The Department of Media and Communication (COM) and the Center for Communication Research (CCR) will host the third conference on modern Chinese press from 26-27 April 2012, in collaboration with the Department of Media and Communication and School of Design and Communication, Sun Yat-sen University.

As a sequel to the previous two conferences held in April 2007 and December 2009, this conference will focus on the trajectory of media professionalism and the driving forces behind in modern China.

Hu Shuli, Editor-in-Chief of Caixin Media, Editor-in-Chief of Century Weekly, and the Dean of the School of Communication and Design at Sun Yat-sen University, will deliver a keynote speech at the conference. She has been named by Time, Business Week, and other U.S. media as one of the most influential journalists in China.

Professor Way Kuo, President of the CityU, will deliver the welcoming remarks.

“The conference offers a rare opportunity for academia and practitioners to mingle and communicate”, said Professor Lee Chin-Chuan, head of the Department and the director of CCR. In particular, a special symposium titled “how much improvement has Chinese media made” will be the key component of the conference. The panelists of the symposium will include 8 distinguished Chinese journalists, to be moderated by Professor Lee and with Professor Hu Shuli and Dr. Zhou He as discussants. Local Hong Kong reporters and editors will also be at the symposium to interact with their Chinese counterparts.

The themes of the conference include: a) the development of media professionalism in China, b) different views toward media professionalism across generations of reporters, c) new media’s influence on media ethics, d) professional community and identity. There will be 13 scholars making paper presentations.

Dr. Shen Fei is a convenor of the conference. Names of participating scholars and journalists, along with the conference schedule, are available from http://com.cityu.edu.hk/conf2012