A Reporter Rolled Her Eyes, and China’s Internet Broke

Paul Mozur
New York Times
A reporter's eye-roll at China's legislature meeting went viral.

Sinica Podcast

03.01.18

Can Chinese Journalists Criticize the Party-State?

Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn & more from Sinica Podcast
Outside observers typically view China’s media as utterly shackled by the bonds of censorship, unable to critique the government or speak truth to power in any meaningful sense. In part, this is true. Censorship and other pressures do create “no-go...

Viewpoint

11.10.17

Bathed in the Xi Jinping Bromance

Orville Schell
Sitting in a grand salon of the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square and awaiting the official arrival ceremony of President Trump was to be taken back to that period of Sino-Soviet amity when Stalin was Mao’s “big brother” and the Chinese...

From ‘Fake News’ to No News: Tillerson Leaving Press behind on Asia Trip Could Send Message to China

David Nakamura and Carol Morello
Washington Post
Tillerson’s aversion to dealing with U.S. journalists have added to growing questions about the Trump administration’s commitment to a free press and transparent government.

China Is Playing Nice to the Very Media Outlets Trump Has Antagonized

Zheping Huang
Quartz
U.S. president Donald J. Trump’s antagonism toward major media outlets has created an opportunity for China’s leaders to offer up a contrasting, seemingly more open style—however misleading that is.

China Congress: BBC Team Forced to Sign Confession

John Sudworth
BBC
The story reveals more about the exercise of power in China than any interview ever could. It is one that involves violence, intimidation and a forced confession—in which I found myself apologizing for “behavior causing a bad impact” and for trying...

Hong Kong Human Rights Situation ‘Worst Since Handover to China’

Benjamin Haas
Guardian
Amnesty International report says rule of law, freedom of speech, and trust in government all deteriorated in 2016

Conversation

09.13.16

Can China’s Best Newspaper Survive?

Isaac Stone Fish, David Schlesinger & more
On September 9, the South China Morning Post’s Chinese-language website went dark with little explanation, leading to concerns that censorship might next spread to the newspaper’s English-language coverage. Can Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, who has...

China Just Earned Its Worst Ever Score in an Annual Global Press Freedom Survey

Charlie Campbell
Time
Freedom House scored China 87/100—with higher marks indicating greater restrictions—on press freedom in its 2016 survey.

‘My Personal Vendetta’

Ian Johnson from New York Review of Books
The presumed kidnapping of the Hong Kong bookseller and British citizen Lee Bo late last year has brought international attention to the challenges faced by the Hong Kong publishing business. During a break from The New York Review’s conference on...

Conversation

12.15.15

Can an Alibaba ‘Morning Post’ Aid China’s Image Overseas?

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, David Wertime & more
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is buying the Hong Kong media group of the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the leading independent English-language newspaper in the former British colony where freedom of the press has resisted control by the...

Media

12.14.15

R.I.P. SCMP?

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian & David Wertime
On December 11, Chinese Internet behemoth Alibaba announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Hong Kong’s flagship English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The announcement came as no surprise, as the ailing paper...

Mission Improbable—Jack Ma, China’s Biggest E-Commerce Tycoon, Wants To Be a Media Mogul Too

Economist
Jack Ma, Alibaba’s billionaire boss, wants to be a global media mogul.

Media

11.12.15

Good Journalist, Bad Journalist

David Bandurski
As China marked its annual Journalists’ Day over the weekend, proclaiming the importance of “correct news ideals,” even jaded New Yorkers stopped in their tracks and took notice. How could they not? The message beamed over 7th Avenue on Times Square...

Mystery Surrounds Disappearance of Xinjiang Article and Related Apology

Dan Levin
New York Times
An article on a Muslim couple jailed for beard and burqa appeared Sunday in state media but was gone Monday.

Viewpoint

10.20.14

‘A Power Capable of Making Us Weep’

Hu Yong
This September, the editors of the online edition of the 21st Century Business Herald—a leading Chinese business newspaper based in Guangzhou and owned by Southern Media Group (Nanfang Baoye Jituan)—came under investigation on charges of extortion...

