Xu is a famous journalist and educator in China, and enjoys a high reputation in China's journalism and journalism history. He is called "the founder of journalism". He was the first to teach journalism courses in universities, the first to participate in the establishment of journalism research groups, and the first to publish news monographs. His news thought includes all the contents of news theory, news practice and news career management, which has great enlightenment significance at that time and today. Xu was the first scholar to systematically introduce western news thoughts. His experience in studying in the United States has formed a complete set of western news theory system, which is obviously reflected in journalism. If we advocate that newspapers should have independent social status, we should put forward suggestions and demands on behalf of the people, while the core of western news thought is "freedom of the press", which advocates newspaper independence. For another example, when writing the article "The Nature and Value of Newsprint" to comment on newsprint current affairs, the first position is: "To provide equal publishing opportunities for all parties. News is not only the speech organ of the people, but also everything outside the society. But as long as it is true and reasonable, it should not be asked which faction it belongs to. If it is contrary to the main idea of this newspaper, it should be published for the world to discuss and go hand in hand. " This reflects the values of freedom of speech. On the other hand, the "freedom of the press" advocated by Xu is freedom based on objective facts, that is, the authenticity of facts and the objectivity of reporting facts.

In his book Journalism, Xu said that newspaper public opinion is based on news, and news is based on correct facts, so whether the facts in the news are correct or not determines the soundness of public opinion. Therefore, if a newspaper deviates from the basic principles of truth and objectivity, it will lose its value as a social tool. Xu also has a deep understanding of the professionalism of journalists. He said: "The news compiled by ordinary journalists is not one-sided and pure, but diverse and very complicated. Therefore, if you don't have all kinds of knowledge and know everything, you can't observe thoroughly and record clearly. " So its knowledge is not necessary, but it must be extensive. The idea of "freedom of the press" in the west also requires journalists to be self-disciplined, that is, today's journalistic professionalism and journalistic ethics. Journalists regulate their own news practice through news ethics and professionalism, so as to ensure that newspapers play their positive social benefits. The "golden rule" listed in journalism is actually the creed of professional journalists. Xu enumerated the basic principles that 16 journalists should follow, which is quite insightful even today. Xu himself said in the preface of Journalism: "As this book says, there are many people who draw materials from western countries, but there are no perfect books in western countries, whether it is a record of history or a study of a certain aspect. Those who can make people understand and see the whole leopard at a glance have never seen ... what they say confidently is completely unknown to western scholars. "This self-evaluation is not modest, but it is in line with the facts. However, as the pioneering work of China's journalism education, Xu's Journalism did not simply copy and transplant the western news theory, but the news thought reflected in the book still came from the western news thought system. At least, in Xu's view, as journalists and professional journalists, they should be different from Kang Youwei's "mouthpiece" of enlightenment in Liang Qichao's eyes, but the "eyes and ears" of society.