Transitional Media Vs Normative Theories: Schramm, Altschull, and China.

Wilbur Schramm?s ?Soviet? communist model and J. Herbert Altschull?s ?Marxist? approach have been widely used as general theoretical frameworks to examine press systems in the Marxist world in general and China in particular. Though a growing literature suggested significant changes in Chinese journalism in the past two decades, very few have sent a direct challenge to the two models? theoretical wisdom through the Chinese case. Unsatisfied with this situation, this paper found neither of the two models is sufficient in conceptualizing the Chinese case as a result of Chinese news media?s transitional nature and the two models? inner theoretical flaws as normative press theories. Furthermore, realizing the growing ?conflict? between normative media theories and accelerated post-Cold War global media transformation, this paper suggests a transitional media approach to revisit the traditional normative media approach and calls for a more systematic study of the transitional phenomenon of global media systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]