China has been doing its utmost to tackle the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. The domestic public opinion is stable and positive, believing that unity is strength and that we can overcome the current difficulties together. But the situation of international opinion once became tense on social media, with series of statements spreading racism and anti-China and anti-Asian sentiments. Recently, the COVID-19 epidemic broke out at multiple places around the world, emphasizing the importance of global strategic cooperation and information sharing.
Prof. Luo Qing, the leader of the Great Events’ Global Dissemination and International Cooperation research group of CUC, led the team to conduct interview among world-famous experts specializing in public opinion propagation and culture comment, consulting about the spread of the virus. Several interview reports have been written and five short videos on the epidemic have been jointly produced by the research group and CGTN. These videos, produced all in English, were spread across the globe through CGTN, YouTube, Twitter and other oversea media platforms.
The consultation was supported by a group of authoritative international experts, including senior professor of international communication Daya K.Thussu, former director of the Marketing Department of the European Audiovisual Media Observation Center and a well-known expert of media policy André Lange, famous Italian communication expert, former director of the China Media Center of Università della Svizzera italiana, and consultant for Italian national television station Giuseppe Richeri, professor of anthropology, senior expert in Chinese studies at the University of Missouri, and an expert of Olympic research in the International Olympic Committee Susan Brownell, etc.
Prof. Luo’s team and CGTN jointly produced the five episodes of commentary series named Data Speaks. Two weeks after its release, Data Speakers has already got more than 500,000 clicks across the globe.
The topics of the commentary series are as follows.
o Episode1: Follow the money to understand China’s battle against COVID-19欲知中国如何抗疫，且看政府的资金走向
o Episode2: Human progress through a string of epidemics 细数人类战“疫”艰辛路
o Episode3: Cultural industry in China blossoming online despite coronavirus疫情下的中国文化产业在网络上绽放生机
o Episode4: Opportunity amid crisis危机中的机遇
o Episode5: Why Wuhan is significant to China’s hi-tech industry武汉为何对中国高科技产业意义非凡
Prof. Luo’s team mainly consists of CUC’s graduates from Masters of International Communication, Masters of International Arts in Animation, Film and Television Special Effects, Masters/Doctors of International Broadcasting and Television.
These students are equipped with sufficient background information on international communication and the ability to work in an all-English environment. They are committed to the theory and practice of cross-cultural communication.
In the past few years, the research group led by Prof. Luo has performed well in several major emergencies both home and abroad, including the Winter Olympics declaration, South China Sea arbitration and the Sino-US trade war.
It has produced short videos on new media platforms for global dissemination and actively promoted international cooperation. Moreover, the team has provided consultative reports in hundreds of thousands of words to the government, which have drawn wide attention from the relevant national ministries and commissions. They have also explored useful experiences for the construction and practice of think-tanks of communication and contributed to the exploration of global cooperation when major emergencies occur.
Video Links：
o 第一集：Follow the money to understand China’s battle against COVID-19 欲知中国如何抗疫，且看政府的资金走向
o 第二集：Human progress through a string of epidemics 细数人类 战“疫”艰辛路
o 第三集：Cultural industry in China blossoming online despite coronavirus
o 疫情下的中国文化产业在网络上绽放生机
o 第四集：Opportunity amid crisis危机中的机遇
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-03-16/Opportunity-amid-crisis-OSDmOaHvA4/index.html
o 第五集： Why Wuhan is significant to China’s hi-tech industry武汉为何对中国高科技产业意义非凡
(Editor: Wang Huiyi Arshad Bhatti Zhang Xu)
