Dr Agnes Lam, associate professor in the Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, and director of the university’s Centre for Macau Studies, received a second prize at the Eighth Award for Outstanding Scientific Research in Higher Education (Humanities and Social Sciences), with her book titled ‘The Beginning of the Modern Chinese Press History – Macao Press History 1557-1840’. This monograph updated content related to Macao in the modern press history of China, and many of the revisions have been adopted by journalism history textbooks in the mainland. It is an influential and highly regarded work in academia.
The book studies nearly 300 years of history of the press and publishing industry of Macao from its opening as a free port to the First Opium War. It not only reviews the religious and publishing activities of the Jesuit missionaries Matteo Ricci and Michele Ruggieri and the Protestant missionary Robert Morrison, but also reviews the newspaper translation activities by Lin Zexu and Morrison. The book is based on first-hand materials from libraries and archives Prof Lam visited in Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, and many other places. In her investigation of the beginning of China’s modern journalism history and the historical doubts surrounding Macao’s early journalism history,
Prof Lam found many early publications and newspapers in Macao that had not been noticed or recorded by previous historians.
This book fills a gap in the history of Chinese journalism in Macao, corrects the history of early publications in Macao, pushes back the history of Macao’s Chinese newspapers and periodicals by 60 years, and confirms Macao as the birthplace of both Portuguese and Chinese newspapers in China. It also summarises, from various perspectives, the significance of Macao’s press industry to Macao’s history, China’s journalism history, the history of publishing technology, and the history of cultural exchange between China and the West, before the Opium War. Fang Hanqi, an authority on Chinese journalism history, highly praised this book, saying that it is comparable to the History of Modern Chinese Newspaper Industry written by the famous scholar Zhuo Nansheng, and is an important achievement in the study of journalism history and its contribution will go down in history.
The Award for Outstanding Scientific Research in Higher Education (Humanities and Social Sciences) is the most recognised and influential award in the field of humanities and social sciences in China. Established in 1995 by the Ministry of Education, this triennial award aims to recognise scholars who have made outstanding contributions to humanities and social sciences research.
Prof Lam’s main research interests include the history of communication, media and social construction, and public policy. Earlier, this book also won a first prize at the Fifth Macao Outstanding Achievement Awards for Humanities and Social Sciences. The study was funded by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR and UM (file number: MYRG169(Y1-L3)-FSH11-LIF).
Source: Faculty of Social Sciences
澳門大學社會科學學院傳播系副教授及澳門研究中心主任林玉鳳獨著的《中國近代報業的起點──澳門新聞出版史（1557-1840）》，獲國家教育部頒發第八屆高等學校科學研究優秀成果獎（人文社會科學）的著作論文類二等獎。該書訂正了多個與澳門有關的中國近代出版史內容，考證內容獲內地的新聞學史教科書收錄，在學術界引起了重大迴響。
《澳門新聞出版史 (1557-1840)》研究澳門開埠至第一次鴉片戰爭前的澳門新聞出版事業，時間跨度近300年，當中包括耶穌會傳教士利瑪竇和羅明堅的宗教出版活動、基督教新教傳教士馬禮遜的宗教和新聞出版活動，以及林則徐和馬禮遜的譯報活動等。該書是林玉鳯多次到葡萄牙、西班牙、法國、德國、英國、意大利等地的圖書館及檔案館尋找第一手材料而寫成，包括眾多過去未被史學界注意和記錄的澳門早期出版物和報刊，又特別考證了中國近代新聞史的開端以及澳門早期新聞史的歷史疑團。
此書不但填補中國新聞史上澳門部分的歷史空白，訂正了澳門早期出版物的歷史，將澳門華文報刊史推前了六十年，還從不同角度總結了鴉片戰爭前，澳門新聞出版事業在澳門史、中國新聞史、出版技術史以及中西文化交流史上的意義，確認了澳門同時是中國近代葡語和華文期刊的發源地。中國新聞史研究學術泰斗方漢奇評價該書為新聞史研究的重要成果，其成就堪比著名學者卓南生所著的《中國近代報業發展史》，將永遠為新聞史研究者所關注和參考，其貢獻將載入史冊。
教育部高等學校科學研究優秀成果獎（人文社會科學）是目前國內人文社科領域最具公信力和影響力的重要獎項，是國家教育部為表彰在高校人文社會科學研究中做出突出貢獻的研究人員的重大舉措，自1995年設立以來該獎項三年一評，競爭激烈，最終評選獲獎的研究項目都極具含金量。
林玉鳳長期從事傳播史、傳媒與社會建構、公共政策等多個範疇的研究。此作品亦曾獲第五屆澳門人文社會科學優秀成果評獎一等獎。相關研究獲澳門特別行政區政府文化局和澳門大學（檔案編號：MYRG169(Y1-L3)-FSH11-LIF）資助。
新聞來源：社會科學學院
