Abstract.There are different requirements and explanations on social responsibilities of the journalists in Chinese and western press media. As for the responsibilities to the society, there are something in common for both of the Chinese and western journalists. Journalists are situated in particular social environment. There are differences on the view of social responsibilities between the Chinese and western journalist considering the factors such as the national political system, the economic system, the basis of the journalist industry, ideologies and the cultural tradition and so on. The differences are shown as the followings: the property of the news cause that the news reports are in, the journalism system, the social characters of the journalists, the theoretical basis of the view of social responsibilities and the specific way to realize the social responsibilities, etc. This paper makes comparisons on the similarities and differences of the view of social responsibilities of the Chinese and western journalists. It has further made clear the social responsibilities of the journalists.
Key words: Chinese and western journalists; social responsibilities; similarities and differences
Journalists are the communicators of the news and information. A journalist should keep to their consciousness and follow the morality rules. A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist"s work is referred to as journalism. A reporter is a type of journalist who researches, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media, electronic media, and digital media. Reporters cultivate sources, conduct interviews, engage in research, and make reports. Reporters may split their time between working in a newsroom and going out to witness events or interview people. Reporters may be assigned a specific beat or area of coverage. Depending on the context, the term journalist may include various types of editors, editorial writers, columnists, and visual journalists, such as photojournalists. Journalism has developed a variety of ethics and standards. While objectivity and a lack of bias are often considered important, some types of journalism, such as advocacy journalism, intentionally adopt a non-objective viewpoint. “Social responsibility here refers to the law, moral responsibility and social obligation that the journalism media and the journalists should bear when they carry out the journalism activities. It is their law, morality responsibilities and social obligations to the social stability, the national security and the public health mentally and physically.”
The Social Responsibility Theory of media originated from the theory of the Libertarian theory. However, the Social Responsibility Theory of media has made some amendment and development on the basis of the Libertarian theory. The Social Responsibility Theory is still a guiding principle for the media today. To combat the pressures that threatened freedom of the press, this theory was first introduced in 1947 and was recommended by the Hutchins Commission on Freedom of the Press. It stated that the media should serve the public, and in order to do so, should remain free of government interference. It defined guidelines that the media should follow in order to fulfil its obligation of serving the public. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech so that the press can remain fully free, and the public can be fully informed. This freedom may sometimes be hindered by corporate pressures and government control. In countries without freedom of the press, messages are filtered through the government, allowing only what is considered acceptable information to be released to the public. In the year 1956, three scholars published together in the United States “Four Theories of the Press”. Since then, the Social Responsibility theory of the modern day: equal radio and television time for political candidates, the obligations of the newspaper in a one-paper town. The core of the Social Responsibility theory is to require the news media and its employees such as journalists to take the corresponding responsibilities and obligations to the society and the public when they are enjoying the freedoms and rights at the same time.
The theoretical basis of the journalism in our country is the Marxist views of journalism. Marxist views of journalism mainly include the view of "throat and tongue", the view of the Party spirit, the view of truth, the view of function and the view of freedom. Journalists of the Party and the Army must firmly develop the Marxist views of journalism, keep themselves politically firm and mentally pure, and be alert to the non-Marxist ideological trend. It stresses that the journalism and media take responsibility to the Party and the people. Hu Jin-tao further points out in “Opinions on further improve the meetings and the news report in leading the journalism reports” that the journalism units and the reports shall try to make the news reports get closer to the reality, closer to the life, closer to the community and better serve the public, the socialism and the Party as well as the national situation.
There are different requirements and explanations on social responsibilities of the journalists in Chinese and western press media. However, on the aspect of the responsibilities to the society, there are something in common for both of the Chinese and western journalists, which are shown in the following three points.
1.They both Strengthen the Unification of Freedom and Obligation, Rights and Responsibilities.
The social responsibility in both the western countries and China stresses the unification of freedom and obligations, rights and responsibility. The social responsibility does not only fall upon the reporters and producers of media. The responsibility also falls to the consumers to become media literate and maintain high, yet reasonable expectations of the media. In theory, if these things happen, there will be no need for government intervention.
