For a long time, Yuan Shihkai had always played a negative role in modern history, he was accused of stealing state power in the study of political history. The study of journalism history was influenced by politics and Yuan Shihkai was criticized for his harshness in the management of news newspapers. The angry mass media even called Yuan Shih-kai the ruler of autocracy after Gui Chou Bao Zai. However, Yuan Shihkai’s influence on journalism was not entirely negative. He had promoted the development of the late Qing Dynasty official newspapers and the vernacular newspapers through his own political power, and proposed to protect freedom of speech and respect for public opinion in Early Republic of China.

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By analyzing Yuan Shihkai’s concept of news at different times, we can find that he had always paid great attention to newspapers, and he understood the impact of newspapers on the society, and he knew the role of news communication as well as how to use news to influence public opinion. Nevertheless he only regarded news as a political tool from the beginning to the end, and all his ideas were aimed at political interests. This is the most essential point of Yuan Shih-kai’s concept towards news as a political figure.

Lu Gao is a PhD candidate at the School of Journalism and Communication, Renmin University of China. Her main research fields are press history and media history. She has work experience in the "Life Circle" section of CCTV, news and information department of Tencent Beijing Branch, and Network Public Opinion Research Center of Renmin University of China. Her current research topic is the history of journalism in the Beijing area.