Chinese Media Leaders Visit Northumbria

The group included the editors-in-chiefs, senior editors and presidents of Chinese national and regional newspapers, news agencies and broadcast companies. It also included members of China’s General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) – the Beijing government’s national press regulation agency.

Members of GAPP have previously visited the US and Australia but this is their most senior delegation to travel to the UK for professional development.

The Media and PR programme, provided by the University’s Department of Media in the School of Arts and Social Sciences, analyses the structure of newspaper management in the UK; addresses policy and media markets; discusses ways of generating press coverage; media ethics; media law; and government and industry regulation.

China’s media remains closely regulated by the country’s political leadership but in recent years it has shown signs of increasing commercialisation. Competition within the country is growing, with a diversification in content, and an increasing interest in investigative reporting techniques.

During their stay in Newcastle the delegates visited the Evening Chronicle and The Journal newspaper offices, Tyne Tees Television studios, the City Council’s Public Relations department, met with Andrew Dixon, Chief Executive of the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, and attended Newcastle United Football Club, watching from the press box to see how the match was covered.

They also met with the Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, Councillor Michael Cookson, and Lady Mayoress, Mrs Dorrie Cookson, at the Civic Centre.

Mr Wang Quingli, Editor in Chief of the Henan Legal Newspaper, is the head of the delegation of 19 GAPP members. He said: “The programme has been very good. China and Britain have different cultural backgrounds, in particular, the press in the two countries is operated based on different ideas.

“My colleagues and I, after two weeks of being here have learned about the current developments in the UK’s media. The programme has been helpful for the whole group.”

Enterprise Director in Northumbria’s Department of Media, Neil Percival, said: “We really enjoyed working with the Chinese delegates, and probably learned as much about the Chinese press as they learned about ours.

“Northumbria is developing a strong reputation in China for the quality of these Media short courses. This visit is a pilot for several more programmes over the next five years, so we are looking forward to developing the course further. ”

The University’s China Development Manager, Jennifer Gao, said: “This visit has been an opportunity for the delegates to gain a sense of the breadth and quality of Northumbria’s Media, Journalism and PR training provision, whilst obtaining an excellent first-hand view of the way in which our regional print and broadcast media operate, particularly on a commercial basis.”