China Media Centre has designed a suite of courses which are especially, though not exclusively, designed for Chinese applicants.

 This year we have held two separate sessions of our course ‘INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY IN THE UK MEDIA’ and two of ‘CITY BRANDING AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS’. They are aimed at mid-career professionals in, respectively, the broadcast industry and the public spokesperson track within regional and city government administrations.

 Certificate ceremony March 2010; CMC INNOVATION2 coursE

 Each course includes a few days out with London; in Scotland, a programme introducing the visitors to Scottish public affairs has been hosted several times by John Brown, the PR expert who is brother to the recent Prime Minister. One of the courses for government officials visited Northern Ireland and the next one will be briefed in Cardiff on Welsh devolution.

Certificate ceremony March 2010; CMC CITY1 course; Ms WANG Hui, Director of Information Office of Beijing Municipality, receiving the certificate from Geoffrey Davies, Head of the Department for Journalism and Mass Communications, and Prof Hugo de Burgh, Director of China Media Centre.

 We are also recruiting to 3 summer schools for Chinese media undergraduates in July and August; applications received so far come from students at universities as diverse as Shandong University (where the Director is an Honorary Professor), Renmin University, Communications University, Guangzhou University of Foreign Studies and Shenzhen University.

Also planned for this year is a course ‘THE ORGANISATION AND SKILLS OF UK PUBLIC COMMUNICATION ‘, aimed at national level media specialists, and indications so far are that it will be attended by high ranking civil servants and the heads of public affairs of some of China’s largest state-owned corporations. 

 ACADEMIC CONFERENCE

 In April 2010, CMC also held its annual academic conference at Regent Campus, this year titled CHINA’S SOFT POWER. Delegates attending from all continents engaged keenly with the topics under discussion.

 The dramatic economic growth in China has meant a renewed international influence. President Obama’s recent visit, and the effective establishment of the “G2,” marked international recognition of the fact that China is, today, a central actor in the world economy. Historically, economic power has always been accompanied by increasing international cultural influence – soccer, Hollywood and karaoke are just some of the things bequeathed by other big economies to the rest of the world. It is certain that China’s economic stature will also be reflected in the diffusion of Chinese culture.

This reality is already recognised by many in China and outside. The Chinese government has a “going out” strategy, aiming to make the Chinese language, Chinese culture, and the Chinese media more visible internationally. At the same time, broadcasters who were once content to buy programmes and copy western models are today planning to enter the international market place as sellers of their own products. 

TEACHING THE MEDIA-a course at Chongqing’s XINAN UNIVERSITY OF POLICY & LAW

 Geoffrey Davies, Head of Department of JMC, will lead a delegation of 4 lecturers to address media teachers from all over SW China in workshops to be held in early July. Prof Jeanette Steemers is a world expert on children’s’ television, David Dunkley Gyimah a specialist on New Media and Anthony McNicholas, who runs the BBC-History discussion list and is a specialist on Media and Communications.

 LECTURE

 The Director gave the opening address at a conference at Wolfson College Oxford on 10-11 June, AFRICA, CHINA AND THE WEST MEET: TOWARDS NEW FRAMEWORKS FOR MEDIA DEVELOPMENT. Among the very scholars from many countries giving papers were UW colleagues Dr Xin Xin and Dr Winston Mano. 

 Prof Hugo de Burgh will give a keynote speech at the 11th All-China Communications Conference, to be held at Peking University 9-12 July.

China Central Television was the venue for a 2-day Workshop on British journalism organized by China Media Centre in October 2009. Speakers were Hugo de Burgh, CMC Director, Kevin Sutcliffe, C4’s Head of Current Affairs, Steve Hewlett, presenter of BBC’s The Media Show, Zhang Jie, Editor of CCTV’s News Investigation and Yang Rui, Presenter of CCTV’s Dialogue.

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A one-day CMC seminar was held in the Houses of Parliament to address the implications of China’s management of its environmental challenges for government policy and British business. It was hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on China and sponsored by Norton Rose. 170 people attended, from business, the policy world and media.

One of CMC’s research themes, along with regulation, journalism and innovation in the media, is the relationship between media and environment. This seminar is one of several initiatives connected with this theme, including a workshop at Caijing magazine in  Peking, producing a report on journalism and the environment for International Media Support and being knowledge partner for the October Wilton Park Conference on China’s environment.

