From a "study planner", Tsinghua University cancels the journalism major? 4 factual errors in 13-second video

“Tsinghua has canceled the journalism and communication major, and many 985 schools have canceled it one after another.” “Many universities have canceled IT-related majors.” “79 colleges have canceled 113 arts undergraduate majors.” Recently, some fans provided clues to the Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform, saying that there are online Parents of students are very concerned about a lot of college major information or further education information. Are they all true?

The investigation found that a considerable part of the information was inaccurate and came from accounts under the banners of "admission counseling" and "career planning". The purpose of these accounts posting such information is probably to promote courses or services, and students and parents should not be gullible.

The news that "Tsinghua University has canceled the journalism and communication major, and many 985 schools have canceled it one after another" has attracted the attention of students who plan to apply for the journalism and communication major. However, verification by the Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform found that there were 4 factual errors in the 13-second video——

The title of the video states that "Tsinghua University cancels the journalism and communication major", but the video says that "when Tsinghua University announced that it would stop recruiting undergraduate journalism and communication students... it expanded the number of graduate students in journalism and communication," which is contradictory to the title.

Further inspection revealed that it was also a mistake to stop accepting undergraduate students. In the "Tsinghua University Undergraduate Major Settings for the 2022-2023 Academic Year" on the official website of Tsinghua University, "Journalism" and "School of Journalism" are clearly visible; on the official website of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, the latest two "School Updates" are Relevant to graduate admissions. At the same time, Tsinghua University’s official information release channel does not include information on whether to adjust the journalism and communication major. It can be seen that the video’s claim of “abolition of the journalism and communication major” has no basis.

Tsinghua University and its School of Journalism and Communication official website information

The short video states that "Renmin University of China has also officially announced the cancellation of the unified examination for the journalism and communication major and will no longer recruit full-time master's degrees." Based on the title of the short video, viewers will think that the Renmin University of China has canceled the journalism and communication major. However, "cancellation of the unified master's examination" and "cancellation of majors" have completely different meanings. The former is a recruitment method, while the latter is a professional setting. The video publisher confused the concept and misled others.

The short video confuses the concepts of "cancellation of the unified examination" and "cancellation of majors"

The verification even found that the National People’s Congress was wrong to “cancel the unified examination”. According to the "2024 Admissions Brochure for the Master's Degree in Journalism and Communication of the School of Journalism of Renmin University of China" issued by the School of Journalism of Renmin University of China, there are both "recommended" graduate students for the master's degree in journalism and communication at the school and "national unified examination" candidates. The difference is that "in 2024, the postgraduate students for the master's degree in journalism and communication admitted by our school through recommendation without examination will be full-time, and the postgraduate students for the master's degree in journalism and communication admitted through the national unified examination will be part-time."

The video also states that "Nantah University has announced that it will only recruit part-time master's degree graduate students." However, the official website of Nanjing University and the "Nanjing University Master's Degree Admissions Catalog for 2024" both show that Nantah University has neither canceled the undergraduate program in journalism and communication nor canceled the journalism and communication major. Professional full-time master's degree enrollment.

Therefore, what the video calls "multiple 985 cancellations" is wrong.

The video also has a subtitle - "Netizen: This is why I don't go to 985." However, there is nothing in the video that can prove the attitude of netizens in the title. It is entirely the subjective assumption of the publisher.

It can be seen that the above video is full of errors and completely untrustworthy. As of press time, the video has been marked by the platform as "there may be unconfirmed content, please pay attention to screening."

Can you believe what a “senior career planner” says?

Who posted this completely false news? And why publish it?

According to the platform label, the publisher claims to be a "senior career planner, further education planner, and senior international study guidance planner. He has helped 10,000 candidates enter the ideal university. He is good at international study guidance, applying for volunteers, choosing universities, choosing majors, and high schools. "One choice of subjects"...Looking at the content posted by this account, most of it is guidance information for further studies, including score rankings, admissions status, etc. of some schools. In view of the frequent errors in the 13-second short video, the credibility of these contents may also be compromised. However, the self-introduction of the publisher revealed the true purpose of publishing fake news: to attract customers.

The publisher uses professional information from colleges and universities to attract attention and has his own purpose.

Industry insiders analyzed that the account used titles such as "Tsinghua University" and "Journalism and Communication" just to attract attention. "Tsinghua University" and "985 Universities" are well-known and attractive among students and parents, and information about changes in major settings in these schools is easily noticed. Coupled with the recent heated discussion about journalism and communication majors, this video has gained traffic again.

Moreover, although the video is short, it takes a lot of time and energy to check one by one, and students and parents may not be able to see through it at a glance. Some students and parents may choose to consult with this self-proclaimed "career planner" or "advanced education planner" to become his clients in order to further understand the changes in professional settings. At this point, the publisher's purpose has been achieved.

Further investigation also found that if you search for keywords such as "**school** major setting" on social platforms and short video platforms, most of the results that appear come from various exam tutoring institutions, "advanced education planners", etc., and the titles and topics are also Similar to "Tsinghua University cancels the journalism and communication major", "**school cancels the ** major" and "** major is no longer popular" are used as routines. Most of these accounts are not to serve students and parents, but to promote services, courses, and discover potential customers. As for whether the relevant information is true or false, I'm afraid it depends on luck.

For some time, the topic of setting up or adjusting majors in colleges and universities has been a hot topic. Judging from the information transmitted online, many of them are unofficial or non-professional interpretations. The level of interpretation varies. Some are completely misunderstood, and some are obviously for marketing, promotion and other purposes. In view of this, students and parents must distinguish carefully. Judging from the verification process of the Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform, the major settings and enrollment plans of regular universities will be announced through the official website, official account, etc., and you can check them yourself.