Profile of Prof. BI Yantao

BI Yantao (Mr.) is an independent observer, nonpartisan freelancer and communication professor based in mainland China. Born in Shandong Province in eastern China, Yantao received education in China, UK and Ireland. His major research areas are strategic  communication, political communication and discourse analysis.

Born into a farmer family, BI Yantao holds the firm belief that China needs a stronger civil society to ensure an improved relationship between the government and the people, to combat bureaucracy and corruption. That is why in recent years Yantao has been making every effort to help empower the grassroots organizations in China.

BI Yantao deems that political communication studies can benefit both the elites and the grassroots. To impart the knowledge and techniques he has accumulated these years, Yantao has been working as Director of Center for Communication Studies, Hainan University, China, since he founded the Center December 2004.

To promote exchange and cooperation among communication researchers, BI Yantao established Daizong Meditation Room at the foot of Mt. Taishan in 2008. As the first non-profit research center of its kind in China, Daizong Meditation Room is designed to promote the political communication studies in China and advance the democratization of the socialist country. It is open to all interested researchers over the world, free of charge.

To verify and enahnce his expertise, Yantao has been active in different kinds of social movement. Prof. BI is now Director for Asian Affairs, Global Unification International (GUI), an NGO headquartered in Australia. In the meantime, he works as a consultant for several other entities.

As a consistent advocate of freedom of expression in China, Yantao is a diligent writer. He is a contributing author of Global Voices Online. Meanwhile, he writes for dozens of influential Chinese websites and journals. As of Februrary 2013 he has published 10 books and more than 500 articles in print media of mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, UK, USA, Canada and Germany.

"Mastery of effective communication techinues is a prerequisite to realize our targets at lower costs.”

English Websites on Communication Studies

by BI Yantao, China

1. http://www.abacon.com/commstudies/ (Allyn & Bacon)
2. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3669 (Communication Studies)
3. http://www.cosmoedu.net/journalismresources.html
(Cosmopolitan University, USA)
4. http://www.ojr.org/ (OJR, digital media center)
5. http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/09/your-guide-to-citizen-journalism270.html (Media Shift)
6. http://nightwatchcn.blogspot.com/ (nightwatch)
7. http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/ (writing for the web)
8. http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/editorials/other/how+to+write+short+stories/ (write short stories)

Brief Intro to Communication Studies Forum

Communication Studies Forum (http://www.chuanboxue.net) is a private website founded in 2001 by Prof. Ruan Zhixiao, a researcher working for Sichuan Academy of Social Science. This website impressed me deeply by vowing to defend and promote academic equality. I joined its editorial board as an editor soon after I returned to China in September 2003. With the joint efforts of its editorial board and global contributors, Communication Studies Forum has been rated as one of the most prominent platforms for communication scholars. (by BI Yantao, China)

Center for Communication Studies of Hainan University

Established in December, 2004, Center for Communication Studies of Hainan University (CCSHU) is the first of its kind in Hainan Province. It is initiated and directed by Prof. Bi Yantao, who is educated in China, UK and Ireland. The Center is designed to

1. promote the mutual understanding and exchanges between the people and
scholars of P.R.China and other countries, from the perspective of international
communication;

2. help improve the effectiveness and empowerment of grassroot organizations and local communities, from the perspective of political communication;

3. help the marginalized/disadvantaged people enhance the quality of themselves
and their lives, from the perspective of integrated communication.