Current Shanghai Media Landscape in the Age of Globalization(2)

as globalization is featured by, among other things, fierce competition for international market shares, shanghai’s media face an arduous task in studying the real international effects of their international communication. it appears that they need to ask, for example, such questions as: how large are sizes of the foreign audiences of shanghai’s english-language newspapers and shanghai media’s english-language broadcasting and online services? how well is the content provided by such newspapers and media services received among foreigners? how much do foreign audiences trust these information sources? do shanghai’s english-language media and media services compete successfully in the international mass communication markets with influential international media corporations with regard to china-related content?…

the results of shanghai daily readers survey in september 2001 show that asking such questions is by no means an unnecessary move. the survey demonstrates that as of 2001, more than half of the readers of this english-language newspaper are chinese; foreign readers take up 48%. this does not appear to be satisfactory, as the fundamental reason for shanghai to publish english-language newspapers, after all, is to enable foreigners who cannot read chinese to learn news about china and about shanghai in particular. so this represents one problem with shanghai media’s foreign-oriented communication, i.e., communication activities meant for foreigners as the target audience. the survey results serve as a telling example to illustrate that shanghai needs to study how to increase the proportion of foreign audience in the total audience of its english-language newspapers and broadcasting & online services. and it also needs to explore how to enlarge the audience size of such newspapers and broadcasting & online services so that they will really serve as influential news sources for worldwide audiences interested in china and the chinese culture but unable to read chinese.

to reach this goal, shanghai’s english-language media and media with english-language services should make constant efforts in studying the international audiences, and the popular content and representation patterns of the most influential international media corporations. foreign audiences, with their cultural backgrounds, values and accustomed patterns of media content and media representation patterns different from that of the domestic audience, may expect from shanghai’s english-language media and media with english-language services patterns of information and information representation patterns that have not been thought of by these media and media services or that do not appear significant or that even appear bizarre to these media and media services. therefore, only by carrying out constant studies of the foreign audiences will shanghai be able to attract, with its english-language media and media with english-language services, more “eyeballs” in the international information markets. as mr. shen, suru, an expert on international communication in china, observes, in international communication, “to make others know us better, we have to do our best to know others better.” [9] studying the popular content and representation patterns of the most influential international media corporations will also help to make shanghai’s foreign-oriented communication better adapted to the target audiences as such studies will help to reveal the foreign audiences’ accustomed patterns of media content and media representation patterns.

moreover, it will be advisable for shanghai’s media to strengthen their efforts in conducting international cooperation projects. cooperation with world-renowned media organizations, in particular, will help shanghai media to reach the international audience through the well-established channels of the latter’s global networks as the latter, with their long experience in international communication, their expertise in producing media products and their credibility among worldwide audience, can easily access the mainstream international mass communication markets.

international communication does not only mean foreign-oriented communication or foreign publicity. it also means providing domestic audience with information on foreign countries and foreign cultures. shanghai’s media have been doing a lot for the latter as well. foreign-related information, including foreign news, coverage of international sports events taken place in foreign countries and information on foreign cultures, forms a regular part of the media content in shanghai. shanghai being a metropolitan city, shanghai people show a high degree of acceptance towards foreign cultures. surveys by several chinese scholars show that they tend to actively seek for foreign-related news and readily enjoy entertainment media products from different parts of the world.[10] for example, one survey in 1999 shows that “international news” in newspapers ranked very high as the frequently read content of the public in shanghai: 61.3% of the respondents of the survey claimed that they frequently read “international news,” a higher percentage as compared with that of the respondents who claimed to frequently read “shanghai news” (59.9%) and those who claimed to frequently read “national news” (53.0%). [11] the same survey finds that 45.6% of the respondents said that they frequently watched (on tv) films and teleplays produced in the united states; 21% of the respondents said that they frequently watched (on tv) films and teleplays produced in japan. another survey conducted in 2001 among the young people and teenagers even show higher percentage of the respondents who claimed to frequently watch (on tv) us-made films and teleplays (61.2%) and japan-made films and teleplays（34.4%）.[12]

