In addition to the tabloid newspaper called "Ant Newspaper", there are about three mainstream paradigms of modern China newspapers: private business newspaper (newspaper run by businessmen), professional newspaper (newspaper run by literati) and party newspaper department (newspaper run by political parties), and the three paradigms overlap and coexist for a long time. ① Modern China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, which experienced regime change, and the existence and development of private commercial newspapers and periodicals presented a unique state and historical law.

The development track of modern private commercial newspapers and periodicals

Modern private newspapers and periodicals in China were born in the late Qing Dynasty (65438+1970s 2009), flourished under the rule of Nanjing National Government in 1930s and 1940s, and declined in the late 40s and early 1950s. Their development can be roughly divided into the following four historical periods:

1. Initial stage (1873 ~ 1894)

China's early commercial newspapers and periodicals were first founded by outsiders in China. Since 1970s, people in China have begun to explore and practice the difficult private commercial newspapers and periodicals. Zhao Wenxin Newspaper was founded by Ai Xiaomei in Hankou on 1873. It is the first commercial newspaper run by China people. The Circular Daily, founded by Wang Tao in Hongkong from 65438 to 0874, was an early government-run commercial newspaper in China, with a long publication time and great influence. From the 1970s of 19 to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894+0894, there were about 20 kinds of private newspapers and periodicals run by China people. The first batch of private newspapers and periodicals in China, which was born in the Westernization Movement, has obvious commercial nature, and most of them are privately funded and operated in partnership, belonging to private newspapers and periodicals. The emergence of private commercial newspapers and periodicals in this period mainly stems from two major factors: internal and external. From the external factors, the two Opium Wars opened the door to China, and the trade activities of western colonists in China led to the emergence of Business Daily. Internal factors, the development of capitalist industry and commerce in modern China also provided the necessary soil for the survival of private business newspapers. Under the interaction of internal and external factors, modern private commercial newspapers and periodicals in China came into being in 1970s (65438-2009).

2. Development period (1914 ~1921)

19 14 after the outbreak of the first world war, the imperialist powers were too busy with the war to look east, and Chinese national capitalism temporarily entered a period of rapid development, which led to the rapid rise of private commercial newspapers and periodicals with advertising as the main source of profit in the early years of the Republic of China. During this period, private commercial newspapers and periodicals generally attached importance to the operation and distribution business, carried out technological innovation and expanded reproduction, and the scale has developed greatly. Taking Shenbao as an example, it not only increased the number of advertisements, but also tried to expand the subscription of foreign readers in order to improve the influence of Shenbao in the whole country. In addition, printing machines, engraving machines and other equipment have all been updated. By 1922, the circulation of Shen Bao had increased from 7,000 when Shi took over to nearly 50,000 when 19 12. The development of news and other business newspapers and periodicals is also roughly the same. With the help of favorable international environment, private commercial newspapers and periodicals in Shanghai have developed rapidly in recent years. In the northern region centered on Beijing and Tianjin, due to the destruction of Yuan Shikai's dictatorship on journalism, private newspapers were not restored and developed until Yuan Shikai died 19 16. 19 18 "Beijing Daily" and "Morning Post" were founded in Beijing one after another, and gradually developed into more influential private commercial newspapers in the north.

3. Prosperous period (1925 ~ 1937)

In the 1920s and 1930s, private commercial newspapers and periodicals in the north and south of China ushered in a prosperous period of their own development. During this period, on the one hand, the national capitalist industry and commerce developed unprecedentedly in major cities, providing funds, advertisements and readers for the development of private commercial newspapers and periodicals; On the other hand, the promotion of the Northern Expedition also provided a relaxed political environment for the development of private newspapers. In Shanghai, the old private commercial newspapers such as Shenbao and News have gradually completed the transition to enterprise management, and there is a new trend of trust in the development of newspaper capital in the direction of concentration and monopoly. At the same time, marked by the publication of Bao Jing, tabloid fever appeared in Shanghai. In the north, represented by Beijing and Tianjin, the Northern Expedition wiped out feudal warlords, and the relaxed political environment gave birth to a private business newspaper with great influence in the future. The new Ta Kung Pao and the World News Department based on World Journal were founded during this period. In the temporarily relaxed political and economic environment, these newspapers quickly developed into private commercial newspapers in the Republic of China.

