On May 15, 2021, The 2nd Second National Universities Seminar on Network and New Media Programs and the book launch event of the C9 Alliance was held at the the School of Journalism and Communication, Beijing Normal University. The theme was "New Liberal Arts, New Models, New Media".

        The conference was hosted by the the Posts and Telecom Press and the School of Journalism and Communication of Beijing Normal University, and co-sponsored by the Committee of Internet History Research and the Committee of Media Economics and Management of the Chinese Association for History of Journalism and Communication, School of Journalism and Communication of Beijing Normal University, School of Advertising of Communication University of China, School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, School of Media and Communication of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Journalism of Fudan University, School of Journalism and Information Communication of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, School of Journalism and Communication of South China University of Technology, School of Journalism and New Media of Xi'an Jiaotong University, School of Journalism of Chongqing University, with support from The People's Daily, Guangming Daily, China Education Daily, China Press, Publishing, Radio and Television Daily. More than one hundred deans, department heads, program directors and faculty members from journalism and communication majors in universities across China attended the conference.

        The conference released Introduction to the Network and New Media (micro-course edition), the first book of the network and new media textbook series of the "13th Five-Year Plan" for colleges and universities, authored by Professor Yu Guoming and his colleagues from the School of Journalism and Communication of Beijing Normal University. Network and New Media major was established as a result of the transformative power of new media such as the Internet on news and communication industry as well as the entire society. It is a response to the development needs of the digital age and the trend of media convergence. By 2021, more than 300 universities across the country have set up undergraduate programs in network and new media. In response to the national cyber development strategy, and in order to promote network and new media professional education reform, the in-depth convergence of the industry and the academia, and the training of network and new media professionals, Professor Yu Guoming has been leading the members of the C9 Alliance to outline the prospect of the new media discipline, envision the outlook for the network and new media major, shoulder the responsibility publishing and news professionals, and jointly steer the development of the network and new media major in China.

        The Ministry of Education Yangtze river scholars Professor Yu Guoming gave a keynote speech titled The Focus and Starting Point of the Development of Communication Discipline, in which he pointed out that mediatization brought by the new technology revolution is the utmost important thing in social transformation,. Irrational factors has become the most important influence, with data and algorithm becoming the dominator in communication in the era of Internet of Everything. Contents, relations and situations are three important value dimensions. Professor Peng Lan of Renmin university of China gave a speech on Literacy Cultivation in Algorithmic Society. She argued that algorithm has profoundly influenced people's daily life and work, promoting the comprehensive digitalization of the human society. As the algorithmic evaluation system  and the impact of algorithmic governance unravel, we need to deepen out understanding of algorithm in order to better harness it.

        On the teaching seminar, Professor Li Mingde, Li Mingde, Dean of School of Journalism and New Media of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Professor Li Junhua, Vice Dean of School of Journalism and Communication of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Wu Xiaokun, Professor of School of Journalism and Communication of South China University of Technology, Associate Professor Wang Wei from the School of Advertising of Communication University of China and Ma Xiaoyue, researcher from the School of Journalism and New Media of Xi'an Jiaotong University, gave reports and discussed in depth about "the teaching approaches of new media courses" and shared their experiences. Professor Li Mingde pointed out that in the era of intelligent media, it is necessary to build a mechanism of public opinion governance which involves diverse network actors and improve the legislation on the Internet. Professor Li Junhua suggested to build an organic and composite media practice innovation platform and cultivate "π-type" talents. Professor Wu Xiaokun recommended to incorporate not only humanities approach but also analytical approach in improving the design and implementation of data journalism courses. Associate Professor Wang Wei believed that the network and new media major is a frontier field closely related to practice, which requires the combination of theory and real-life cases. Researcher Ma Xiaoyue pointed out that new media marketing courses are not intended for practice, but for theory and regularity that convey information values, communication ethics and information ethics in the era of smart media. Mr. Gao Wen, Party Secretary and Editor-in-Chief of NetEase talked about its "Qingmei Project", and Mr. Yu Jingzhong, Vice President of Kuaishou gave a talk on Kuaishou’s "mediatization process and industry convergence trend". All of these experiences reflected the vigor of journalism and communication discipline and the network and new media major.

        The organizer of the conference, Posts and Telecomm Press, was founded in 1953. It was awarded the "China Publishing Government Award" for three consecutive years, and the first "National Civilized Unit" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It is one of the most influential publishing houses in China. Gu Chong, Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of PTP, pointed out that during the 13th Five-Year Plan, PTP has published a number of politically reliable and advanced textbooks, with innovative forms and rich supporting materials, which are widely recognized by the faculty and college students, providing a strong boost to the fundamental task of higher education. PTP has been pursuing excellence and published a number of classics and frontier works in humanities and social science, such as Microeconomics and Macroeconomics by the Nobel Prize laureate Samuelsson, classic textbooks Psychology and Life, Social Psychology and so on. It has made due contribution to the talent training in colleges and universities. In the future, PTP will also publish Smart New Media, Introduction to Network Public Opinion, Theory and Practice of Data Journalism, Data Analysis and Application of New Media, New Media Marketing, New Media Copywriting and Communication and so on.

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