outreach

I have organized and attended several public events, workshops, and research seminars on the application of digital technologies, social media data analytics, multimedia storytelling, and society well-being.

I have held public seminars and invited talks at renowned institutions such as the Social Media Lab at Stanford University, the Department of Communication at the University of California at Davis, the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, and the AI and Digital Journalism International Symposium at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). My speaking engagements also include the 10th Macau International Communication Week hosted by the Macau University of Science and Technology and the “Generative AI Insights” conference at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, to name a few.

My perspectives on AI and digital media have also been featured in major outlets, including Nikkei Asian Review, Phoenix TV, and China Daily.

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• 1. invited talks
• 2. media interviews
• 3. news commentaries

1. invited talks at public research seminars

• Nov 2024. The Hype vs. Reality of Generative AI in Newsrooms: Navigating Ethical Pitfalls and Implementation Challenges. The International Symposium on AI and Journalism, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Seoul, South Korea.

• July 2024. How AI Fails the Newsroom. The 4th International Academic Conference on Global Bay Area Development Economic Development and Social Governance. Institute of Guangdong, Hongkong and Macao Development Studies, Sun Yat-sen University. Shenzhen, China.

• June 2024. The Politics of Public Health Communication. School of Public Health, the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Hong Kong.

• May 2024. Digital Technologies-Enhanced Government-Citizen Interaction for Public Health Campaigns. Invited speaker for the research panel, The 10th Macau International Communication Week 2024. The Macau University of Science and Technology. Event page.

• Jun 2023. Panel member, “Generative AI Insights: Conference Bridging Generative AI with Academia.” The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Event page.

• Oct 2022. Digitally Mediated Disconnectivity. Social Media Lab, Stanford University. the US.

• Sep 2022. Speaker at the departmental research seminar, Department of Communication, University of California at Davis, the US.

• Jan 2021. Panel member and speaker. “Digital Media as Data and Methods”. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Communication Visiting Scholar Program 2021. Event page.

• Sep 2020. Keynote speaker. The Computational Communication Research Forum, the 9th China National Conference on Social Media Processing (SMP), China. Event page.

• Apr 2020. Member of the Organizing Committee and Workshop Speaker for the 2020 Global Virtual Hack and Design Challenge – Empower Community during and after COVID-19 - A virtual design hackathon on the application of digital media, design thinking, computational thinking, and group collaboration for society well-being. (The Event page and press release).

• Apr 2019. Python for data visualization A Python workshop organized by Hong Kong Baptist University Library, 10 Apr 2019, 14:30 - 16:30. Collaborative Data Lab, HKBU Library (The Workshop Repo).

• Jan 2019. Member of the Organizing Committee, Workshop Speaker, and Tutor for The Data and Media Hack - A hackathon on the application of digital media, coding, and design. The first media-related hackathon in the Hong Kong region. (The Event page).

• Nov 2018. Invitation to Python A Python Workshop organized by the Data and Media Communication Concentration, 24 Nov 2018, 10:00 - 16:00, CVA 702, Hong Kong Baptist University (The Workshop Repo).

• Oct 2018. Public research seminar Can we agree on data-driven journalism? Opinion fragmentation in the representation of data-driven journalism in the Twittersphere The 3rd Annual Conference on Digital Media Studies 13 – 14 October, 2018, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.

• Jun 2018. Three-day public seminar plus workshop: Data-driven Journalism Workshop @ CUCN, Nanjing (中国传媒大学南广学院2018数据新闻工作坊) (Co-lectured by Xinzhi Zhang & Pili Hu, HKBU) (The Workshop Repo).

• Mar 2018. Chairperson of the Organizing Committee and jury panel member: the University-wide 2018 Hong Kong Baptist University Data-driven Storytelling Competition (The Event page).

• Oct 2017. Public faculty forum: The Representation of Data-driven Journalism in the Twittersphere. Friday 13 October, 12:30–2:00pm, CVA 1022, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University (A snapshot).

• Sep 2017. Invited talk: Innovation and Conformity in Music Reproduction: Exploring Contestants’ Co-Cover Networks in Music Reality Shows in mainland China and the U.S. The 2nd Annual Conference on Digital Media Studies 26 –27 August, 2017, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.

2. media interviews

• 23 May 2022. Finding effective ways to debunk misinformation online. Featured by the Hong Kong Baptist University News (HKBU News). Link.

• 26 Apr 2022. Getting the right information - Dr Zhang Xinzhi of the Department of Journalism recently conducted a study on the rumour-clarification and debunking practices of the public sector. Featured by the Hong Kong Baptist University News (HKBU News). Link.

• 3 June 2021. Zhang Xinzhi: Communication in the Age of Information Disorder Interviewed as the Transdisciplinary Research Highlights of Hong Kong Baptist University. Link.

• 13 Aug 2021. Communication students win the national data mining competition. Featured by the Hong Kong Baptist University News (HKBU News) as a team coach, leading a team of five postgraduate students from the School of Communication who won the national championship, and therefore the first prize, in the China National Third Communication Data Mining Competition. Link.

