Personal Statement
Program Applied: Media Management

In the present-day world which is becoming increasingly integrated and whose mass communication is experiencing unprecedented development, mass media is, to an important extent, shaping the way people perceive the world. Mass media is also producing an important effect on the way the world develops. My fascination with the media industry originates precisely from its vital importance to society and the possibility that it creates for me as an individual of society to fulfill my role in changing the world and contributing to social development.

I came to develop this awareness through my undergraduate education, during which I specialized in the study of journalism, through the extensive internships at such media organizations as BEIJING YOUTH WEEKLY and TRAVEL AND TRADE IN EUROPE, and through my continued involvement in extracurricular activities of student organizations. It has always been my conviction that life is like a piece of clay that is to be shaped and modeled into a work of art by a creative artist. I am determined to shape the course of my life according to my own concepts and endeavor to experience the true beauty of life. My choice of media management as the objective of my lifelong career is precisely a way in which I am to shape my life—I hope that I can be instrumental to the process of social development through my involvement in media, which is often regarded as the lever and the conscience of society.

My motivation for acquiring a Western education is initially derived from the movie Sabrina n which the famous movie star Audrey Hepburn acted the leading role. The story about how the protagonist changed her life through integration into an international environment made me deeply aware of the paramount importance of an international education to the development of a person’s career and to the improvement of his or her personal qualities. Now, on the verge of completing my undergraduate program in journalism at xxxxx UNIVERSITY, I plan to undertake a Master’s program in European Art and Media Management at the esteemed xxxx University. The reason I make such a decision is two-folded. There is first my deep-entrenched love for media as an academic discipline and your university’s undisputable reputation in the field of media research education. On top of that is my belief that an advanced program in European Art and Media Management will maximize my understanding of European art and lay a firm foundation for my future career in media industry. The present condition of media development in China and the on-going media reform will create unprecedented possibilities of personal development for an emerging generation of media professionals with international background, education and training. This gives me sufficient reason to believe that the legend of the ugly duckling and the beautiful swan that happened to Sabrina can also happen to me.

I believe that to undertake an advanced degree program in media management and, ultimately, to take up media management as my career, I have acquired necessary qualifications in terms of academic foundation, the development of journalistic writing and research ability, the cultivation of relevant management skills, and practical experiences in media management. My undergraduate program focused on economic news and media management and xxxx is the first university in China to offer such a program, which has produced a large number of well-trained economic and financial journalists and media administrators for China’s media community. My education covers foundational courses across two fields—journalism and economics—and the courses range from management science, media management and operation, marketing, public relations, international finance, monetary banking, etc. My academic performance is ranked top third in my class. Such an academic foundation, I believe, fits me very nicely for your program, as I will bring with me a broad knowledge background to inform my future studies.

To attempt at journalistic writing and get those writings published in various newspapers and magazines has been another important aspect of my undergraduate training. So far, I have published three articles in the xxx respectively entitled “xxxxxxxxxxxx?”（ xxxx），“xxxxxxxxxxxxxx”(xxxxx) and “ xxxxxxxxxxx” (xxxx xxx, xxxx，cover story). Rated as the best news reports of the month, those articles fully demonstrate my journalistic sensitivity and the ability to carry out in-depth analysis into current events.

At present, I am engaged in writing my thesis  xxxx with a view to improving my ability to perform academic research. In this thesis, I focus on the coverage of SARS by leading international media as the point of entry into a detailed analysis of a series of issues in the relationship between reality and the simulated reality conjured up by media reports. One of the objectives of the thesis is to demonstrate that media coverage of the external world can never be a mirror-like faithful and objective representation but can only be a purpose-dominated, selective, and hence tendentious activity. 

Out of my deep awareness of the empirical nature of media management as a profession, I have made conscious efforts to enhance my practical experience by doing internship at local media companies and taking up important responsibilities of organizing extracurricular activities. BEIJING YOUTH WEEKLY, SPOTLIGHT TIMES, ECONOMY DAILY, and TRAVEL AND TRADE IN EUROPE are the media organizations that I worked with. In addition to internships, I served as vice director of the Intercollegiate Liaison Department of my university’s Students Union and director of the Sports and Entertainment Department of the Art and Communications College. I organized a series of campus events during which I invited leading football players of our country and renowned film directors to interact with students. In performing those responsibilities, I have considerably improved my organizational and interpersonal skills and realized the crucial importance of teamwork to successful management.

While applying my knowledge of journalism to practices, I discovered during my internships that problems abound in China’s media management. The urgency and the necessity to work out those problems constitute important reasons underlying my decision to pursue advanced studies in this field.

With China’s accession into the WTO, foreign media organizations will be allowed to operate commercially in China’s media market beginning from 2004. This open-door policy will pose unprecedented challenge to the heretofore self-enclosed Chinese media industry. Some of the major problems facing Chinese media industry are: low level of industrialization, limited channels of income (almost exclusively relying on advertising), low competitiveness resulting from small scale. Therefore, important reforms must be introduced into the Chinese media industry to change its present system and mechanism, the products of conventional planned economy. It is a regret that few Chinese universities offer advanced program in media management and the research into this field is far from mature. Under such circumstances, I turn to your university. I expect to learn advanced knowledge and acquire useful experiences from the western media world. I will first do extensive coursework to lay a solid theoretical groundwork in media management. I will seek opportunities to take part in actual media management and wish to carry out in-depth research on the application of modern information technology to media management. By the time that I return to China, I can make up for Chinese media’s deficiency in this aspect.

The important challenges that Chinese media faces create important opportunities for every Chinese youth committed to media management. I feel lucky that the most important part of my life coincide with this important phase of transformation. I believe that my life will be made fruitful because of this special historical period.