媒介的公共产品转型与公民文化建构

人类生存于由自身创造的各种文化符号组成的虚拟世界中,媒介传播则是其中最为感性具象的符号体系,从而充当着人们获知外部世界的理想中介。通过互联网技术,媒介日益成为广泛参与的虚拟社区。因此,媒介具有作为社会公共领域或公共产品的先天因素。我国改革开放以来的媒介变革实质上是媒介的公共产品化转型,具体地说,是由计划经济时代理论上的纯公共产品嬗变为市场经济时代事实上的准公共产品。这一转型使媒介有效地参与并促进了公民社会和公民文化的健康发育。与媒介的进步相比,我国的媒介批评转型明显滞后,新型的媒介批评应当追随媒介转型的脚步,将媒介是否成为真正意义上的公共产品作为其最重要的尺度。

Transformation of the Public Goods of Mass Media and Construction of Civil Culture

The human beings exist in a virtual world of cultural symbols created by themselves, in which media communication is the most sensible and concrete symbol system and is an ideal intermediary for people to know the external world. Through the technique of the Internet, mass media have become more and more a virtual community in which people participate broadly. Therefore, mass media has innate factor to be a public domain or public goods in cociety. The transformation of the media in China since its reform and openness is in essence a transformation of public goods of the media. Specifically speaking, it is a transformaiton from pure public goods in theory in the era of planning economy into quasi-public goods in practice in the era of market economy. This transformation makes the media involves and promotes the healthy development of civil society and civil culture. Comparing with the progress of the media, the transformation of criticism from media is lag behind obviously. The new type of criticism from media should follow the step of transformation of the media, and take it as the most important measure that if the media become real public goods.