The gap between university studies and labour market in journalism: opening educational community example in China

Abstract

With the rapid development of information and communication technology, conventional news production practices have been disrupted and have evolved to meet the needs of new media era. The labor market also puts forward new requirements for journalism education. This article aimed to investigate the contradiction between supply and demand of journalism talent training and how to cope with it. Universities curricula and labor market demands was examined by the method of online survey, content analysis and interviewing students.Findings show that companies are increasingly keen to employ the people who have new media skills, video production/data analysis skills, previous experience, good communication ability and the ability to work under pressure. Despite difference that existed, some universities offer burgeoning practical and interdisciplinary courses. There is still a gap between the universities curricula and market demand. Finally, this study proposes the concept of "Opening educational community" to cope with the changes of media labor market and bridge the gap between them.