while we should recognize the positive side of the flow of foreign-related information in shanghai through the media for helping shanghai people to acquire a better knowledge about foreign countries and foreign cultures, the possibility of some related problems should also receive attention. some critics have pointed out that some imported tv cartoons contain violence and can have negative effects on children. [13] besides, as media products, like other cultural products, inevitably carry with them cultural values, the latent effects of the products of foreign media cultures call for serious study. in addition, the results of the above-mentioned 1999 survey on citizens of shanghai and foreign cultures appear to be puzzling with regard to the percentages of respondents who claimed to frequently read “international news,” “shanghai news” and “national news” respectively, for these percentages contradict the journalistic wisdom summarized in one of the news values—proximity, which connects physical closeness to the appeal of news to the audience. and such results call for a study of the reasons behind them: is it because shanghai audience has become too world-oriented to take sufficient notice of the things taking place around them? or is it because the content and representations of the content in “shanghai news” and “national news” are not attractive enough to the audience? or is ti because of some other reasons? serious research regarding questions like these is worthwhile not only because it is necessary if shanghai media are to improve their work, but also because in the age of globalization, media organizations are bound to face international competition. already, some well-know foreign media organizations are publishing chinese editions. and, with a lot of regional offices of foreign media organizations in shanghai carrying out their activities, stories on shanghai and on other parts of china written by journalists in such offices will pour into their home offices or hong kong offices for publication. chinese editions of the foreign media and china-related stories written by reporters of the shanghai offices of foreign media corporations will compete for the attention of audience in shanghai as well as in other places. for shanghai media to carry out more effective international communication amidst international competition, serious research on related issues will play an indispensable role.

to summarize, facing the international environment of globalization and carrying out the country’s open and reform policies, shanghai in its media development has in recent years done a lot to improve mutual understanding between china (shanghai in particular) and the rest of the world. but problems still exist in shanghai’s international communication. and the effects of such communication are yet to be studied. it is considered advisable for shanghai’s english-language media and media with english-language services to conduct systematic studies of the foreign audiences whose cultural backgrounds, values, and expectations towards media are different from the chinese.

参考文献目录：

1. hamelink, c. (1983). cultural autonomy in global communications. new york: longman.

2. mattelart, a. (1983) transnationals and the third world. massachusetts: bergin & garvey.

3. mcphail, t. (1985) electronic colonialism. california: sage.

4. shiller, h. (1984).information and the crisis economy. norwood, nj: ablex.

5. 沈苏儒《对外传播学概要》。今日中国出版社1999年版。（shen, suru (1999). china’s international communication—a theoretical study. beijing: china today press.）

6. 王立俊“国际主流电视网中的新闻直播平台”。上海《广播电视研究》2003年第四期第33－36页。（wang, lijun. (2003) “a platform for broadcasting news on a mainstream international tv network.” shanghai broadcasting studies, no. 4, 2003, pp. 33-36.）

7. 张国良“上海市民与外来文化”。钟期荣主编《经济全球化与跨地区文化传播》。浙江大学出版社2003年版，第387－391页。(zhang, guoliang. “citizens in shanghai and foreign cultures.” in zhong, qirong (ed.)(2003). economic globalization and cross-regional cultural communication. hangzhou: zhejiang university press. pp. 387-391.)

8. 《中国新闻年鉴1998》，第72－73页。(china journalism yearbook 1998, pp. 72-73.)

9. 上海市政府外办、上海统计局和上海文广局的网站上的有关信息。(related information on the websites of the foreign affairs office of shanghai municipal government, shanghai statistics bureau and shanghai broadcasting and entertainment bureau.)

注释：

[1] 《中国新闻年鉴1998》，第72－73页。(china journalism yearbook 1998, pp. 72-73.)

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5] people’s daily, dec. 5, 2001.

[6] people’s daily, april 11, 2003.

[7] wang, lijun. (2003) “a platform for broadcasting news on a mainstream international tv network.” shanghai broadcasting studies, no. 4, 2003, pp. 33-36.)

[8] .

[9] shen, suru (1999). china’s international communication—a theoretical study. beijing: china today press. p. 18.

[10] zhang, guoliang (2001). “citizens in shanghai and foreign cultures.” (unpublished article presented at an international conference.) in zhong, qirong (ed.)(2003). economic globalization and cross-regional cultural communication. hangzhou: zhejiang university press. pp. 387-391.

[11] ibid.

[12] quoted in zhang, guoliang (2001). “citizens in shanghai and foreign cultures.” (unpublished article presented at an international conference.) in zhong, qirong (ed.)(2003). economic globalization and cross-regional cultural communication. hangzhou: zhejiang university press. pp. 387-391.

[13] , .

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