• Programme: 090625OnDayProgramme2x
• 306009 Speakers biographies

This is a conference of the China Media Centre for the APPCG, with Knowledge Partner, Norton Rose LLP. With assistance from the Chinese Embassy and Chinadialogue http://www.chinadialogue.net/

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Representations of China in the UK Press

Speaker: Prof. Colin Sparks
Date: Wednesday 18th November, 2009
Time: 2.00-4.00 pm
Venue: MHW_A4-4 Harrow Campus,
University of Westminster

Abstract:

The Chinese government, together with many ordinary Chinese people, particularly students, are frequently angered by the way in which China is portrayed in the western media. This anger, however, is a response to the coverage of particular incidents and is not based on real knowledge of how China is covered on a day to day basis.

This presentation reports on a project that made a start on a more systematic study of the subject. The analysis covers the UK national press reporting of China during 2008 and presents data on the frequency and distribution of stories. It also reports a more detailed qualitative study of China in the elite and popular press, demonstrating that analyses concentrating on small-circulation up-market newspapers risk seriously misrepresenting the ways in which China is portrayed in the press. The seminar will be in English but some of the material is available in translation.

Biography:

Prof. Colin Sparks has worked with and advised the European Union, Unesco, the Open Society Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the British Council, Universities in the US, Europe and East Asia, and many other organisations, academic, official, and non-governmental. He was one of the founders of Media, Culture and Society, and he continues to play an active role as managing editor, as well as editing issues on a regular basis. He was also a founder of the European Institute for Communication and Culture. He has organised several of its colloquia, and edited themed issues of its journal Javnost/The Public.
His current research interests include the comparative study of media systems undergoing rapid change. He is particularly interested in comparing the media systems of post-communist countries with those of other societies that have moved away from different forms of dictatorship towards more democratic forms of political rule. His other major current interest is in theories of media and communication.

(more about Prof. Sparks, see http://chinamediacentre.org/about/staff/colin-sparks/ )
If you have any inquiry about CMC events,  please contact Miao Mi at m.mi@my.westminster.ac.uk.

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The Director spoke on China and joined the Chinese Ambassador Ms Fu Ying on a panel which also included the Lib-Dem Leader in the Upper House, Lord McNulty, and the Shadow Foreign Affairs Secretary Michael Moore MP.

WILTON PARK

The CMC partnered Wilton Park (an Executive Agency of the Foreign Office) with a conference called Working in China on Sustainable Growth — The Climate Change, Environment, Energy Nexus. The Vice Chancellor, Prof Geoffrey Petts, Visiting Professor Hu Zhengrong (Deputy President, China Communications University), Prof Hugo de Burgh and Dr Zeng Rong participated and represented University of Westminster. For further information please click on the link below.

Report on Wilton Park Conference WP1000 Final 281009

CONFERENCE ON BRITISH JOURNALISM

CUC and CMC are holding a conference in Beijing in October 2009. CMC is supplying 2 celebrity UK journalists Stephen Hewlett and Kevin Sutcliffe (paid for under the IMS contract) and its Director to speak at a CUC conference in October 2009. Steve Hewlett both presents The Media Show and writes regularly for The Guardian. He has a terrific track record as reporter and producer as well as in newspaper journalism.  Kevin Sutcliffe is Deputy Head of News & Current Affairs at C4 and has been responsible for the renaissance of the investigative series DISPATCHES. CUC has undertaken to provide an audience of influential media managers from the mainstream

FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR

Copyright by Frankfurt Book Fair

EU Commissioner Orban and Chinese Minister for Culture, a French Diplomat and the CMC Director are the speakers at the EU-China Forum at the Frankfurt Book Fair on 15 October.

STATE COUNCIL

The highest-level ever delegation from China’s State Council Information Office undertook a three week course designed for the China Media Centre by Simon Goldsworthy and Visiting Professor Trevor Morris, experts in branding and PR. Among the highlights were a colloquy with Lord Bell and senior figures at Chime Communications plc; visits to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Cabinet Office, the BBC and the Guardian Newspaper; talks about advertising from Sir Chris Powell and on the use of new media from former Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson MP; and a lecture in Edinburgh from John Brown, a PR expert who formerly shared an office at Scottish TV with his brother the current Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and CMC Director Professor Hugo de Burgh.

