Pamela J. Shoemaker, a famous communication scholar was hired as members of "Double First Class" International Advisory Committee of Renmin University.

The ceremony of welcome Shoemaker for visiting, and the academic communication meeting was held on March 21 in Mingxin Studio of school of Journalism and Communication.

“Many overseas communication scholars come and go”, academic conversations and meetings like this take place every week in the spring of 2019 in SJC.

From the translation of "Four Theories of Press" by Zhang Longdong, a teacher of SJC in 1960s, to Schram’s first visit to China in 1982, China's journalism and communication theories have developed rapidly, and the impact of new technologies such as the Internet, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence on the journalism and communication has appeared, which makes it important to make the conversation between Chinese and overseas journalism and communication scholars under opportunities and challenges.

Professor Daya Thussu, a well-known communication scholar, gave a series of lectures in RUC

Daya Thussu

Daya Tusu talked about the impact of the control of international communication infrastructure on international communication capabilities, global media mergers and acquisitions, information entertainment trends, the historical evolution and latest development of international communication theories, the coexisting of "mainstream" and "countercurrent" in global media market, the legality and competitiveness of global media participating in market competition.

Professor Dmitri Williams: The social influence of online games

Dmitri Williams, Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Associate Professor of the Annenberg School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Southern California, joined the 28th Academic Salon of SJC on March 13 in RUC.

Dmitri Williams, Ph.D.

Based on the data of the game industry, Williams introduced the current online game industry and basic game types, shared his research results on the mutual influence of online game players, and explored how does the social interaction affects consumption and other areas, and explored the nature of players.

He also discussed with the teachers and students present on the pros and cons of online games in the Chinese context, the application of research methods in other fields, and the impact of the online social interaction.

Professor G. Thomas Goodnight City of Communication: Adaptability, Resilience and Sustainability

Professor G. Thomas Goodnight

G. Thomas Goodnight, a professor at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and a senior Fulbright expert, discussed the predictability and successful experience of the city and how would the city response to disasters with teachers and students at the 29th Academic Salon of SJC.

Syracuse University PhD Candidate Soyoung Jung: The Mediating Effect of Presence on Media Technology

Soyoung Jung, a doctoral candidate from Syracuse University in the United States was invited to give a lecture of "The Intermediary Effect of Presence on Media Technology" on the 30th Academic Salon of SJC on March 20th

Soyoung Jung

Soyoung elaborated on several aspects including theoretical overview, research agenda, research focus, two detailed research reports, and future researches. Her main research direction focusses on how to coordinate presence with media technolog, how the social presence and spatial presence of new technologies such as robots, VR, and AR affect people's attitudes and behaviors.

Pamela Shoemaker: A Gatekeeper in the Age of Social Media

Pamela J. Shoemaker, a well-known international communication scholar and the main representative of media sociology, gave a thematic lecture on "Gateway in the Social Media Era" and was hired as member of the International Advisory Committee for "Double First Class" Construction of Renmin University of China at SJC on the afternoon of March 21.

Professor Pamela J. Shoemaker

"The definition of news has changed," Professor Shoemaker started with steaming news on social media. She believes that people’s demand for information will continue to exist. In the past, the single mode of producing news by professional journalists has gradually been replaced by a larger information exchange mode. Social media will quote news from traditional media, and traditional media will also borrow information from social media. If news production in the past was a linear streamlined operation, then the network-style information exchange mechanism is the current popular.

Professor Shoemaker was appointed as a member of the International Advisory Committee for the “Double First Class” Construction of RUC

Professor Shoemaker combed through the development of gatekeeper theory since the 1940s, and proposed that the new gatekeeper model is mainly based on the exchange of information between different channels in the era of social media. “Therefore, it is necessary for us to introduce systematic thinking, and then put forward the concept of “super gatekeeper”.

Shoemaker responded to the questions of computerized algorithms, thinking that the emergence of algorithms did not fundamentally change the core of the gatekeeper, because the gatekeeper of the computer was controlled by people.

Editor/Meiyu Zou