The Site:

Covering Asia is an online resource for news coverage and conversation related to Asia, as well as a collection point for Asia-related reporting, projects and events at the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Featured work consists of print, broadcast, radio, and multi-media stories as well as photojournalism and documentary film produced and exhibited at the school since 2005. Presentations in the Asia Colloquium offer news and views from reporters, photographers and film directors who visit from the field as well as the North Gate Hall student journalists and visiting scholars who cover the region.

The site is equally intended as a reference tool for journalists interested in or already covering Asia, featuring guest commentary from journalists and scholars on current issues in Asia, daily headline feeds, lists of useful online resources, and photos from around the region. Comments and suggestions are welcome (see below).

Contributors include current students and visiting scholars at the journalism school, as well as alumni around the globe who cover Asia for print, broadcast and online media.

The Program:

The Asia reporting program at U.C. Berkeley’s journalism school began in 1989 when Carolyn Wakeman joined the faculty as part of the University of California’s campus-wide Pacific Rim Initiative, and the school’s Asia resources expanded significantly after Orville Schell took the helm as dean in 1996. A decade later Asia coverage has become an integral part of the school’s course offerings, and students regularly publish and air their international reporting in the U.S. and foreign media.

The school’s joint degree programs with Asian Studies and International and Area Studies offer opportunities to combine the practice of journalism with language study and academic course work on the region.

The International Visiting Scholars Program draws mid-career professionals from across Asia to a certificate program that provides advanced professional training combined with academic study in many disciplines.

A decade of partnership with The Yomiuri Shimbun brings senior editors from Japan’s largest daily newspaper to North Gate as instructors in an ongoing Reporting on Japan seminar and allows for co-sponsorship of international conferences on media and politics in Northeast Asia.

[Site credits: Design and WordPress theme customization by Josh Chin; banner by Matt Wakeman]