SUMMER SCHOOLS

The China Media Centre has held its first 2 Summer Schools for Chinese media students. In July this was directed by former Reuters Editor Paul Majendie and in September by TV producer Dr Richard Wright. The students both learnt about the European media and undertook practical tasks, making TV features under the direction of Journalism Head of Department Geoffrey Davies. Both summer schools were managed by Alja Kranjec, who hopes to hold at least two each year from now on.

INNOVATION 1

In October CMC launches another first, a course specially designed for Chinese TV executives by Dr Zeng Rong entitled Innovation, creativity and programme development in UK television. This course is full; if successful CMC expects to offer it twice each year.

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China Media Center 2008 Autumn Term Seminars

Culture and Corruption in Contemporary China

Speaker: Dr. Katie Hill
Date: Wednesday 10 December 2008
Time: 2-3.30 pm
Venue: Room A3.16, Harrow Campus, University of Westminster

Dr. Katie Hill is Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Chinese Art at the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at the University of Westminster. She is currently developing the Contemporary Chinese Visual Culture Project, a new resource base that will comprise a website, a bibliographic database, and an archive of all aspects of visual culture in China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and the Chinese diaspora. This initiative will build on the Chinese Poster Collection at CSD (of which Dr Hill is in charge), a collection of more than 600 posters from China, 500 of which are available online.

In this seminar, Dr. Hill is hoping to raise ways of thinking about the notion of corruption in the Chinese cultural context, so she will welcome at least twenty minutes of discussion around this theme.

If you have any inquiry about CMC events, please contact George Dawei Guo at georgedawei@yahoo.com.cn or call 020 8357 7354.

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CMC 2008 Autumn Term Seminars

The Transformation of Chinese Media, Ideology and System Change

Speaker: Pro. Zhengrong Hu

Date: Friday 21 November 2008

Time: 5-7 pm

Venue: Room A4.13, Harrow Campus

University of Westminster

Dr. Zhengrong Hu is a Professor in Communication and the Vice President of the Communication University of China (CUC). Prof. Hu is also the Director of the National Centre for Radio & TV Studies at CUC and the President of the Chinese Association of Communication (CAC). He is very well known in China and internationally as one of the leading scholars of media regulation. Prof. Hu was a Leverhulme Visiting Professor at CAMRI from February to August 2006 and a Research Fellow at Harvard University 2005-2006.

This seminar will be given in English.

If you have any inquiry about CMC events, please contact George Dawei Guo at georgedawei@yahoo.com.cn or call 020 8357 7354.

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China’s Media Handlers

学术研讨会：新闻发言人与政府公关

A key issue in modern public affairs, following the Tibet crisis and Sichuan disaster, and before the Olympics.

Who are the people who manage media relations in China? How do they work?

当今中国，谁在协调政府与媒体及公众的关系？他们如何工作？

2008年6月6日，中国传媒中心在伦敦举办了一场公开讨论会，讨论的问题集中在当代中国的政府新闻发言人制度，主要探讨在西藏事件、四川地震之后以及奥运会之前的阶段，中国政府与媒体的关系。

Steven Guanpeng Dong

Trainer of China’s official spokesmen for the State Council Information Office; former CCTV journalist and Lecturer at Tsinghua University’s School of Journalism and Communication

In the chair: David Hill, formerly Tony Blair’s Director of Communications, now working at Bell Pottinger Group

with Lord (Tim) Bell

Host: Professor Simon Jarvis, Pro Vice-Chancellor,

University of Westminster

Entry is free and open to all

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The innovative event will bring together experts from the China, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries to explore the themes of China/East Asia/Media/New Media.

More information can be found on the China/East Asia/Media/New Media conference website. The Re-Imagining Global Media Gazette (linked below) also features latest news and conference highlights.  We’re sure that once you get reading you’ll be desperate to come.  You’d better get in quickly! This years exciting location and impressive list of speakers mean that competition for places is heating up.

the-re-imaging-global-media-gazette.pdf

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If you would like to find out more about the CMC Westminster hearings, please download the attached brochure.Westminster Brochure.

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