Author: zhang.6865

China: Final Information Network

Traditional Format

  • Title: China Daily
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: PRC Culture Department (state-owned company)
  • Format/ type of the source: “traditional” periodicals, such as newspapers and magazines
  • How to access the source: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/
  • Updating frequency: everyday
  • Detailed description of the source
    • Country of origin: China
    • Language: Chinese, but also translated into more than 20 languages
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: traditional newspaper now with both digital and print versions in various translated languages worldwide. The information is mainly news reports and journals with photos in the source. However, in the digital version to check out online, few videos can be found.
    • The source’s perspective: It is more like a platform to keep the pace with China’s development by timely acquire the news of new achievements.
    • Strengths and weaknesses: China Daily is not really a good English learning material, because many expressions are “Chinese characteristics English.” The “Chinese characteristics” here refers to the fact that certain words, sentences, and contents can only be understood by the Chinese people. For native speakers of English, these expressions are very incomprehensible. Although the company is established in China as its main location site, it holds nearly 45 million print and web readers worldwide, and its global circulation accelerates around 900,000 copies.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: As for the fact that China Daily can reflect the status quo in China, China Daily is like a news network to simply state out what’s now Chinese government is doing. I chose this newspaper because it is one of the most-frequently quoted Chinese media around the world. It is a national English-language newspaper founded in 1981. In addition, it covers domestic (China) and world news through nine print editions and digital media.

 

  • Title: The Economist Magazine
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: The Economist has been editorially independent since it was founded in September 1843 to take part “in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress.” The share capital of The Economist Newspaper Limited, The Economist Groups parent company, is divided into ordinary shares, special shares, special shares and trust shares.
  • Format/ type of the source: “traditional” periodicals, such as newspapers and magazines
  • How to access the source: https://www.economist.com/
  • Updating frequency: every week
  • Detailed description:
    • Country of origin: The United Kingdoms
    • Language: English
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: like China Daily, The Economist also includes both digital and print versions. In print versions, the type of information in the source is conventional magazine with quick piece news and journals with pictures or cartoons, as well as data visualizations.
    • The source’s perspective: As an international news magazine, The Economist incorporates a special section for China’s news. However, the authors in this section to report China or Chinese government are nearly all western journalists, as stereotype criticizing China’s dictatorship.
    • Strengths and weaknesses: on its official website, besides digital version of each report, there are also a lot of video links and audio conversational reports for the public to approach. It was one of the international traditional magazines that include a large portion of China’s news in its international section. Readers are able to understand how people from outside China regard the images of my own country, but just from western elites scholars’ standpoints.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: I chose this for people who want to know about China because the magazine has known to nearly everyone who holds a little bit knowledge about history, created in 1843 to campaign against the Corn Laws. This magazine is popular worldwide and I have been subscribing it since I entered college. In addition, I chose this also because it was one of the traditional magazines that include a large portion of China’s news in its international section.

 

  • Title: HKFP-Hong Kong Free Press
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: Hong Kong Free Press is a non-profit English language news source seeking to unite critical voices. Free and independent, HKFP launched in 2015 amid rising concerns over declining press freedom in Hong Kong and during an important time in the city’s constitutional development.
  • Format/ type of the source: “traditional” periodicals, such as newspapers and magazines
  • How to access the source: https://www.hongkongfp.com/
  • Updating frequency: everyday
  • Detailed description
    • Country of origin: Hong Kong, China
    • Language: mainly Chinese and English
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: like the former two, HKFP also includes both digital and print versions. In print versions, the type of information in the source is conventional magazine with quick piece news and journals with pictures or cartoons, as well as data visualizations. In addition, on its official website, besides digital version of each report, there are also a lot of video links and audio conversational reports for the public to approach.
    • The source’s perspective: These total three traditional information formats I collect would be a division of standpoints to look at China. China Daily is the positive way, The Economist is the neutral and object one, while HKFP is the strongly offensive and opposite perspective towards China mainland.
    • Strengths and weaknesses: HKFP illustrates how the same news interpreted differently from two stances with same mother language. Its characteristics of criticizing China’s limits on freedom, sovereignty, and human rights are the attractions for me to research my country’s information. The considerable repudiator would bring another perspective on how decisions of Chinese government may actually affect or even persecute people from another region or political party.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: HKFP aims to be the most independent and credible English-language news source in Greater China. We seek to amplify the voices of the voiceless, not the powerful. And our platform will act as a monitor should Hong Kong’s core values and freedoms be threatened. The HKFP team is fully committed to reporting the facts, without fear, favor or interference.

 

New Media Website

  • Title: Global Voices
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: Global Voices is incorporated in the Netherlands as Stichting Global Voices, a nonprofit foundation. The Global Voices community is comprised of volunteer contributors and contracted staff, governed by a board of directors. Read more about our work in our annual reports, which incorporate our annual financials.
  • Format/ type of the source: “new media” text-based sources such as blogs and websites
  • How to access the source: https://globalvoices.org/
  • Updating frequency: will update when journalists have new articles to discuss
  • Detailed description
    • Country of origin: Netherlands
    • Language: more than 40 languages
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: Global Voices construct the conversation on citizen media reporting since 2005. They curate, verify and translate trending news and stories you might be missing on the Internet, from blogs, independent press and social media in 167 countries. Sometimes the information also includes articles scattered in bits and pieces across the Internet, in blog posts and tweets, and in multiple languages.
    • The source’s perspective: neutral analysis on China’s current news and unbiased critical thinking. Sometimes, the section about China also includes a lot of voices from the public collected through Twitter and Facebook.
    • Strengths and weaknesses: Although it is ineffective to update some countries’ news, it is intriguing to find that its China’s news section is quite in trend. In addition, there are a considerable number of news posts about women, gender, and sexualities, which is the exact direction I am trying to research more. I would check it twice a week to some extent. In addition, online readers can find translated stories from more than 40 languages.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: I chose this source as information network because its operation approach is innovative and trust worthy. The team groups are completely virtual and don’t have a physical office, but work as a virtual community across multiple time zones, often from our homes, cafés or public libraries. People in Global Voices meet in-person during biannual Summits. The authors are experts in the areas they write about and every story published on Global Voices is vetted by members of our impressive editorial team. It follows a rigorous editorial code inspired by the Society of Professional Journalists.

