Journalism education in China: The reality and challenges in the digital era

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>With the rise of digital technologies and the opening-up in society, China’s journalism education has entered a period of fast growth. While the media environment is adapting to the changes, journalism education is still developing in a traditional manner, thus failing to provide up-to-date teaching for students. Meanwhile, because of gaps between academics and professionals, graduates are not appreciated by media industries. On the basis of the background of media development and social reality in China, the article endeavours to elaborate on issues and challenges of Chinese journalism education by revealing the relationship between policy, media and journalism education. The article suggests that the problems in journalism education are caused by the social system rather than by education. Therefore, instead of focusing on issues invited by the new technology, market or the conflict between the academic and professionals, it is more crucial for Chinese journalism education to face the challenge caused by the social system, balancing between policy and professionalism, in order to find a way for journalism education to develop in a Chinese context.</jats:p>