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The Chinese University of Hong Kong Communication Visiting Scholar Program 2022

“Communicating/Miscommunicating the COVID-19 Pandemic on Digital Media” Workshop

Introduction

The School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong has been organizing the annual Communication Visiting Scholar Program since 2008. The Program aims to promote academic exchange and links among Chinese-speaking scholars in cultural China and improve the quality of research of the Chinese research community. The Centre for Chinese Media and Comparative Communication Research (The C-Centre) of the School of Journalism and Communication will play host to this program in 2022.

Program Theme 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has gone global since its outbreak in late 2019. The pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of everything, making people more dependent on digital media to stay informed, manage daily living under lockdowns, and take action to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It is no exaggeration that almost every aspect of people’s lives is being digitized during this pandemic, ranging from working from home, online schooling, livestreaming e-commerce, and using smartphones and QR health code for traveling and management of cross-border population.

Unfortunately, the information technologies we depend on are turned into outlets for spreading“infodemics”—an overabundance of false or half-true information, which includes mis, dis and mal-information on digital media. Like a virus itself, infodemics can cause public panic, confusion and distrust. It poses a great challenge to fight the global pandemic. Furthermore, fake news, rumours, and conspiracy theories, stigmatizes certain social groups, stirs up hate speech, politicizes public health issues, and leads to greater social polarization. In fighting the infodemics, different approaches were adopted in Chinese and Western societies. The different responses provide communication scholars with opportunities to explore how these approaches have been shaped by different political, economic, and cultural forces, and learn what works and what does not in communicating the COVID-19 pandemic effectively to the public.

Against this backdrop, we invite communication scholars to patriciate in the discussions of issues themed on “Communicating/ Miscommunicating the COVID-19 Pandemic on Digital Media”. We welcome submissions of both empirical research and theoretical works. We are open to all methodologies: scientific, critical, ethnographic or big data. The sub-themes for the workshop include but are not limited to:

  • COVID-19 pandemic, media and digitalization of everything
  • COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine supply and geopolitics
  • The role of traditional media in reporting the pandemic, risk perceptions and preventative measures
  • COVID-19-related misinformation and its definition, sources, attributes, classification, debunking and management
  • COVID-19-related misinformation and its diffusion model, KOL and impact
  • Infodemics, stigma, hate speech and discrimination against ethnic groups
  • Infodemics, crisis management and institutional trust
  • Comparative analysis of the diffusion of infodemics and coping strategies in Chinese societies
  • Big data and methodological challenges and innovations of researching infodemics
  • Other sub-themes that are related to the COVID-19 pandemic, communication and media

Workshop Details

Date: 21-22 January 2022
Venue: Room 313, Humanities Building, CUHK and ZOOM meeting room The visiting scholars will present papers on the theme of “Communicating/Miscommunicating the COVID-19 Pandemic on Digital Media”.
Language of presentation and discussion: Mandarin

 

Workshop Participant List (in alphabetical order)

NamePosition and Institution
CHEN Yi Shyuan VictoriaAssociate Professor, Department of Communication, National Chung Cheng University
CHEN Yi-ning KatherineProfessor, Department of Advertising, College of Communication, National Chengchi University
JIN JianbinProfessor, School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University
LI YanhongProfessor, School of Communication and Design, Sun Yat-sen University
LU Hung-yiProfessor, Department of Communication, National Chung Cheng University
TAN YueAssociate Professor, Institute of Marketing Communication, National Sun Yat-sen University
WANG HaiyanAssociate Professor, Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau
WANG JingAssistant Professor, College of Arts & Media, Tongji University
WANG QianAssociate Professor, School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
WENG ShihongAssociate Professor, School of Public Administration, East China Normal University
XU JinghongProfessor, School of Journalism and Communication, Beijing Normal University
YANG XiaodongAssociate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, Shandong University
ZHANG MingxinProfessor, School of Journalism and Information Communication, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
ZHANG PingAssociate Professor, School of Journalism, Fudan University
ZHENG XuanPhD Candidate, School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University
ZOU XiaAssistant Professor, School of Journalism and New Media, Xi’an Jiaotong University

 

The Annual Workshop Committee

Prof. Ran Wei (Co-Convener)
Prof. Ven-hwei Lo (Co-Convener)
Prof. Joseph Chan
Prof. Christine Huang
Prof. Francis Lee
Prof. Donna Chu
Prof. Yunya Song
Prof. Hai Liang
Prof. Dong Dong

 

Enquiry

Dr. Daisy Cheng
Phone: 3943 8709
Email: daisycheng@cuhk.edu.hk