• 8 Jun 2021. Alibaba-Xinhua venture makes the news for video-hungry Chinese Interviewed by the Nikkei Asia. Link.

• 9 May 2019. Techniques and awareness: Journalists of the future. Interviewed by the China Daily on the data journalism education in Hong Kong.

3. news commentaries

1. Zhang, X. (2014). “Who is the singer?” A social network analysis on the song covering network of the Chinese TV Reality Show “I am the Singer”). Media Digest [Hong Kong: Radio Television Hong Kong], 2014(4). Full text: http://rthk.hk/mediadigest/20140417_76_123107.html. [張昕之 (2014)。〈誰是歌手？對內地電視選秀節目《我是歌手》競演翻唱曲目的社會網絡分析〉。 香港電台《傳媒透視》，2014年第4期]

2. Zhang, X. (2013). Four interpretive frames to make sense of Snowden incident: Government-citizen relation, political expression, international relation, and privacy. Media Digest [Hong Kong: Radio Television Hong Kong], 2013(7), 4-5. Full text: http://rthk.hk/mediadigest/20130715_76_123002.html. [張昕之 (2013)。〈斯諾登事件之四重邏輯：政府-公民關係，政治表達，國際關係，與隱私權利〉。 香港電台《傳媒透視》，2013年第7期，頁4-5]

3. Zhang, X. (2012). The analyze on the TV appreciation index and cognition ratings of Hong Kong TV Drama: 1998-2009. Media Digest [Hong Kong: Radio Television Hong Kong], 2012(6), 16-17. Full text: http://rthk.hk/mediadigest/20120613_76_122880.html. [張昕之 (2012)。〈從電視欣賞指數歷年數據概述香港電視劇集特徵與收視情況〉。 香港電台《傳媒透視》，2012年第6期，頁16-17]

4. Zhang, X. (2012). On the banned TV drama When the Heaven Burns in mainland China. Media Digest [Hong Kong: Radio Television Hong Kong], 2012(1), 6-7. Full text: http://rthk.hk/mediadigest/20120113_76_122823.html. [張昕之 (2012)。〈簡評香港劇集《天與地》在內地禁播事件〉。 香港電台《傳媒透視》，2012年第1期，頁6-7]

5. Wang, C., & Zhang, X. (2011). The rising cacophony or dominated opinions? Public discussions about Gaddafi on micro-blog. Media Digest [Hong Kong: Radio Television Hong Kong], 2011(9), 12-13. Full text: http://rthk.hk/mediadigest/20110915_76_122789.html. [王成軍，張昕之 (2011)。〈「眾說紛紜」抑或「一言九鼎」〉。 香港電台《傳媒透視》，2011年第9期，頁12-13]

6. Zhang, X. (2011). Why people from the mainland China would like to make a donation in Hong Kong? The Southern Metropolitan Daily. Full text. [张昕之（2011）内地人为何在香港捐款。南方都市报，2011年8月15日]

7. Zhang, X. (2010). A review on the media’s performance during Manila hostage incident. Media Digest [Hong Kong: Radio Television Hong Kong], 2010(9), 3-4. Full text: http://www.rthk.org.hk/mediadigest/20100914_76_122652.html. [張昕之 (2010)。〈媒體、挾持者、政府 ─ 「8•23」菲律賓人質事件反思〉。 香港電台《傳媒透視》，2010年第9期，頁3-4] Note: After the publication of this contribution, this article was featured and cited extensively in a popular deliberation radio program of Radio-1, Radio Television Hong Kong, the Millennium, on September 21, 2010.

8. Zhang, X. (2010). Comparing the content regulations of TV drama between mainland China and Hong Kong: A case of criminal drama. Media Digest [Hong Kong: Radio Television Hong Kong], 2010(4), 4-5. Full text: http://rthk.hk/mediadigest/20100422_76_122599.html. [張昕之 (2010)。〈中港電視劇內容管理管窺：以警匪、犯罪、涉案題材為例〉。 香港電台《傳媒透視》，2010年第4期，頁4-5]

9. Zhang, X. (2009). On the citizen journalism during the “Aug. 8th” Typhoon & Flood Disaster in Taiwan. Media Digest [Hong Kong: Radio Television Hong Kong], 2009(9), 10-11. Full text: http://rthk.hk/mediadigest/20090915_76_122370.html. [張昕之 (2009)。〈風雨同舟．守衛家園—試析台灣公民媒體對「八八水災」的報導〉。 香港電台《傳媒透視》，2009年第9期, 頁10-11]

10. Zhang, X. (2009). The media coverage of “Green Dam” software incident in mainland China. Media Digest [Hong Kong: Radio Television Hong Kong], 2009(7), 4-5. Full text: http://rthk.hk/mediadigest/20090715_76_122313.html. [張昕之 (2009)。〈中國內地「綠壩」軟體風波始末：從官方到民眾—七大主角的網路媒介話語博弈〉。 香港電台《傳媒透視》，2009年第7期，頁4-5]

(updated: Jan 2025)

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