What changed
China’s 13th “Good Journalists Tell Good Stories” program recorded its 2026 special episode at Renmin University of China, the first time the annual program has been recorded at a university. More than 200 students and teachers from 10 Beijing universities attended, while journalists from People’s Daily, Xinhua, CCTV and regional media organisations shared firsthand reporting stories.
The episode was scheduled to air on CCTV’s comprehensive channel on November 8, ahead of the 27th Journalists’ Day.
Why it matters
The format puts journalism students and working reporters in the same room, with reporting treated as something learned through lived encounters rather than slogans. The stories ranged from disaster coverage and environmental work to investigations into “special-supply” liquor and illegal oil-truck refuelling.
That mix matters because it shows the profession’s public role in practical terms. Reporters described documenting a landslide in Tibet, tracing the story of a young mathematician who won the 2026 Fields Medal, following grassroots officials and entrepreneurs, and using investigative work to push problems toward correction.
The university setting also gives the programme a different kind of audience: students hearing how reporting is done from journalists who handled the interviews and fieldwork themselves. Its longer-term effect is uncertain, since no audience figures or measurable results from the broadcast were provided. But the broadcast makes one institutional choice clear: journalism training and professional storytelling are being brought closer together, with public service presented as the common thread.
Comments
No comments yet.