The First International Conference on Media Education in China opened October 8 at the Communication University of China (CUC) in Beijing.

Focusing on media education in the Information Age, experts from around the world will discuss a variety of topics, including the development of a media education theory with Chinese characteristics.

A central topic during the four-day seminar will be how China can teach its young people to critically evaluate the media. Many countries, like Canada and the United States, include media education in their schools' regular curricula.

Originally developed in England in the 1930s, media education encourages students to see clearly the influence of mass media.

Media education in China is still in its fledgling stage. As the presence of television, movies and advertising expands, so does the need for education about their effects.

Many experts at the conference believe that media literacy is lagging behind the increased complexity of China's media environment and the emergence of new media.

Huang Yong, deputy editor-in-chief of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said that both the disseminators and the receivers of the information should be educated.

But Professor Irving Rother, president of Association for Media Education in Quebec and board member of the Canadian Association for Media Education Organizations, is optimistic about China's media education future. He stated that the changes in style and channels of media communication will advance related education to a new stage.

CUC is the former Beijing Broadcasting University, long a prestigious center of education in radio and television broadcasting, filmmaking, and more recently in Internet communication. It reorganized and changed its name in September this year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2004)