Dr. Anbin SHI
Associate Dean and Professor
School of Journalism and Communication
Tsinghua University
July 2, 2012
On behalf of the School, first of all, I should offer my heartfelt congratulations to the Class of 2012 of the MA in Global Business Journalism (GBJ), with the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University (TSJC). Today is your day; you are all the shining super stars! I should also thank all faculty, staff, sponsors, parents and friends to make these young ladies and gentlemen to fulfill their Chinese dream in Tsinghua Garden, one of the most beautiful campuses around the globe recognized by Forbes.
In particular, I want to acknowledge the timely support from International Center for Journalists （ICFJ）, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Bloomberg, to make this program happen and sustain. I also want to pay a special tribute to the founders of this wonderful program, the School’s founding Dean, Professor FAN Jingyi, and our former executive dean, Professor LI Xiguang，for their foresight of internationalizing journalism education in China.
During the two- year stay in Tsinghua, the Class of 2012 has the privilege of participating in the celebrations of the University’s centennial anniversary in April 2011 and the School’s tenth anniversary in May 2012. Most of all, you have also observed China’s politico-social ebbs and flows and have been empowered to analyze the China and global interactions with a more multicultural and diverse perspectives in this globalized environ of TSJC, the most internationalized journalism school in China.
Since its launching in September, 2007, the GBJ program, as the one and only all-English-taught MA program in journalism in mainland China, have successfully integrated the various media philosophies and praxis from both China and the rest of the world, and created an integrative teaching and learning environment with the participation of faculty and students from China and 23 different countries, constituting a growing United Nations of News Media in a journalism school.
In the next decade of TSJC’s development, the GBJ program still remains the core of our school’s long-term goal of interdisciplinary integration and academic globalization. I hope you all cherish this Tsinghua motto of “self-discipline and social commitment” and make your own contributions to shaping a more sustainable world and a more peaceful global community for the next decades and centuries. Another less known Tsinghua motto is engraved on distinguished scholar of Chinese classics, Chen Yin-que’s monument, quietly situated in a corner not far from the School building. It reads: “Independent Thought; Free Will.” This is also the motto for every Tsinghua graduate, no matter you will become a journalist, PR professional or a CEO in the foreseeable future.
One of the emergent global issues is the economic disparities and widening income gap, not merely seen in the developing countries in China, but also adequately uttered by “Occupy Wall Street” movement last Fall. As up to date, the 290 million migrant workers, a combination of “farmer-plus-workers” in Chinese language, still contribute to the economic boom not only for China, but also for the rest of the world. As both the Time magazine and Walmart CEO acknowledged recently, Chinese migrant workers are the savior of the global financial crisis since the Fall of 2008. Thus, as business journalists or media professionals, we must always remember to speak for the migrant workers and the like, the silent majority, to ensure a better life for one billion population (among them 400 million in China) who are still living in poverty. Simply put, journalists and media professionals should always bear “the sickle and hammer”, as reflected in Chines Communist Party’s badge, in their mind whenever and wherever they are making news coverage: to lend a helping hand to the downtrodden, to eradicate all forms of exploitation and inequality, and to make a harmonious world.
In Chinese language, the word of “harmony” (he xie) means that everyone would have enough harvest and have equal right to speak. This dream has been adequately elucidated by all kind of names: Confucianism, communism, socialism, welfare capitalism, enlightenment, etc. These different naming reflects that no matter what ideology we uphold, we have shared the same dream for the mankind. I hope all GBJ graduates would take a lead in making the dream of a harmonious world come true.
As early as the 1960s, the founding father of mass communication studies, Professor Wilbur Schramm from the US, has proposed the concept of NWICO (new world information and communication order). On June 1st, 2011,Mr. LI Congjun, the editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency published a commentary with the Wall Street Journal and called the founding of “United Nation of News Media,” echoing Schramm’s dream of NWICO. Xinhua has launched its North American headquarter on the top floors of a skyscraper near Times square, towering Reuters, News Group, New York Times and our sponsor Bloomberg. With China’s peaceful rise and growing visibility in the global media sphere, I believe the dream of NWICO will come true within your generation, particularly the graduates from the GBJ program, the real UN of news media based in Tsinghua.
I am proud of you all and wish you the greatest success in your future career development and lifelong pursuit of freedom, equality and happiness for mankind. Wherever you will be roaming, please bear in mind that we are always waiting for you right here, in Tsinghua, your eternal sweet home and haven.
