Research On Public Opinion Management In Higher Education Institutions Under The Background Of Media Integration

The advent of the 5G era gives rise to the further convergence of new social media and traditional media,which has fundamentally changed the mechanisms of information dissemination and public opinion spread.College students are among the most active Internet user groups,they are vibrant and outspoken,they are open-minded and lead the trend on the Internet.Nevertheless,as most college students are still in late adolescence and early adulthood,their ideals and values are not yet full-fledged.Consequently,their behavior and speech are oftentimes impulsive,which can be misled by misinformation on the Internet.At present,there have been frequent reports of public opinion incidents caused by college students,which have posed significant challenges to the stability of higher education institutions(HEIs)and thereby engender various social issues to the wider community.The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19 th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has pointed out that the Party should further improve the guidance,oversight and dissemination mechanisms of public opinions,strive to construct a system for Internet public opinion management.In light of the above,to investigate public opinion management in HEIs under the media convergence,and thereby to build an effective and enduring college student public opinion management system would be beneficial for maintaining a stable and harmonious society,which makes it an important research topic in the time of the Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.Therefore,this study holds significant practical implications.Drawing upon field study,questionnaire survey and employing crisis life cycle theories,this study delves into a series of public opinion management issues in HEIs.In order to gain a better understanding of public opinions among college students and thus to put forward well-directed suggestions,this study conducted a survey among college students at H University in Huzhou City.A total of 260 questionnaires were distributed and 250 valid respondents were collected.The analysis of questionnaires helps to understand the details of college students’ online activities,sources of information and their attitude towards public opinion management in HEIs,etc.Meanwhile,the author also interviewed several responsible officials and managers for the public opinion management from government agencies,universities,social media,and student organizations.By doing so,this study is able to identify an array of challenges and problems in public opinion management among HEIs,which include legal imperfections in handling public opinion management,absence of external supports,short of internal handling capacity,the premature public opinion guidance system,the unprofessional and inactive public opinion management teams,etc.Based on the analysis of typical case studies,this study came up with a number of suggestions to help improve public opinion management in HEIs.For example,taking further legislative actions against the existing problems,enforcing tentative real-name registration in some specific domains,strengthening external supports outside HEIs,establishing the “two systems-two cases” model and improving professional team building,etc.