocking effect," may all become constraints on news excellence, which we must be wary of.
Significance. Many experts and scholars have pointed out that news excellence must possess authority and persuasiveness, and I fully agree. The news figures and events involved in news excellence must be distinctive and extraordinary. Characters and events should avoid being commonplace, highlighting their unique personalities and characteristics, and striving to make them stand out from others. As the name suggests, excellence emphasizes the "excellent" aspect, and this "excellent" is primarily reflected in the meticulous selection of news figures and events. Over the years, Chinese news media have introduced figures like Kong Fansen, Xu Hu, Zhong Nanshan, and Yang Liwei, as well as reports on the 1998 flood relief efforts and the firefighters of the Changsha fire, all of which have had a tremendous impact and persuasiveness. Their success primarily lies in the careful selection of people and events, all of which possess significance.
Necessity to read. When discussing how news reports can win the audience, factors like readability and accessibility are often mentioned, which are indeed important guarantees of news quality and a key component of current news competition. However, these are only general requirements for news reports. News excellence requires far more than these factors. News professionals should elevate the pursuit of readability and accessibility to a necessity, meaning that once the audience encounters the news, they cannot help but read or listen—unable to resist. This requires news reports to reflect matters closely related to the work and lives of the people. When you report on something they care about, reflect their desires, and evoke emotional resonance, making them feel deeply moved, they will inevitably be compelled to read and listen.
When planning this series of books with Mr. Gu Qian, a senior editor from Fudan University Press specializing in news and communication studies, we set the editorial principle from the outset: not only should university students and news enthusiasts enjoy it, but frontline news professionals should also find it valuable, striving to make it a good reference for news reporting or elevating their news reporting skills to a new level in terms of both philosophy and practice. This is because the figures and works selected in this series are representative of different eras and fields, and our analyses are thorough and theory-driven, with innovative and distinctive formats and models. The volume editors of each book in this series are deans, department directors, or professors from various news and communication departments, who, with their profound academic expertise and scholarly foundation, have meticulously crafted the series, achieving a high overall standard. Professor Gao Ruohe, the Editor-in-Chief of Fudan University Press, and Professor He Shengsui, the President of the Press, have given great attention and support to the editing and publication of this series. It is worth mentioning that Professor Gu Qian, with his deep insight and decades of editing experience, fully recognized the value of this series and its broad readership, dedicating his efforts to its planning, organization, and successful publication. On behalf of all the authors, I extend our sincere gratitude to the experts of the publishing house.