Sino-American Journalism Education and Journalism Industry Summit Panel    [Print This Page] Time: 3:45-5:00 p.m. Date: Thursday, Sept. 11 Place: Tucker Forum, 85 Gannett Hall Description: Partially due to the current slow economy in the United States, many American media outlets are shrinking their staff by adopting buy-out or early-retirement policies. One editor of a famous newspaper in America said recently said that his newspaper will not recruit any new news staffers unless they are back-pack journalists. In the meantime, the Chinese media industry is still growing fast with print, broadcast and other traditional media outlets dominating the lion's share of the media market. Chinese journalism education is still witnessing many new schools or departments of journalism and communication are being launched every year. In the face of different situations but common trends in development for the Sino-American journalism education and the journalism industry, the panelists will share their opinions and experiences conveyed by the following topics: What are the new trends in development for the journalism industries in China and the United States? What kind of new talents do media managers in China and the United States hope schools of journalism and communication can cultivate? How are the journalism education institutions in both countries establishing and reorganizing their sequences or disciplines to suit the new needs from journalism industries and academic research? Moderator: Fritz Cropp, Ph.D. International Programs Director Missouri School of Journalism Translator: Ernest Zhang, Ph.D. China Program Coordinator, International Programs Missouri School of Journalism Ms. Sheng Zhu Research Assistant, International Programs Missouri School of Journalism Time for Each Panelist's Topic: 5 Minutes Discussion Leaders from China: Shaode Qin Chancellor Fudan University Shanghai, China Topic: Chinese journalism education's efforts in cultivating journalistic talents to suit the new needs of the Chinese journalism industry in the face of challenges from new media. Professor Qin Shaode, LL. D., is the chancellor of Shanghai Fudan University of China. Qin graduated from the Journalism Department at Fudan University in 1970, and then he started his career as a teacher and a government official successively in the city of Xining, Qinghai province. In 1979, after receiving his master's degree in literature in 1982, he was named associate dean of Fudan University. In 1991, he was named dean of Fudan University, School of Journalism, and other leading positions followed. In August 1993, Qin bacame the editor in chief of the Jiefang Daily, a leading spreadsheet daily newspaper in Shanghai. Qin was appointed the Chancellor of Fudan University in 1999. He was conferred his LL. D. in 1999. Prof. Qin is now a Trustee of the Academy of Chinese Journalism History. Gang Gao Executive Dean School of Journalism and Communication Renmin University of China Beijing, China Topic: To construct four fundamental factors for journalism education to suit the new trends in media convergence. Gang Gao, professor and executive dean of Renmin University of China (RUC) School of Journalism and Communication, is executive director of the All-China Journalists' Association; president of the Journalism and Communication Branch of the China Higher Education Association; and director of the Beijing Internet Media Association. Gao became a professor at RUC's School of Journalism in September 2003. Prior to working at RUC, Gao was a journalist for 25 years in several Chinese mainstream print media outlets such as the Beijing Daily, the Workers' Daily, the Spring Breeze Magazine and the Huasheng Magazine. Many of his award-winning in-depth news stories contributed to the government's policy making. Gao started to embrace the Internet in 1996, and he launched the Web site of the Huasheng Magazine that year, which was elected as one of Top Ten News Web sites in China in 2000. Gao received his Bachelor of Arts degree in the Chinese Department of Peking University and his Master of Arts degree from the RUC School of Journalism. From 1988 to 1989, Prof. Gao was a visiting scholar in residence at the University of Arizona Department of Journalism. Kewu Tian Managing Editor Beijing Youth Daily Beijing, China Topic: The pros and cons of Chinese newspapers' trend in becoming publicly traded newspaper companies. Kewu Tian, LL.M., is the managing editor of the Beijing Youth Daily. The BYD, with 10 newspapers, four magazines, and four Web sites, is one of the most influential broadsheet daily newspapers in Beijing and in the mainland China as well. As the managing editor, Tian aids the editor in chief in charge of the daily running of the newspaper. He has received countless awards in Chinese journalism for his writing, editing, and enterprising news and feature stories. Tian is also a writer of Chinese literature and a specialist in the area of youth-issue research. He has published more than 30 novelettes and short stories in pioneering Chinese literary magazines such as the Harvest Monthly in Shanghai. He graduated from the Peking University School of Law in 2003 with