Happy New Year from Home of Journalists.
Year after year, life opens a fresh chapter. On the first day of 2026, Chinese wisdom illuminates reality: a successful venture should start with a good plan and with clear goals set. Today, we turn once more to the voices of our Media Ambassadors — journalists nominated by press organizations across BRl countries. In their New Year messages, a shared understanding emerges: The dream lofty, the journey long-bold strides will get us there. We continued to embrace the world with open arms, stand on the right side of history, and work with all countries to advance world peace and development and build a community with a shared future for humanity.
For journalists, this belief shapes not only how stories are reported, but also why they are told — to foster understanding,encourage dialogue, and build connections across borders.
At Home of Journalists, we believe such insights grow through continued exchange. This series does not end here. We remain open to more perspectives, more reflections, and more voices from our global journalism community. Read the full texts of the latest New Year messages below, and You’re also welcome to share your own hopes for 2026 with our global journalism community on Home of Journalists Facebook !
1. New Year message from Yang Chengxi
Reporter at CGTN
As journalists today, we share many questions about the future of our profession. One of the most common is this:
Will AI replace journalism, especially documentary and narrative storytelling?
I don’t believe it will.
People turn to news not simply for information, but for understanding. They want to know what is happening to the people around them, or to someone living on the other side of the planet. They want to hear real experiences, told by real people. What truly moves us is not data, but empathy. Not speed, but connection.
Nothing can replace the resonance between human minds and hearts. And as long as that resonance exists, journalism will remain deeply human.
Artificial intelligence may become increasingly powerful in processing and distributing information. But no matter how advanced it becomes, it cannot replace the human desire to listen to another human being telling a lived story. What truly moves us is not data, but empathy. Not speed, but connection.
Nothing can replace the resonance between human minds and hearts. And as long as that resonance exists, journalism will remain deeply human.
2. New Year message from Yu Yilei
Editor-in-chief of China Daily Shanghai Bureau
A Letter from Shanghai: Reflections and Hopes from Your Fellow Storyteller
Hello, my friends and colleagues across the globe!
As I check my calendar in the newsroom in downtown Shanghai, I can’t help but lament the passage of time. The year 2025 is drawing to a close. And what a year it has been!
This year, more than ever, I have felt the weight of our shared vocation. We’ve chronicled stories that shook the foundations of humanity and documented those that firmly rebuilt them. We’ve navigated the turbulent crossroads of geopolitics, where words become weapons. We’ve felt the heat of artificial intelligence, where algorithms overpower journalism.
In Shanghai, a city where futuristic skylines meet ancient lanes, the paradox of our times feels particularly vivid. Here, I’ve reported on groundbreaking AI advancements in one district, while in another, artisans have been preserving traditions for centuries. This contrast is a microcosm of our world: marching towards the future, yet rooted in the past. Our job, I believe, is to hold both these realities in the same frame—to explain the algorithms without losing the soul, to embrace change without losing our footing.
I’ve been reminded that a “global perspective” isn’t just about filing stories from different time zones. It’s a mindset. It’s about connecting the dots between a tech breakthrough in China, a supply chain shift in Southeast Asia, a mega-factory blueprint in Latin America, and a family’s livelihood in the Middle East.
It’s about listening intensively—not just to decision-makers in boardrooms but to workers in factories, students in classrooms, travelers on the streets, and businesspeople in the market. In the face of distracting noise, this is the right way to break through disinformation.
I recall a moment from this year: watching a group of aspiring journalists gather in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, for the Belt and Road Journalists Forum. Many of them had never been to the city. That was an opportunity to gather firsthand information about China. Their eyes alight with curiosity, excitement, and passion. They reminded me of our mission—to seek, to verify, to explain, to bridge differences, and to foster understanding.
So, as we stand on the threshold of a new year, what is my hope for us?
My hope is for a collaborative spirit. The stories that define our age—climate change, the green transition, technological upheaval—know no borders. May we find more ways to partner across continents, to pool resources, and to co-create reporting that is as interconnected as the issues we cover.
