On the 23rd Chinese Journalists' Day, two journalists who graduated from UIC shared how they abide by the professional spirit of journalists in the ever-changing era of new media.
Lu Zhe
Deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Department at China Review News Agency
Former Director of the New Media Department at China News Service Hong Kong Bureau
2011 graduate from UIC's International Journalism Programme
Since she chose the International Journalism major (now the Media and Communication Studies Programme), Lu Zhe was determined to become a journalist. After graduating from UIC, Lu studied at the City University of Hong Kong, majoring in Chinese. In March 2012, she entered the China News Service Hong Kong Bureau as an intern. She later joined officially, covering the latest politics and cultural issues of the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.
Lu Zhe at work
In October 2013, when Chinese President Xi visited Southeast Asia and attended the 21st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Lu went to Bali alone and captured this historic moment. It was just a year after she was recruited into the department. She nailed her task with nearly 100 pictures and dozens of articles, including exclusive interviews, analysis, and observation articles.
The trip to Bali marks Lu's first international political news report and the first time she went to a foreign country alone. The four years of English learning at UIC equipped her with the confidence to face a foreign language environment fearlessly. The practice sessions in the programme also helped her with the English interview scenes. As a result, she completed all the tasks independently, from visa application and trip planning, to contacting local interview resources when she landed in Indonesia.
In the past ten years, Lu has participated in many significant interviews at home and abroad, including the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (NPC and CPPCC), the military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the 19th and 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, as well as events in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, etc. She has witnessed the development of the country and society.
In 2022, Lu Zhe also participated in the Meeting between Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee and Chinese and Foreign Journalists.
As a reporter and a witness of history, Lu is often fascinated by her job. Driven by her passion and interest, she gains a sense of accomplishment and constant motivation. Lu Zhe encourages UICers who aspire to become media professionals. She believes the abilities acquired by studying journalism, such as collecting information, grasping the key points, and producing them accurately, are prerequisites for success in any career. In addition, journalism students should be familiar with the law of news communication, understand the nature of media, constantly upgrade their skills and keep an open mind.
Lu believes that UIC can cultivate great students, "I am very grateful to UIC. Its open, inclusive and professional education environment greatly benefited me."
Yang Zekun
Internal political and legal news reporter for China Daily
2017 graduate from UIC's International Journalism Programme
In 2017, after graduating from UIC, Yang Zekun studied at the City University of Hong Kong for a master's degree in Communication and New Media. After graduation, he joined China Daily, mainly responsible for political and legal news and breaking news.
Yang's reports in both Chinese and English can be found almost every day on China Daily's news platforms, such as newspapers, websites, and domestic and international social media, recording China's political and legal issues.
One of the interviews that impressed Yang the most was in August 2020 when he went to the Puma Jiangtang Border Police Station in the Shannan District of Tibet to interview the civilian police. The highest police station (5,373 meters above sea level) has an annual average temperature of minus 7℃, and the air contained is less than 40 percent of the oxygen at sea level.
Yang Zekun (2nd from left) works in the highest-altitude police station in China, inhaling oxygen through a tube
Yang shared that many of the police are also from southern China. Although he first spent a day in Lhasa to acclimatise to the environment, he still suffered from altitude sicknesses such as lack of oxygen, dizziness, and breathing difficulties. However, young policemen in their early 20s have been stationed there for a long time. Moved by the local police's persistence under challenging conditions, Yang wrote several reports featuring them.
In May 2021, Yang Zekun reports on the traditional folk culture protection in Inner Mongolia
Yang Zekun adheres to his belief in becoming an excellent media professional: maintaining an objective and responsible attitude towards issues and learning with patience.
For younger students who want to enter the journalism field in the future, Yang suggested that they should first strengthen their basic skills, enrich their knowledge, and be flexible when facing emergencies. As journalists, they should observe and analyse the environment comprehensively before bringing a question to the interviewee, said Yang.
Yang considers journalism as a life-long time journey. The international education at UIC has broadened his horizon, trained his English expression ability, and built a solid theoretical foundation for further practice. For example, in an assignment in their news reporting lab course, students experienced the news-producing processes, including topic selection, interview, writing, editing, layout design, and printing. This practice gave students a preliminary understanding of the media industry.
There are also many other UIC alumni working in the media industry. In the future, more UIC students will devote themselves to journalism and different walks of life.
From MPRO
Reporter: Liang Qianning
Photos provided by the interviewees
Editors: Covee Wang, Deen He