his Master of Laws. Aihua Yan President Qilu TV Station Jinan, Shangdong Province Topic: The new anchoring arts and broadcasting ways of TV news to attract more audience. Aihua Yan, president of Qilu TV Station located in Jinan City, capital of Shangdong Province of China, has won the China TV First Prize for the five TV plays and news programs that he designed and created. He also has pocketed 17 Shangdong Provincial TV Prizes. Qilu TV Station, under his leadership, has been one of the best TV stations among more than 200 Chinese provincial TV networks in the areas of program innovation, ratings, and advertising revenues. Yan was admitted into the Shangdong Provincial TV Station after related examinations and interviews in 1993. Previously, he worked as a TV journalism reporter, editor, producer and department director. In 2001, he was selected as Qilu TV Station president based on his successful leadership as a vice president. Now, Yan is also adjunct professor for the schools of journalism of China Central Minority University and Shandong Normal University. He received his Master of Economics from Renmin University of China in 1989. Discussion Leaders from the United States: Esther Thorson Associate Dean for Graduate Studies Missouri School of Journalism Topic: Missouri's approach to training tomorrow's journalists. Esther Thorson is associate dean for graduate studies at the Missouri School of Journalism, the world's first to offer undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees in journalism. Thorson has published more than 100 scholarly pieces on news effects, advertising, media economics, and health communication, and she has edited six books. Thorson has headed grant and research contracts totaling nearly $3 million. She is the only female Fellow of the American Academy of Advertising. Thorson applies research, both hers and that of her colleagues, in newsrooms and advertising agencies across the United States and abroad, in addition to serving on eight journal editorial boards. Thorson has advised more than 35 doctoral dissertations, and her former students hold prestigious professorships throughout the United States and Asia. She is the recipient of the American Advertising Federation's Distinguished Advertising Education Award, the American Academy of Advertising's Outstanding Contribution to Research Award, a Mizzou Alumni Association Faculty Award and the Missouri Curator's Award for Scholarly Excellence. Stacey Woelfel Associate Professor, Missouri School of Journalism News Director, KOMU Topic: Recent developments in American television news. Stacey Woelfel, BJ '81, is an associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism and the news director for KOMU-TV, the University of Missouri-owned NBC affiliate for central Missouri. The commercial station serves as the teaching laboratory for the Missouri School of Journalism. Students at KOMU-TV are the reporters, producers, writers, photographers and editors of five daily newscasts that go head to head with competing newscasts in the market. He is the national chairman-elect of the Radio Television News Directors Association, where he has served as a member of the executive committee, chair of the ethics committee and a member of the convention planning and education committees. Woelfel also serves as a member of the board of governors of the Mid-America Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He is a winner of the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism, the Emmy, the Edward R. Murrow and numerous regional and local awards. Woelfel is a frequent instructor in free media practices for journalists worldwide. He is the author of Suspicious Signs: Effects of Newscaster Scripts, Symbols, and Actions on Audience Perceptions of News Organization Bias. Woelfel holds a doctorate in political science. Randy Smith, BJ '74 Deputy Managing Editor Kansas City Star Topic: While facing the challenges of new media and America's slow economy, how can American newspaper industry do good journalism? As deputy managing editor at The Kansas City Star, Smith supervises more than 100 reporters and editors in these areas of news: national, special projects, state and metropolitan. Formerly, he served as the business editor at The Star. Smith has won the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Distinguished Achievement Award for his work in establishing a chair of business journalism at Mizzou. He has been active with SABEW for more than 20 years and has served as president, vice president, treasurer and secretary. About the Futures Forum Top journalists, advertisers and thought leaders will lead numerous interactive sessions during the Sept. 11 Futures Forum, a day of cutting-edge discussions about the next century of journalism. Ethics, convergence and politics are just a few of the many hot topics that will be explored in this diverse program dedicated to challenging industry thinking and visualizing possibilities for the future. Sessions will be 75 minutes long and held concurrently with others on the schedule. Full schedules will be available during on-site check in during the Sept. 10-12 celebration. Close Window