The First International Conference on Media Education in China
opened October 8 at the Communication University of China (CUC) in
Beijing.
Focusing on media education in the Information Age, experts from
around the world will discuss a variety of topics, including the
development of a media education theory with Chinese
characteristics.
A central topic during the four-day seminar will be how China
can teach its young people to critically evaluate the media. Many
countries, like Canada and the United States, include media
education in their schools' regular curricula.
Originally developed in England in the 1930s, media education
encourages students to see clearly the influence of mass media.
Media education in China is still in its fledgling stage. As the
presence of television, movies and advertising expands, so does the
need for education about their effects.
Many experts at the conference believe that media literacy is
lagging behind the increased complexity of China's media
environment and the emergence of new media.
Huang Yong, deputy editor-in-chief of the State Administration
of Radio, Film and Television, said that both the disseminators and
the receivers of the information should be educated.
But Professor Irving Rother, president of Association for Media
Education in Quebec and board member of the Canadian Association
for Media Education Organizations, is optimistic about China's
media education future. He stated that the changes in style and
channels of media communication will advance related education to a
new stage.
CUC is the former Beijing Broadcasting University, long a
prestigious center of education in radio and television
broadcasting, filmmaking, and more recently in Internet
communication. It reorganized and changed its name in September
this year.
(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2004)