A ministerial-level official in charge of media censorship has been appointed as dean of one of the most prestigious journalism schools on the mainland, prompting concerns that journalism classes will become more subject to Communist Party control.
Liu Binjie, chief of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), took over as head of Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and Communication, according to Professor Cui Baoguo, vice-dean of the school.
Cui said that Liu, as a media-management official, could help bridge the gap between journalism education and changing trends in the media. The appointment is scheduled to take place at a private ceremony this afternoon.
'His ideology on media development is relatively open and international, which has been widely recognised among teachers and students,' Cui said.
As he will retain his GAPP position, Liu will be a part-time dean, but the exact details of his responsibilities were not immediately made clear.
Media officials taking up posts at journalism schools on the mainland began in the mid-1990s and expanded to the capital in the early 2000s, said Zhang Zhian, an associate journalism professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.
The position at Tsinghua has been vacant since the former dean, Fan Jingyi, died of gall bladder cancer on November 13.
