China wins bid to host global congress of journalism education

CHINA will host a triennial global congress of journalism educators in 2022.
Journalism schools from Beijing and Shanghai will co-host the 6th World Journalism Education Congress (WJEC), which held its fifth congress in Paris, France, last week.
The China-based WJEC will be held on July 8-13, 2022.
Associate Prof Verica Rupar the newly-elected chair of the World Journalism Education Council (WJEC) announced the winning Chinese bid.
Shanghai International Studies University dean of journalism and communication school Dr Guo Ke, who will be the co-organiser of the 2022 event, thanked WJEC.
Prof Gao Xiaohong of the Communication University of China (CUC), will be another co-organiser.
“The Chinese journalism educators’ circle is willing to interact with others,” she said.
The fifth WJEC was held at Université Paris-Dauphine.
Come 2022, it is still unclear if the congress will be in either or both Shanghai and Beijing.
The triennial congress features teaching methods and journalism issues that practitioners, academics and researchers discuss.
Presentations and papers present facets of journalism methods, tools and issues that happen in full and emerging democracies such as fake news and news audiences hostile at news reportage.
China remains a country with a controlled press that has blocked popular websites and social media platforms.
China is ranked 177th in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF).
Some of the congress members from Asia indicated they would not attend the 2022 event, however, others from Africa committed to attending.
The congress had previously been held in Singapore (2007), South Africa (2010), Belgium (2013) and New Zealand (2016).
WJEC serves to bring educators together to improve journalism training and instruction worldwide.
An African delegate remarked that he was “not afraid” of observations on the suppression of free speech when the congress goes to China.
A delegate from the Oceania region suggested that going to China in 2022 would be an opportunity to learn.
“Yes I will go amid the observations on China,” he said.
And understanding the nature of these triennial congresses, he said China “must not be isolated.”
“Bring them into the discussion, and yet we will ask the hard questions,” he said.