Professor Chengyu XIONG, Director of Tsinghua Research Center for Cultural Industry and Director of TSJC Research Center for New Media, along with TSJC School Party Secretary Professor Jianbin JIN, attended the Annual Convention of China New Media Communication Association held at Jinan University in Guangzhou from December 8th to 10th from this year. During the Convention, two of the four awards for Best Student Academic Thesis were won by TSJC students Yusi LIU and Wang LIAO.

Presided by Professor Jianbin JIN, top Chinese new media specialists and scholars gathered for the opening speeches on the main conference theme in the morning session on the 9th. In a speech, Professor Chengyu XIONG opined that new media is an opposite concept, time concept and developing concept. Although some events in new media development are very significant, the process of development itself is just as important. “While none of the existing platform will stop new media, new media development itself must continue”, said XIONG. Professor Jianbin JIN wrapped up the conference and thanked the university for its organizing efforts. On behalf of TSJC, the former host of this conference in 2009, Professor Jin expressed the importance of the annual convention to the academic community, with hope that it will be carried on as a tradition.

More than 130 scholars and specialists attended the following nine themed sessions, through which 106 academic theses were discussed. On the Online Social Networking of Journalists via Blog and Micro-blog: Based on Electronic Proximity or Nearness Theory, by TSJC Ph.D. candidate Yusi LIU, and On the Heterogenicity and Structure Stability of Information Forwarding on Sina Micro-blogging, by TSJC Masters candidate Wang LIAO, were two of the four student academic papers that stood out from the crowd, winning the Best Student Academic Thesis Award. Professor Wei DING from Shenzhen University gave special remarks to the two TSJC students on their empirical research and academic norm.

The academic theses of TSJC post doctor candidate Shule CAO and TSJC Ph.D. candidate Xianzhi LI were also highlighted in the discussions of the “New Media Culture” session and the “Journalism and Communication” session.

Organized by the CNMCA, the Annual Convention of China New Media Communication Association is now in its seventh year and become the leading academic conference in China New Media studies. Last years’ convention was held in the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University. TSJC compiled and published the awarded studies of 2009, contributing this book as a gift to this years’ convention. Additionally, the convention was broadcast on Micro-blogging for the first time. Tentatively, next year`s convention will be held at South China University of Technology.

By Wang LIAO (Edited by Hongying XIAO)