The Social Responsibility Theory in the western countries claimed that the media could be self-regulating by adhering to the following precepts: Media has obligations to fulfil to a democratic society in order to preserve freedom. Media should be self-regulated. Media should have high standards for professionalism and objectivity. In addition to this, truth and accuracy is of great importance. The Social Responsibility Theory was set forth as the ideal way for the media to conduct business. Over the years since its introduction, this theory has met with much criticism as well as support. It has become the standard for United States media practices. Many journalists are now also advocates for the public and for social issues and reform, getting their messages out through the media. It has also set the standards for much of the currently accepted media ethics. Media should reflect the diversity of the cultures they represent. The public has a right to expect professional performance. The proponents of this theory had strong faith in the public’s ability to determine right and wrong, and take action to preserve the public good when necessary.
On the responsibility to the society, our country has as well declarations on the journalists. On the one hand, the media and the journalists have the freedom and rights to report the news facts and the freedom and rights to make evaluations on the news and facts. On the other hand, the media and the reporters take the important social responsibility.
A responsible journalist cannot take the public right of journalism and communication as the private and special right in order to pursue their own interests or the interests of a group. The rights and responsibilities of the journalists are of unification.
2.They both Agree upon the Intervention by the Government.
Commission on Freedom of the Press considers that media takes major responsibility of the definition and realization of the standards of social responsibility. The object of the educational system, taken as a whole, is not to produce hands for industry or to teach the young how to make a living. It is to produce responsible citizens. Hutchins describes a country that has evolved to become the perfect society, as well as their educational system, which has the well-defined purpose of promoting the intellectual development of the people. However, this process should “systematically relevant to the efforts of the community, the consumers and the government”. The government should offer supplementary materials for the critics and news supply for the media. Commission on Freedom of the Press also considers that the government should offer standards for the private competition.
Our country agrees on this point as well. Whenever it is necessary, the government can carry out interventions on the media and the journalists and as well try to prevent the abuse usage of the media power.
3.The Social Responsibilities of the Journalists are realized through the Ways of Autonomy and Heteronomy.
3.1.Industry self-discipline
Social responsibility is a kind of responsibility on the aspect of morality. It is usually realized through certain organization and formulation of the self-discipline of news morality. Maintain correct guidance of public opinion. This is the idea that media must walk the Party line, and is a vital component of prior censorship in our country that requires editors and reporters to be obedient servants of the Party leadership. On the self-discipline of news morality, “the rules of a journalist” and the “the regulations of journalism” are fully equipped with power in the western new media while “”the rules of a journalist” and the “the vocational morality principle of a Chinese news worker” are mainly designed for our country and widely famous.
3.2.The legal regulation
Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other. Journalists may expose themselves to danger, particularly when reporting in areas of armed conflict or in states that do not respect the freedom of the press. Organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters without Borders publish reports on press freedom and advocate for journalistic freedom. There are professional laws in some countries in the western world while there are not any in our country. However, there are still some laws and regulations that are suitable for the disorder of the media.
3.3.Public supervision
More work should be done to improve the selection and management of public supervisors and to draft regulations. Such a code of conduct can, in the real world, be difficult to uphold consistently. Journalists who believe they are being fair or objective may give biased accounts―by reporting selectively, trusting too much to anecdote, or giving a partial explanation of actions. Even in routine reporting, bias can creep into a story through a reporter"s choice of facts to summarize, or through failure to check enough sources, hear and report dissenting voices, or seek fresh perspectives. A news organization"s budget inevitably reflects decision-making about what news to cover, for what audience, and in what depth. Those decisions may reflect conscious or unconscious bias. When budgets are cut, editors may sacrifice reporters in distant news bureaus; reduce the number of staff assigned to low-income areas, or wipe entire communities from the publication"s zone of interest.
However, as there are a great amount of differences on the aspect of social system and ideologies for the news causes between the western countries and China, the views of social responsibilities between the Chinese and western journalists are as well of great differences, which can be shown as the followings:
4.The Nature of the News Cause and the Journalism System that Journalists are in are Different.