Hong Kong Media Worries Over China’s Reach as Ads Disappear

Michael Forsythe and Neil Gough
New York Times
In what may be a major escalation of pressure by mainland China on Hong Kong’s independent-minded news media, two major British banks have stopped advertising with one of the city’s biggest newspapers, a top media executive said.

A Media Mogul, Alone on the Island

John Garnaut
Foreign Policy
Hong Kong's fiery beacon of the free press, Apple Daily, is under threat from shadowy forces. Can it survive if Beijing wants it dead or quiet?

Media

04.02.14

The Future of Democracy in Hong Kong

Veteran Hong Kong political leaders Anson Chan and Martin Lee describe some of the core values—such as freedom of the press—that they seek to maintain as Beijing asserts greater control over the territory seventeen years after Britain handed it back...

Fears for Press Freedom in Hong Kong After Influential Editor Stabbed

Clifford Coonan
Hollywood Reporter
Kevin Lau, recently fired as chief editor of a Chinese-language daily known for its hard-hitting reporting, was knifed by unknown assailants who rode off on a motorcycle.

Two New Reports Slam Hong Kong Media Self-Censorship

Hong Wrong
Hong Kong fell to 61st in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, behind Burkina Faso, Moldova and Haiti.

Journo for a Journo

Joshua Keating
Slate
If China kicks out U.S. journalists, should the U.S. do the same to Chinese journalists?

Foreign Correspondents in China Do Not Censor Themselves to Get Visas

Hannah Beech
Time
Compared with five years ago, when the Chinese leadership promised to ease restrictions on foreign journalists as part of reforms unveiled during the Beijing Olympics charm campaign, the atmosphere has clearly chilled. 

Caixin Media

11.04.13

China’s Chilling Effect for Investor Research

Shanghai investor Wang Weihua’s final microblog post October 12 was brief and ominous: “The police are coming.”Three days later, Wang’s family said he’d been taken into custody by police officers who traveled more than 3,600 kilometers to Wang’s...

Caixin Media

10.28.13

How Police Got It So Wrong Arresting a Journalist

The arrest of a journalist for allegedly damaging the reputation of an equipment manufacturer has spurred debate in both the media and legal circles. The discussions revolve around the rights of the press, interpretation of the law, and possible...

Reports

10.22.13

CCTV’s International Expansion: China’s Grand Strategy for Media?

Anne Nelson
Center for International Media Assistance
China Central Television has come a long ways since its founding as a domestic party propaganda outlet in 1958. The domestic service has been supplemented by an international service, boasting three major global offices in Beijing, Washington, and...

Reports

10.22.13

The Long Shadow of Chinese Censorship

Sarah Cook
Center for International Media Assistance
This report provides a survey of the phenomenon of censorship and its recent evolution as it pertains to the news media sector, though similar dynamics also affect the film, literature, and performing arts industries. Specifically, this report...

Censoring the News Before It Happens

Perry Link from New York Review of Books
Every day in China, hundreds of messages are sent from government offices to website editors around the country that say things like, “Report on the new provincial budget tomorrow, but do not feature it on the front page, make no comparisons to...

Reports

02.28.13

Challenged in China

David Schlesinger, Sophie Beach, Madeline Earp, and Danny O'Brien
Committee to Protect Journalists
As Xi Jinping takes office as president of China, the citizenry he governs is more sophisticated and interconnected than any before, largely because of the Internet. A complex digital censorship system—combined with a more traditional approach to...

Conversation

02.01.13

China’s Cyberattacks — At What Cost?

James Fallows, Donald Clarke & more
James Fallows: Here are some initial reactions on the latest hacking news.We call this the “latest” news because I don’t think anyone, in China or outside, is actually surprised. In my own experience in China, which is limited compared with many of...

Reports

09.08.10

Winds From the East: How the People’s Republic of China Seeks to Influence the Media in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia

Douglas Farah and Andy Mosher
Center for International Media Assistance
The People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) is using various components of public diplomacy to influence the media in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. China’s primary purposes appear to be to present China as a reliable friend and partner, as...

Reports

01.31.10

China Clings to Control: Press Freedom in 2009

Serenade Woo
International Federation of Journalists
It has been a tough year for press freedom in China, as the fading international spotlight on the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing emboldened central and provincial authorities to revert to clamping down on journalists and media that seek to present a...