The Return of Ideology to China’s Journalism Education: The ‘Joint Model’ Campaign Between Propaganda Departments and Journalism Schools

Abstract

In December 2013, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Ministry of Education jointly announced a nationwide ‘joint model’ between state propaganda departments and journalism schools in higher education institutions, signalling a new era for China’s journalism education. The ‘joint model’ campaign aims to enhance the party’s ideological control over journalism education in China’s highly globalized, commercialized and digitized media environment. This essay examines the political context, concrete measures, expected benefits, debate and problems of the new era of China’s journalism education.