4. Decline period (1937 ~ 1949)

1937 After the July 7th Incident, the Japanese army launched a large-scale war of aggression against China and invaded China from north to south. Private commercial newspapers such as Shenbao and Ta Kung Pao moved south in frequent wars, and their living environment was greatly damaged. Since then, with the Japanese army establishing huge Japanese newspapers and traitor newspapers in the occupied areas, private newspapers have gradually shrunk. 1945 After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in August, private commercial newspapers ushered in a short recovery, but the sluggish economy and domestic tense political situation still restricted their development. 1946 After the full-scale civil war broke out in June, with the advance of the war of liberation and the establishment of the national proletarian regime, private commercial newspapers and periodicals were either taken over, or closed down because of soaring prices and reckless management, and died out on a large scale on the eve of national liberation. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), only dozens of private commercial newspapers were allowed to continue publishing. Some of them stopped publishing because they could not adapt to the new political and economic environment, while others became state-owned newspapers through public-private cooperation. At this point, the private commercial newspapers and periodicals that have existed in Chinese mainland for more than 70 years have come to an end.

The Living Condition of Modern Private Commercial Newspapers and Periodicals

In modern China, a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, the complicated political structure and the economic environment of internal troubles and foreign invasion made the survival and development of private newspapers particularly difficult, and its growth process of more than 70 years showed a unique state and law in a specific historical period.

First of all, most of them are embarrassed, easy to die, and have a small circulation. A prominent feature of modern private commercial newspapers and periodicals is that it is difficult to live and easy to die. Except for a few newspapers such as Shen Bao and Ta Kung Pao, most private commercial newspapers have a life span of only a few dozen issues. This is mainly related to the backward development of capitalist industry and commerce in modern China. Many newspapers and periodicals were in economic distress, so they abused political relations and obtained subsidies. Therefore, in the complicated and turbulent China, as soon as the political situation changed, these newspapers and periodicals closed down. In addition, the circulation of private commercial newspapers and periodicals is not large. Except for several major commercial newspapers, most private commercial newspapers and periodicals have a circulation of only about 1,000 copies, which has a lot to do with the newspapers and periodicals being barely maintained by advertisements and subsidies, and their content is not high. The embarrassment of most newspapers and the pursuit of commercial profits by a few major newspapers are the portrayal of modern private commercial newspapers and periodicals in economic life.

Secondly, private commercial newspapers and periodicals show the characteristics of vacillation, weakness and progress in speech. On the one hand, most of the operators of private business newspapers born in the national disaster have a strong sense of patriotism and social responsibility, and the profit-making purpose of private newspapers also requires them to supervise current affairs and criticize the government to establish a reputation, so their speeches often show progress; On the other hand, the autocratic rule of successive governments in modern China made the private commercial newspapers and periodicals that wanted to survive have to be cautious and show certain weakness. Even Ta Kung Pao, which is famous for its remarks, can only "criticize the government as much as possible without endangering the survival of this newspaper." The capriciousness of speech, the coexistence of progress and weakness are the portrayal of its living state.

Due to the change of political system and economic foundation, private commercial newspapers and periodicals, which were born out of internal troubles and foreign invasion, developed and grew with political turmoil, and finally gradually withdrew from the historical stage after the founding of New China. However, as a product of a specific historical period in Chinese mainland, private commercial newspapers and periodicals have made important contributions to enriching modern mass communication forms, promoting the development of newspapers in China and promoting the modernization and democratization of China.