The differences of the nature of the news cause and the news system is the fundamental reason for the differences of the social responsibility for the Chinese and western journalists. Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is general agreement that elements of capitalism include private ownership of the means of production, creation of goods or services for profit or income, the accumulation of capital, competitive markets, voluntary exchange, and wage labour. The designation is applied to a variety of historical cases, varying in time, geography, politics and culture.
In our country, the masses are the masters of the country. At the same time, they are the masters of the news cause. It is the highest principle and goal for the Chinese news to serve the people with heart and soul.
5.The Social Roles of the Journalists are Different.
A journalist should keep to their consciousness and follow the morality rules. A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist"s work is referred to as journalism. A reporter is a type of journalist who researches, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media, electronic media, and digital media. Reporters cultivate sources, conduct interviews, engage in research, and make reports. Reporters may split their time between working in a newsroom and going out to witness events or interview people. Reporters may be assigned a specific beat or area of coverage. In our country, journalists stand from the perspective of the Party and the masses of the people. They try to protect the ultimate interests of the Party, the country and the masses of the people and work for the news causes with accurate outlook on world and methodology.
There are also definitions on the roles of journalists. The Pulitzer Prize does not automatically evaluate all applicable works in the media. Entries must fit in at least one of the specific prize categories, and cannot simply gain entrance on the grounds of having general literary or compositional properties. Works can also only be entered into a maximum of two prize categories, regardless of their properties. Over the years, awards have been discontinued either because the field of the award has been expanded to encompass other areas, the award been renamed because the common terminology changed, or the award has become obsolete, such as the prizes for telegraphic reporting, which was based on the old technology of the telegram.
6.The Theoretical Bases of the Views of Social Responsibilities are Different.
The theoretical cornerstone of the social responsibility in the western media is the Social Responsibility Theory. Social responsibility is an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual or organization has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystem. A trade-off always exists between economic development, in the material sense, and the welfare of the society and environment. Social responsibility means sustaining the equilibrium between the two. It pertains not only to business organizations but also to everyone who’s any action impacts the environment. This responsibility can be passive, by avoiding engaging in socially harmful acts, or active, by performing activities that directly advance social goals.
The theoretical cornerstone of the social responsibility in our country is the Marxist views of journalism. Marxist views of journalism mainly include the view of throat and tongue, the view of the Party spirit, the view of truth, the view of function and the view of freedom. Journalists of the Party and the Army must firmly develop the Marxist views of journalism, keep themselves politically firm and mentally pure, and be alert to the non-Marxist ideological trend. In addition to this, the views of social responsibility of the journalists in our country come from the documents of the Party and the Chinese government and the lectures of important people in charge. It is the fine tradition formed during the long period of journalism practice.
7.The Specific ways to realize the Social Responsibilities are Different.
In the western countries, the methods of realizing Social Responsibility Theory of the reports and the media are mainly to found the self-discipline organizations and laws. From the beginning of the 20th century to the middle of the middle of the 20th century, such western countries as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Canada have founded a news self-discipline organization. Japan, however, takes the Journalism Association to take the responsibility of the self-discipline organization. In the year 1946, it has passed the “news ethic outline” that should be abided by all the allied news associations.
In our country, the social responsibilities of the reports and the media pay special attention to the guidance of the Party in addition to the industry self-discipline, the legal regulation and Public supervision. In addition to these, the social responsibilities of the reports in our country still stress the Party spirit principle and the guidance of the Party.
In all, the views of social responsibilities of Chinese and western journalists have a lot of differences. However, no matter it is for the Chinese press or the western press, the social responsibility of the reporters is to make them better serve the society, and be responsibility to the society. Therefore, we should make clear the fundamental responsibility of the reports in our country and learn experiences from the western countries.
8.References
[1]Dong bin:《the comparison of journalism and communication》，china renmin university press co., ltd., 2002, page 131.
[2]from 《the selection of the important documents since the 16th national congress of the cpc》（volume 1），people’s publishing house, 2005, page 287.
[3] wei jin-cheng,《press law and the vocational morality course》, wuhan university press，2006，page 141.