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Dr. Xiaoyan Chen participating in program at Albany State University, Albany, Georgia. |
Cox Center Visiting Scholar Joins Program Celebrating Chinese Culture At Albany State University
A visiting scholar in the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research traveled to south Georgia in late January to participate in a week-long program at Albany State University celebrating Chinese Culture.
Dr. Xiaoyan Chen, a visiting scholar from Xiamen University in China, was joined by Cox Center Director Dr. Lee B. Becker and Dr. C. Ann Hollifield of the Department of Journalism in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication in the program celebrating the Chinese New Year.
The Cox Center is an international outreach unit of the Grady College.
Dr. Chen joined in a session on Jan. 27 hosted by Albany State University President Dr. Arthur Dunning to talk about collaboration between her university in Fujian Province of China and Albany State University.
That exchange is led by Dr. Jianchuan Zhou, a member of the Albany State University faculty and one of the organizers of the celebration of Chinese Culture culminating in New Year celebration of 2017, the Year of the Rooster.
Dr. Chen is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Xiamen University. Her year of study in the Cox Center is funded by the China Scholarship Council and by the Xiamen University. During her visit in the Cox Center, she is conducting research on media law and policy issues.
During a research panel on the afternoon of Jan. 27, Dr. Chen reviewed recent data on the social media in China.
“The government uses social media to reach the people in China,” Dr. Chen said, “just as in the United States.”
Dr. Hollifield also gave a research presentation on the consequences of competition in media markets, indicating that her research shows moderate levels of competition are associated with better journalistic performance.
Dr. Becker gave an overview of his research on public opinion regarding the media, telling the group that the public is very critical of both media institutions and of journalists. He speculated that one possible cause of this is the professional separation of journalists from the communities about which they report.
