and the establishment of specialized stations. Table 3 Electronic Media Development in Shanghai YearNumber of Radio Stations(TV Stations) Average Daily Broadcasting Hours(For TV Stations, Weekly Hours) 19913 (4)149 ( 256)19924 (7)182 (345)19939 (10)263 (512)19949 (10)281 (586)199510 (10)285 (597)199610 (10)298 (662)199711 (10)307 (669)Provided by the Office of the Shanghai Broadcasting Bureau on June 17, 1998. As is clear from Table 3, the restructuring of the electronic system in Shanghai has resulted in the constant growing of daily broadcasting hours for radio and weekly broadcasting hours for TV. In 1997, these two figures more than doubled these in 1991, Besides, the number of radio and TV stations almost tripled in the seven years. For radio stations, Shanghai now has special stations devoted to music, finance, traffic, opera, sports, story-telling, English audience and so on. Pressure on newspapers The vitality within the broadcasting system also puts great pressure on newspapers in Shanghai as radio and TV are pulling away their readers, which means fewer subscription fees and, in the long run, fewer advertisers. In order to compete for more advertising, the 87 newspapers in Shanghai started to expand their pages, as an attempt to increase their information volume and advertising space (Xie, 1998). Since 1995, the three major newspapers, Jiefang Daily, Wenhui Daily and Xinmin Evening News, have constantly expanded their pages. In 1998, Jiefang Daily, the party organ, increased its pages to 20 and Xinmin Evening News, the largest circulating evening newspaper in China, prints 32 pages daily while Wenhui Daily, mainly targeting the intellectuals, rolls off 20 pages each day. The establishment of newspaper groups is another way out for newspapers to enhance their competitiveness against the electronic media. Following the three newspaper groups in Guangzhou and two newspaper groups in Beijing, Shanghai is preparing to merge Xinmin Evening News and Wenhui Daily to form the largest newspaper group in China. The purposes of these newspaper groups, as Mr. XU Guangchun, the deputy chief of the Central Publicity Department in charge of all the media in China, said, are to expand the influences and strengthen the economic vigor of the Party’s newspapers so as to keep the Party’s newspapers dominant in the news reporting (Xie, 1998). DISCUSSION Media in China have developed beyond recognition since 1978 and it is a mixed process earmarked by political conservatism and economic liberalization. In the past, a political campaign in China would normally stifle the intellectual inspiration and prohibited all the relevant activities, whatever the nature. However, during the past two decades, political conservatism as reflected in the three political campaigns against "Spiritual Pollution," "Bourgeois Liberalization" and "Peaceful Evolution" did not slow down the development of the media system in China, but rather further promoted the whole development, in the forms of media reforms, restructuring and the increased amount of media information. This, of course, stimulated the economic liberalization, resulting in the form of the economic independence of the media in China with its increasing pie of advertising revenue and complete end of the government subsidy in 1993. The enormous advertising revenues have certainly poured great economic input into the media system in China, which in turn edged off the political conservatism and made it possible for all the journalistic reforms as described in the three first periods. Therefore, to some degree, political conservatism and economic liberalization as reflected in the media development in China have been two inter-stimulating factors that have contributed to the fast development of the media system in China. This may sound contradictory and even unacceptable to most Western scholars and journalists who are used to a different set of concepts and systems in regard to media development, but this is a true reflection of the cultural values and the current political system in China. As former U.S. Ambassador Winston Lord concludes, "As so often in China, contradictions reflect reality. China is on the move. But the very speed of its pace and rigors of its course will require it to apply the brakes often" (Duan, 1988). The competitive Shanghai Model in the Second Period of media development, a further effort to reform the media system, has proven to be a kind of “Special Economic Zone (experiment)” for the media development in China. The experience of the Shanghai Model is now radiating across whole China. Though the journalistic reforms may appear in a different forms in other parts of China, the essence of competition still dominate (Xie, 1998). Despite the aggressive reforms and development of the media system in China, the media system itself still remains within a conservative framework of Communist politics in accordance with the indigenous cultural values in China, which may be subject to constant external influences but maintaining its own characteristics. REFERENCES Chan, J. M. (1994). Media internationalization in China: Processes and tensions. Journal of Communication, 44, 70-87. Chang, W. H. (Eds.). (1989). Mass media in China: The history and future (pp. 45-259). Ames: Iowa State University Press. Chu, L. L. (1994). Continuity and change in China's media reform. Journal of Communication, 44, 4-21. Duan, L. C. (1988). How to help foreigners to know China: Principles and skills of communication (p. 159). Beijing: China Reconstructs Press. Guo, K. (1993). External Influences: Positive and negative--a Chinese perspective. The Journal of Development Communication, 4, 86-93. Hu, J. W., (1994). Debates contribute to the development of the journalistic science. Journal of Communication, 44, 40-51. Lee,C. C. (Eds.). (1990). Voice of China: The interplay of politics and journalism (pp. 37-161). New York: The Guilford Press. Lee, P.S. (1994). Mass c

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