Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog » China

AppAfrica: Africa’s first Chinese newspaper – Botswana’s Oriental Post

Judith Townend — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:38:02 +0000

“It’s no secret that China’s mild-infatuation with Africa has only been increasing over the last decade,” writes Jonathan Gosier at AppAfrica.

“If it’s any indicator, the first all Chinese publication in Botswana suggests that things show no sign of slowing. The paper, called The Oriental Post will feature largely Chinese content with a handful of pages written in English. Botswana has between 5,000 and 6,000 Chinese residents living among the total population of 1.8 million.”

Full story at this link…

Originally reported at France24.com.

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Beatblogging.org: Globe and Mail/Reuters using Twitter photos of China riots

Laura Oliver — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:48:51 +0000

According to Beatblogging.org, the Globe and Mail featured five photos that all originally appeared on Twitter as part of its main story yesterday on riots in China.

The images were posted by Chinese citizens using the service and picked up by Reuters – the Globe and Mail took them from the agency’s service and attributed both Twitter and Reuters.

An example of, writes Beatblogging.org, news worthiness overriding photographic quality (the pictures are taken on mobile phones); and the importance of curation as a skill for journalists and editors (Reuters will have had to go through many photos before finding these images).

What’s more it shows the ability of social media and online communities to break through the great Chinese firewall:

“Rather than fear social media and other emerging Web technologies, news organizations should embrace these new technologies. In this case, the Globe and Mail was able to print five incredible photos that illustrate the upheaval and deadly violence in China. These photos would not be possible without social media, and the world would be poorer without these photos.”

Full post at this link…

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China Media Project: ‘Should journalists be tried for official bribery in China?’

Judith Townend — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:39:47 +0000

“The scope and reach of the criminal offense of bribery (受贿罪) has never been clear in China. But the lines become even murkier when the charge is applied to one of the country’s most nebulous professions: journalism. Are Chinese journalists ‘government officials’ or ’state personnel’ to whom stiffer penalties should apply? Or are they performing ordinary service jobs outside the purview of the Criminal Law on bribery involving state officials?” David Bandurski asks in a China Media Project blog post.

Full story at this link…

(via GlobalVoices)

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Telegraph.co.uk: Peter Foster responding to China Daily’s claims

Judith Townend — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:42:09 +0000

The Telegraph’s Peter Foster writes: “In an article headlined ‘Who is spinning the propaganda?’, Patrick Whiteley, an Australian columnist for the paper [China Daily], attacks The Telegraph for ‘constantly labeling’ Chinese government initiatives as propaganda.”

“This is factually incorrect,” Foster responds. “When The Telegraph writes about Chinese health reforms or its plans to green the economy, as I have on this blog and in the pages of the newspaper, the word ‘propaganda’ is nowhere to be found.”

Full story at this link…

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CPJ releases ‘Attacks on the Press in 2008′ report

Laura Oliver — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:51:48 +0000

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released its ‘Attacks on the Press in 2008′ report yesterday and speaking in the preface, Carl Bernstein made two comments that neatly highlight the duplicitious nature of the web when it comes to press freedom:

“[T]he tension between technology and outright repression – the availability of satellite television, the use of the internet as impetus for growth and economic modernization – has rendered obsolete the old methods of press control and suppression of information such as media nationalization and overt censorship.

“In China, which now has more than a quarter billion online users, self-censorship is enforced through government rules and regulations that guide Internet service providers about what news can be posted and who can post it (…) In every country following the Chinese model, internet access has been severely restricted or the plug pulled entirely during periods of potential social unrest.”

Last year CPJ’s imprisonment index noted that more online journalists were in jail than those working in any other media.

While the US’ ranking in terms of imprisoned journalists is low, the country’s actions have ‘a disproportionate impact’ on the rest of the world. With a new administration comes new hope for global press freedom, Bernstein adds.

“President Barack Obama must recognise that whenever the United States fails to uphold press freedom at home or on the battlefield, its actions ripple across the world. By scrupulously upholding press freedom at home, by ending the practice of open-ended detentions of journalists, and by investigating and learning from each instance in which the US military is responsible for the death of a journalist, Obama can send an unequivocal message about the country’s commitment to protecting press freedom. These policies might accelerate declines in the numbers of journalists killed and imprisoned. They will certainly make it much harder for governments worldwide to justify repressive policies by citing the actions of the United States.”

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AP: Top 10 news stories of the year

Laura Oliver — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:00:40 +0000

Barack Obama's election victory named top news story of 2008 in Associated Press' annual poll, voted for by US editors and news directors. Oil prices, the Beijing Olympics and Mumbai terror attacks all feature in the list.

NYTimes.com: Can you see my blog, Times reporter asks China

Laura Oliver — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:59:49 +0000

Times' reporter Nicholas Kristof used Twitter and the NYTimes blog to ask Chinese residents whether they could access the New York Times website. According to a Times report, China has blocked internet access to the paper's website.

NYTimes.com: Chinese government defends decision to re-block websites

Judith Townend — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:15:41 +0000

Liu Jianchao, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, has said that the Chinese government had a right to censor web sites that violated the country’s laws, reports the New York Times.

MediaBistro: Worldwide editions of Time magazine will come together

Judith Townend — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:45:51 +0000

Staff cuts at Time Europe are part of a bigger plan 'to consolidate the international editions of Time so that they will be primarily edited out of New York,' MediaBistro reports. "When it's over, the various overseas editions of Time will be edited largely out of New York, and to a lesser extent, out of Hong Kong, insiders said."

Breakingviews teams up with China’s Caijing

Laura Oliver — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:52:00 +0000

Financial news website breakingviews.com has added another content partner in the guise of Chinese financial title, Caijing.

Caijing’s editors will select a daily column from the site’s output for re-publication from today, a press release from breakingviews.com said.

The site, which was founded in 1999, has already entered into syndication deals with the Telegraph, New York Times and Fortune.

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