OPINION> Brendan John Worrell
|
OPINION> Brendan John Worrell
|
|
China's press progress peer reviewed
By Brendan J. Worrell (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-11-27 15:56 Local and international media gathered at the Press Hall of the All China Journalists Association (ACJA) in Beijing Thursday morning to commemorate the 30th anniversary of China's opening-up policy and to examine how this had impacted on the nation's media. Addressing the past, present and future of China's press industry was Wang Liang, President of Radio Beijing, Gu Jianqing, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Guangzhou Daily Group and Professor Yin Yungong, Director of the Institute of Journalism and Communication Studies.
Reporters from Voice of America, the Guardian, Asahi Shimbun, various European, China's Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao media all gathered to probe the panelists on the recent melamine milk scandal, coverage of the May 12 earthquake, openness during the Olympics, increasing demands for advertising revenue and the proliferation of new media including online and hand-held content such as mobile phone news. Professor Yin mentioned that while organizations in China were being forced to evolve to an ever media savvy market, the number of newspapers over the last three decades in the country had increased significantly, in addition to the proliferation of other news journals and huge growth from advertising revenue. Yin also added that expansion had taken place across all media from radio, print, TV and online organizations and with this came the mushrooming of larger media umbrella groups that specialize in a variety of products and services for the consumer. Trend forecasting, the general consensus from the Press Salon emerged that with more prosperity nationally, there would be more confidence structurally, and in turn, more progress in press performance. Appreciating the role the media can play in assisting the drive towards social development, comparisons and questions were raised between the traditional "watchdog role" media were assumed to play in the west and that with the more traditional Chinese cultural concern for harmony and adherence to social stability. After much deliberation, the end result from both sides was an appreciation and admission of the increasing blend of information and entertainment within the global media towards 'infotainment'.
The event coincided with the inaugural hosting of the Press Salon by the ACJA, which intends to play a more prominent future role in Chinese media circles linking foreign press with their local counterparts while providing opportunities for discourse that attend to the critical issues of the day. Last year saw the 70th anniversary of the ACJA which has its roots in the struggle towards China's liberation and the path towards the creation of the People's Republic. |
