On the afternoon of February 25, Zhejiang University held a symposium on the education and teaching of undergraduate journalism and communication talent in Room 320 of the College of Communication. Zhao Lei, Deputy Party Secretary of Zhejiang Radio and Television Group; Zhou Tianxiao, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Zhejiang Daily Group; Zhang Yuyi, General Manager of Communication Brain Technology; and Hu Hongwei, Senior Reporter at The Paper, were invited to attend the meeting, along with Yang Yang, Deputy Director of the Undergraduate Affairs Office at Zhejiang University, as well as the college leadership team and department heads. The symposium focused on reforms in journalism and communication education in the context of the intelligent revolution, with in-depth discussions on top-level discipline design, course system innovation, and the integration of industry and education. The meeting was chaired by Wang Qingwen, Party Secretary of the college.
In his opening remarks, Executive Vice Dean Fang Xingdong emphasized that the first revolution in the age of intelligence is the communication revolution. In this environment, journalism and communication studies have been subjected to unprecedented challenges. The university and the college aim to achieve technological and international educational goals through curriculum reform and interdisciplinary integration, focusing on top-level design.
Zhejiang University’s Senior Professor and Director of the Digital Communication Research Center, Huang Dan, outlined three major directions for reform. First, he emphasized the importance of understanding the context of the reform. He affirmed the necessity of this reform, noting that Zhejiang University’s journalism and communication education has traditionally followed the model of print news, but now, with the large-scale transformation of industries in the intelligent era, the university must address what kind of professionals to cultivate and what skills are needed in the industry. Second, he discussed how teaching methods should be reformed. In terms of teaching and training, he suggested introducing more intelligent courses, utilizing the university’s public AI courses, and focusing on practical courses and internship bases to drive a complete overhaul of educational programs. For training goals, he emphasized the need to strengthen students' foundational knowledge in journalism and communication while fostering independent thinking. He also pointed out that, in the face of changing times, the university should shift its focus from cultivating journalists to nurturing analysts. Third, he urged the integration of Zhejiang University’s strengths in engineering with the field of journalism and communication.
Wu Fei, a distinguished professor and Deputy Director of the Humanities Division at Zhejiang University, raised two discussion topics. First, he addressed the content of teaching. The rapid changes of the times call for a more diverse range of knowledge, and he questioned how course content can be aligned with the needs of the times and students' interests. Second, he spoke about educational methods. He wondered what teaching methods would be needed in the current and future landscapes of journalism and communication education, proposing small classes or group-based teaching with a research-focused learning approach. He also discussed what should be taught in the classroom and what should be learned through industry practice.
Yang Yang explained the university’s support for the reform of the Communication Department's education. He stated that the university would integrate AI courses from the School of Computer Science, international resources from the School of Foreign Languages, and industry collaborations to fully support the Intelligent and International Communication Elite Class and train globally competitive interdisciplinary talent.
Zhao Lei, Deputy Party Secretary and Editor-in-Chief of Zhejiang Radio and Television Group, shared specific suggestions for the university's education work based on his understanding of the profession. First, he suggested that before starting the education reform, the university should develop three key lists: student needs, the teaching capabilities of instructors, and the employment requirements from companies, to better plan and adjust the teaching reforms. Second, he identified four key directions for talent cultivation: cultivating students' positive attitude and adaptability to change; fostering students' logical reasoning and independent thinking; promoting scientific literacy; and enhancing aesthetic ability. Regarding specific course arrangements, Zhao Lei believed that for foundational theory and ideological education courses, the focus should be on who will teach and how to explain clearly. For practical courses, the focus should be on teaching skills, with results-driven approaches, using student work as a primary form. For practical courses, they should not merely be decorative, but should be fully integrated into the curriculum, with students actively participating in review and feedback to help improve the teaching process. Zhejiang Radio and Television Group will continue to strengthen collaboration with Zhejiang University to co-create talent development models for the new era.
Zhou Tianxiao, based on his work experience, discussed the potential reforms for the university's education. He suggested that, to cultivate talent who can merge both journalism and communication thinking, the university should integrate courses on journalism and communication, optimizing the division of the curriculum. Additionally, he emphasized the importance of focusing more on students’ political, economic, technical, and scientific literacy, encouraging them to think critically about political and social issues. Zhou also suggested that the talent trained by Zhejiang University should have distinct features, including high levels of humanistic literacy, strong academic foundations, a deep understanding of Chinese traditional philosophy and culture, and an awareness of China’s geopolitical context. Zhejiang Daily Group will continue its collaboration with Zhejiang University to create a mutually beneficial talent pipeline.
Zhang Yuyi, from Communication Brain Technology, shared his expectations for journalism and communication talent. First, he emphasized the importance of a passion for research and high-level writing. Second, he highlighted the need for students to embrace technology rather than resist it. Third, he noted that students should have a deep understanding of content and hands-on experience with the challenges faced by the industry, allowing them to better meet the demands of frontline journalism. Fourth, he encouraged students to study policy, ethics, and regulations to be capable of handling risk control and public opinion management. Additionally, Zhang believed that journalism and communication talent needs to build a cross-disciplinary skill matrix and find their ecological niche in an era of technological empowerment. Communication Brain Technology is eager to offer Zhejiang University students platforms for real-world practice and learning.
Hu Hongwei, a 1984 alumnus of the Zhejiang University Journalism Department, shared his personal experiences and reflections. First, he noted that school education has two directions: one that follows technology and one that resists it. In an era of rapid technological change, he has chosen to follow the reverse technology path, not lowering quality for the sake of traffic, and finding his unique position. Therefore, he believes that there is no need to fear being eliminated or left behind due to technological updates, as deep specialization in the reverse technology field is enough to establish a solid foundation. Second, Hu emphasized that journalism is a tool, and the education he received from the university provided a solid academic foundation and the ability to think through journalistic methods. He argued that journalism education should combine logic from geography, history, and politics while incorporating practical fieldwork, which forms the underlying logic of journalism thinking and is rooted in China’s local context. Third, Hu believes journalism education should cultivate three abilities: deep observation, deep thinking, and logical reasoning, enabling students to connect with the heavens and the earth.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Vice Dean Zhao Yupei presented a report on the college’s current teaching management and introduced specific plans for teaching reform, including the establishment of undergraduate course groups, the Intelligent and International Communication Elite Class development plan, and the preparation for the Intelligent Media micro-major, all aimed at cultivating well-rounded, high-quality media professionals.
In his closing remarks, Wang Qingwen summarized the meeting and said that the college would refine the reform plan based on the outcomes of the symposium and collaborate with the industry to establish a co-education mechanism. He emphasized that future teaching will follow the innovation-driven, interdisciplinary, and mainstream leadership approach, with student growth at the center, aiming to cultivate students who are communicators of Party policies, recorders of the times, promoters of social progress, and guardians of fairness and justice.
This symposium brought together the wisdom of academia and industry, providing profound reflections on current journalism and communication education concepts and methods. It offered systematic insights for the transformation of journalism education and injected new momentum into Zhejiang University's development of world-class disciplines. The college will continue to uphold the innovation-driven, human-centered, interdisciplinary, and mainstream leadership development approach to relentlessly work towards cultivating excellent media talents.