香港浸会大学传理学院

Centre for Media and Communication Research

School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University香港浸會大學傳理學院

Acting Dean

Prof. CHEN, Ling

Center for Media and

Communication Research is

turning 5 years old. It stands as a

token of the School’s commitment

to high-quality research on media

and communication, going beyond

research projects alone. The

past five years have seen much

change in the school and even more in this Center, not

only in what it has done but in what it plans to do about

academic research. In addition to research projects, an

important activity of the Center are to bring in colleagues

from all over the world and from various disciplines to

share the research works, to challenge one another

and stimulate better ideas for future research. This

newsletter serves to inform interested colleagues, in

Hong Kong and overseas, of Center’s activities, so more

will collaborate with our faculty members in research

works, forums, symposia and conferences.

Centre Director

Prof. HUANG, Yu

It has been a challenging, exciting

and fruitful years for the Centre

which has played an increasingly

leading role in building our

School’s research profile. With

a humble start, the centre has

taken important initiatives to: (1)

set up a joint undertaking with

Chinese University, namely, the first refereed Chinese

Journal of Communication and Society, (2) launch the

Distinguished Lectures Series with LEWI, (3) organize

many regular seminars, symposiums and workshops

to promote research culture and to form the School’s

scholarly identity.

In 2004 and 2006, the Centre organized two

important international conferences to display our

devotion to the media and communication research.

Besides, the Centre provides expertise in both

knowledge and support to HKBU projects and the local community. In this way, the Centre has been gaining

strength in achieving excellence to enhance our School's

research performance. Building on the solid foundation

that we have, I am confident that the Centre is well

set to meet changing times and to maintain a sense of

competitiveness in the fi eld of research.

To close on a personal note, I would like to

thank all the faculty and manage ment team of the

School for their support, hard work and dedication. It

has been a rewarding experience for me to serve as the

Director of the Centre.

Director Designate

Dr. Emilie Y. Y. YEH

Centre for Media and

Communication Research has in the

past few years established several

good programs in facilitating inter-

disciplinary approach and enhancing

the research and scholarly reputation

of the School and the University. I

am honored to be invited to continue

the good work achieved by the

previous directors; together with Dr. Xiao Xiaosui I am

looking forward to initiating collaborative links between

individual colleagues and research groups within

and outside the University. We will also look into the

development of high-quality research support, publishing

and seeking external research grants to ensure the

continuous growth of the Centre.Newsletter December 2006

Inside >>>

Distinguished lectures 2-3

Symposium 4

Publication & Projects 5

International conference held 6-7

Launch of academic journal 8-9

Seminars & Workshops 10-11

2

Research and Publication in Communication Journals---Underline Factors towards

Knowledge contributions

Speaker: Prof William L. Benoit

On Mar 15th 2006, Professor William Benoit, who is

a Professor of Communication at the University of

Missouri and he is currently a University Fellow at Hong

Kong Baptist University.

One of the most productive researchers in

communication studies, Professor Benoit discuss the

key process of research and publication in journals in

this lecture on Mar 12th, 2006. The talk began with a

discussion of the basics of the journal submission and

review process. The virtues of patience and persistence

could be very important. He mentioned several factors

(e.g., important topic, interesting questions, suitable

method, and theoretical implications) and explained how

they influence the probability that a manuscript would

be accepted for publication in a communication journal.

Finally, the presentation offered concrete suggestions

for increasing a scholar’s research productivity. Time

for research competed with other important faculty

responsibilities, but some strategies could enhance

research productivity.

Professor William L. Benoit, professor of Communication

at the University of Missouri - has published 10 books

and over 150 journal articles and book chapters. He is

currently ranked as the 10th most productive scholar in

communication and he has been ranked second from