Journalism and communication education in the digital age: Development and challenges

This is a roundtable attended by educators of the major journalism and communication schools in the Chinese societies of Taiwan and Hong Kong. The first set of topics pertains to the fast-changing digital media environment, including news media's working process, gatekeeping function, status of journalists, and criteria for excellent news, as well as the impact of digital technologies on the media. Most universities have already adopted online and technology-enhanced courses in their programs. The objectives of the program design reflect different wisdom in how to combine academic and practical pursuits and whether they follow industries' concerns. The inclusion of new technology is the newest trend, serving to enhance a university's competitiveness as a venue for quality education. The second set of topics relates to the challenges facing journalism education sector, the trend of curricular innovation, and the changing roles of educators in the digital age. One common problem facing universities is the difficulty in the recruitment of young, aspiring students for future journalism. How emerging technologies can be integrated into communication curricula has become a challenge for current educators. Many educators agree that the conceptual and theoretical contributions of this new trend in education remain to be developed. Another concern is how educators and students should ride the digital tide so as to best infuse accessibility into their own curriculum and to significantly improve their understanding of the outcomes of education.