Changes in communication technology bring new ideas and practices to journalism. Chinese journalism should advance with the times via reform and innovation. Photo: FILE

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The discipline of journalism in China has made progress since the nation’s reform and opening up, and it faces new opportunities for innovative development as socialism with Chinese characteristics enters a new era.

Ding Baiquan, a professor of communication from Nanjing University, said that the Marxist concept of journalism has become an important part of China’s journalistic system in the past four decades. Continuous reforms in the news field have been a major concern, and new issues have arisen from the need for news agencies to keep pace with the times.

Chinese journalism made notable progress as social reforms pushed forward. Luo Yicheng, a professor of communication from Wuhan University, said that this progress could be seen in the expansion of the research domain of journalism as well as in the growing number of researchers in the field. The field made notable academic achievements and trained a fair number of researchers. The status and influence of journalism as a discipline has continued to expand, he said.

 Chen Shihua, a professor of communication from Nanchang University, suggested that following the reform in Chinese journalism circles, academic circles have clarified the relationship between journalism and propaganda, between its attributes as a commodity and as an ideology as well as between the commercialization of journalism and the public interest. Academic circles have reestablished the function, nature and social responsibility of journalism and explored the basic rules of journalism ethics and legal regulation. Journalism has made extraordinary progress amid contesting theories and practices, Chen said.

Luo suggested that Chinese journalism should correctly recognize and grasp the relationship between the independence of journalism and its function of serving the society. Scholars in this discipline should uphold the independence of the discipline while at the same time they must serve society, he said.

The field should also tackle the relationship between preservation and innovation. Scholars in this discipline should pay attention to preserving and carrying forward Chinese journalism education and academic study, especially the tradition of socialist journalism in China. On the other hand, scholars in this discipline should courageously confront the new situation and problems that have emerged in society and the system of news and communication. Scholars should be innovative and make progress in academic studies and personal training, he said.
 

Luo also suggested considering the relationship between Chinese characteristics and international dialogue. Scholars should uphold the Marxist concept of journalism and present the Chinese position. Meanwhile, scholars should also participate actively in international dialogue and voice the Chinese position in the international academic community. Students should also be encouraged to have an international vision and the skills for international communication, he said.

Luo said that Chinese journalism should highlight the people as its supreme concern and take up its social and historical responsibility.

The journalism system with Chinese characteristics, in contrast to the Western commercialized media system, has unprecedented advantages, Chen said. Chinese journalism can provide a Chinese perspective and Chinese wisdom to the international academic domain, he said.

Luo suggested that there are many topics that scholars of Chinese journalism should pay attention to and study. These include the problems of and prospects for the media industry in the face of doubt over the impacts of social reform and new communication technology; professional development and the establishment of new systems for international news communication; and new communication systems in the digital and intelligent age. 

Changes in communication technology bring new ideas and practices. Chinese journalism should advance with the times via reform and innovation. Chen suggested that in the age when everyone is a reporter, as the boundaries of news are fading away, the core concept of news remains. Journalism with Chinese characteristics should grasp the nature and form of news and media and establish boundaries and rules for news and communication practices.

 

(edited by CHEN ALONG)