My hope is for grounded humanity. In the rush of deadlines and breaking news, let’s never forget the human heart at the center of every statistic, every policy, every event. Let our stories remind people not only of what divides us but, more importantly, of what binds us.
And finally, my hope is for resilient joy. Please take care of yourselves. Find joy in the privilege of being the world’s eyes and ears. This work is a marathon, not a sprint.
From the banks of the Huangpu River, I send you my warmest thoughts. May you have a wonderful 2026.
3. New Year message from Delux Leang
Publisher of Thmeythmey Digital News, Cambodia
As the year draws to a close, I would like to extend my warmest wishes to each of you for a joyful Christmas and a peaceful, inspiring New Year 2026.
The year 2025 has once again reminded us how vital journalism is to our societies. It has been a year of rapid change, technological acceleration, and complex global challenges. Journalists across the world have worked under pressure—often facing misinformation, shrinking spaces for press freedom, security risks, and economic uncertainty—yet they continue to uphold truth, ethics, and public interest. Your commitment, courage, and resilience have strengthened the role of journalism as a pillar of democracy and a voice for the voiceless.
The year 2025 has once again reminded us how vital journalism is to our societies. Your commitment, courage, and resilience have strengthened the role of journalism as a pillar of democracy and a voice for the voiceless.
As we look forward to 2026, we do so with hope and determination. The new year offers an opportunity to reinforce solidarity among journalists, to embrace innovation responsibly, and to continue defending professional standards, credibility, and independence. Together, we can foster a future where journalism remains human-centered, ethical, and impactful in a rapidly evolving media landscape. Happy New Year 2026.
On behalf of the Home of Journalists, I thank you for your dedication and contribution throughout the past year. May 2026 bring you good health, safety, professional growth, and renewed inspiration in your important work.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2026.
4. New Year message from Ayman El Kady
Executive Editor-in-Chief of the Middle East News Agency, Egypt
Warm greetings of appreciation, great wishes, and goodwill from Egypt—the land of civilization and peace—to all respected professors, fellow journalists around the world, and my dear colleagues at the Journalists’ Forum for the Belt and Road Initiative.
Dear colleagues, As we come to the end of The Year 2025, we reflect on a year marked by challenges, perseverance, achievements, and success, as well as ongoing conflicts and humanitarian tragedies that have affected our world in different ways. These experiences remind us of a clear and essential truth: the importance of the principles we have committed to uphold through the Journalists’ Forum for the Belt and Road Initiative, in pursuit of a better future for our countries and for the world.
The “Belt” represents connection, cooperation, and shared benefits, while the “Road” reflects our common direction and collective journey toward peace, justice, mutual respect, and prosperity for all. As journalists, our real strength lies in our ability to influence positively and responsibly. This positive influence enables countries and peoples to cooperate through constructive dialogue and “soft communication,” a concept emphasized by Chinese President Xi Jinping Book, Such communication supports global cooperation across all sectors and encourages shared development in a balanced and sustainable way.
As we begin the year 2026, we must reaffirm our professional responsibilities: honest objectivity, evidence-based judgment, rational analysis, and credibility in reporting news and images to global audiences. These values help build trust, mutual understanding, and respect among nations. They also support meaningful cooperation between peace-loving societies, counter misinformation and bias, and challenge false narratives and rumors promoted by some politically driven media outlets. Relying on fair, accurate, and independent reporting contributes directly to global stability, shared prosperity, and peaceful coexistence.
Dear colleagues, let us continue to highlight the success stories of the Belt and Road Initiative—an initiative that many around the world now see as a constructive alternative to exploitative forms of globalization. The Belt and Road Initiative reflects a model of “inclusive and responsible pure globalization,” grounded in partnership, sustainable development, and cultural exchange. It serves as a bridge between civilizations and a platform for truthful communication at a time of rapid and often unsettling global change.
May 2026 be a year of meaningful professional and humanitarian achievements, where aspirations are realized, collective efforts serve humanity, and the core ethical values of journalism and media are strengthened.
Wishing peace and well-being to our world and our nations, and reaffirming that journalists of the Belt and Road Initiative continue to serve as ambassadors of truth, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit among nations.