J296 – Reporting in China

This online course aims to teach students about the fundamentals of doing journalism on China, the world’s most populous nation, second-largest economy and a reborn superpower. For these reasons, reporting accurately and fairly on China is as important as ever. It is also more challenging than ever, as the Chinese government ramps up its control on information.

We seek to build context for a more sophisticated understanding of China and for doing journalism about the nation and its people. Students will examine representations of China from the 20th century to the present-day, with a focus on English-language journalism and scholarship in various media as well as work by Chinese and other non-Western journalists in translation. We will look at the reporting in the context of traditional foreign correspondence from the West and examine tropes in the coverage. We will also look at ongoing reporting on China and at emerging themes. Some weeks will have a focus on specific topics, with experts as guest speakers: for example, politics, history, culture, the economy, the environment, technology, China’s foreign policy and U.S.-China policy.

The goal is to prepare students to identify, report and write a fresh, interesting and important story on China. We will also develop a pitching plan for the story in the international media.