■ Shizeng Zhi, the American communication scholar who is hailed as the father of communication studies, once said that once the media emerges, it participates in all significant social changes. On October 1, 1999, Southern Weekend published a special issue titled "Our Country, Our Festival" to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. It included an editorial article titled "From Subject Society to Citizen Society." At the time, this article did not attract widespread attention or appreciation and was even met with considerable skepticism.
Ten years have passed, and as we welcome the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, we gather at Peking University to hold the 2009 Peking University Public Welfare Communication Forum, following the mission of the 2008 Peking University Public Welfare Communication Forum: "Great Love in Action, Our Responsibility." We begin deeper discussions on CCTV’s Social and Legal Channel program “Everyone’s Opinion” and its 2009 China Charity Navigation Special Program, with the theme of "Let Kindness Be More Transparent and Let Love Be More Confident," emphasizing the rationality and capability of charity and public welfare endeavors, as well as communication and cooperation. This indicates that over the past decade, especially with 2008 being considered the inaugural year of Chinese civil society, the increasingly burgeoning volunteer spirit, citizen consciousness, citizen participation, and self-recognition of citizenship have converged into a spontaneous and strong social concern, nurturing an increasingly vibrant civil society.
Mass media plays a crucial role in public welfare communication. In the current situation, the development of new media has made it possible for communication activities to transcend spatial and temporal boundaries. This cross-temporal and spatial exchange breaks down the boundaries of interpersonal, group, organizational, and mass communication in traditional social structures. The breaking of these social boundaries has profound implications. It signifies social transformation, not just a simple transition, but rather a more fundamental societal change—a system-level institutional reform. Social structures will also undergo profound changes based on different ways of organizing social life, leading to the reconstruction of social relationships.
The Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan once pointed out, "The medium is the message." The internet, mobile phones, and other media have become essential parts of people's lives, transforming and reshaping modern lifestyles. In a sense, media has become a vast social organization network, playing a role in facilitating communication and organizing society, becoming an indispensable force in social change.
The interaction between traditional mainstream media and emerging media has cultivated an open, pluralistic public discourse space. Public opinion and citizen participation have become the most precious spiritual nourishment for the growth of Chinese civil society. From various media public events that have occurred in recent years, we can see that media is no longer a simple propaganda tool. The interaction among different media forms debate, discussion, and a "free market" for providing viewpoints. The emergence of personal media (self-media) has made it possible for individuals and social organizations to produce, manufacture, and disseminate information. Individuals and social organizations are not only receivers of information but can also become opinion leaders influencing the agenda-setting of mainstream media. The advocacy of media and the construction of media public spaces not only accelerate the development of Chinese civil society but also align with global civil society.
Creatively developing public welfare communication and spreading public welfare initiatives is of great significance for the growing Chinese civil society. First, effective public welfare communication emphasizes the joint efforts of all sectors of society. Only in this way can public interests be significantly promoted. Simply relying on the "tear index" is difficult to gain social trust; charitable public welfare based on power and rules will allow Chinese civil society to progress further. Second, effective public welfare communication usually designs and develops activities targeting specific audiences, easily attracting their attention and support, creating emotional resonance with target audiences, serving as a good model, and obtaining legitimacy for action, thereby calling for broader citizen participation. Third, through effective public welfare communication, citizens' social responsibility and dedication can be strengthened, enhancing social trust and encouraging the reconstruction of diverse social values. Fourth, citizens learn to listen and respect each other through dialogue and communication, promoting civic virtues and social unity. In summary, effective public welfare communication can not only boost the rapid development of Chinese civil society but also relates to the construction of a harmonious society, media reform, public opinion supervision, the public sphere, democratization, and the rule of law process.
Public welfare communication is not only the responsibility of mass media. In a transforming society, every form of communication and interaction in people's daily lives embodies the concept of public welfare communication and achieves the goal of spreading public welfare. Self-enlightenment and self-governance by citizens are the tissues of civil society; mutual love and assistance are its essence. It is on this basis that interpersonal interactions transcend geography, ethnicity, class, and culture, uniting each individual into a community with shared ideals, pursuits, and mutual watchfulness. The flourishing of charitable public welfare reflects the daily practice of humanity—integrity, tolerance, equality, unity, justice, sympathy, and care—and these become the foundation for the development of civil society.
The Wenchuan earthquake relief and reconstruction demonstrated that the participation of civil society complements and boosts government actions. Chinese charity and public welfare endeavors have already set sail, but in the ever-changing journey ahead, we need vigilant observers and accurate navigators.
Modern communication has characteristics such as decentralization, immediacy, and interactivity. We must deeply realize that the changes in media itself and the interactions among various media cannot escape the limitations of what the French thinker Bourdieu called "field." Public opinion arises from the joint action and competition of various forces breaking through established social structures and institutions. The renowned German scholar Habermas distinguishes public opinion into two categories: "as a critical force or as a display and control force." Public welfare communication is formed amidst conflicts and fluctuations within larger political, economic, legal, cultural, academic, and other complex field structures transcending time and space.
In the contest between fields, so-called public welfare media, public service advertisements, public welfare marketing, public interest litigation, public welfare venture capital, social enterprises, etc., emerge. This makes public welfare communication a more complex, dynamic, and rich generative process. On one hand, they make spreading public welfare possible, while on the other hand, public welfare communication can easily be utilized by various social interests.
As Mr. Hedao Feng, executive vice president of the China Poverty Alleviation Foundation, stated, ideals evolve in the mire of secularism. Humanity's pursuit of a better life will inevitably involve making choices that seek benefits and avoid harm. When spreading public welfare deviates from the meaning of public welfare communication, it will inevitably increase the cost of social trust and harm the interests of individuals and organizations. In this sense, humans should learn to communicate and understand each other, learning tolerance. However, this also profoundly reminds us that public welfare communication and spreading public welfare are beautiful human pursuits that must be realized in the process. Desires may be beautiful, but the process is arduous. Humanity's continuous existence and development to this day are precisely the result of the eternal pursuit of public welfare communication.
(The author is a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University and the executive director of the Peking University Center for Civil Society Research.)