 

  • Title: All Africa
  • Author/ Organization behind the source:com is a website that aggregates news produced primarily on the African continent about all areas of African life, politics, issues and culture. The owner of the website is AllAfrica Global Media company. It has offices in Cape Town, Dakar, Lagos, Monrovia, Nairobi, and Washington, D.C.. AllAfrica is the successor to the African News Service.
  • Format/ type of the source: “new media” text-based sources such as blogs and websites
  • How to access the source: http://allafrica.com/
  • Updating frequency: everyday
  • Detailed description
    • Country of origin: South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Liberia, Kenya, and the United States
    • Language: English and French
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: The current news and the archived news stories that the site presents are organizable by pull-down menus; the 1000 or so stories that are presented daily can be displayed by categories and subcategories such as country, region, and by dozens of standard news topics like business news, sports news, culture, climate, military, NGOs, World Cup, etc.
    • The source’s perspective: Most of the stories viewers read on this site come from newspapers, news agencies and publications all over the African continent. They aggregate and distribute the reporting of more than 130 media organizations.
    • Strengths and weaknesses: All Africa reflects the diversity of reporting, analysis and commentary from as many as possible of the influential media in every country. They include government and opposition-controlled papers, as well as the growing number of independent, professional news publications across the continent. In this way, we provide access to a full range of what Africans themselves are saying, thinking and publishing — a unique compilation of information that is valuable to policy makers, businesses, non-governmental organizations, scholars and journalists, as well as to the general public.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: I chose this source because of the mutual importance of China and Africa diplomatic influences on each other. China includes at least four major national interests in Africa: political, economic, security, and ideology. Because of the large number of African countries, which hold considerable voting scales, China seeks African support for the Communist Party’s domestic political status and foreign policy agenda, especially in multilateral forums. Africa’s abundant natural resources and untapped market potential have created numerous business opportunities for Chinese business participants. However, China’s economic presence in Africa continues to intensify, and it also poses challenges for China’s investment in Africa’s prosperity and national security. So far, this is China’s security priority in Africa. Since China has promoted the “democratization of international relations”, the success of the “China model” and good relations with non-democratic countries in Africa have become increasingly important goals for China’s internal affairs and diplomacy.

 

Social Media Source

  • Title: Sina Weibo
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: Sina Company.
  • Format/ type of the source: Social media sources
  • How to access the source: Through Sina Weibo App with an account
  • Updating frequency: every second
  • Detailed description
    • Country of origin: China
    • Language: Chinese
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: Users can post messages or upload photos via web pages, WAP pages, mobile clients, SMS, MMS. Sina can understand Weibo as a “micro-blog” or “sentence blog.” Users can write what they see, hear, and think of in words, or send a picture, share it with friends anytime, anywhere through their computer or mobile phone, share and discuss together, and they can also pay attention to their friends and see friends instantly.
    • The source’s perspective: Sina Weibo is one of the best platforms for releasing exclusive information. Sina Weibo is, in a sense, “a never-ending news conference.” It provides an unprecedented and simple way for people and organizations to publicly express themselves in real time, interact with others on a massive global platform and stay connected with the world.
    • Strengths and weaknesses: Sina Weibo has become one of the important sources of media monitoring and tracking of emergency news. The press conference is the place where information is published, and where the news happens, it means that the changes in Sina Weibo itself are worth reporting. This fully proves McLuhan’s point of view – “media is information.” The commercialization of the Sina Weibo platform will mainly rely on self-service advertising and value-added application.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: I chose it because it is more formal than a twitter but casual than a post blog, holding the largest user population in China. Weibo is a leading social media platform for people to create, distribute and discover Chinese-language content. Also, the users include ordinary people, celebrities, and other public business, government agencies or organizations.

 

  • Title: Zhi Hu
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: Zhi Hu completed the $22 million Series B round of financing led by Softbank Wealth, and C round financing 55 million US dollars, the new investors for Tencent and Sogou, Tencent lead.
  • Format/ type of the source: Social media sources
  • How to access the source: Through Zhihu App with an account
  • Updating frequency: every second
  • Detailed description
    • Country: China
    • Language: Chinese
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: Zhihu is an online Q&A community that connects users from all walks of life. Users share each other’s knowledge, experience and insights, providing a variety of information for the Chinese Internet. To be precise, knowing is more like a forum: users engage in relevant discussions around a topic of interest, and they can focus on people with similar interests. For a conceptual explanation, the Web Encyclopedia covers almost all your questions; but for the integration of divergent thinking, it is a major feature to know.
    • The source’s perspective: various descriptive opinion and analysis on scholar topics
    • Strengths and weaknesses: Zhi Hu is more exclusive than the forum, each registered user has a PR (Person Rank), and each of your operations will directly affect your personal PR value. When answering, the answer sequence is sorted by the number of votes in favor, and if the number of votes is the same, it is sorted by the individual’s PR value, and the answer that is considered invalid is hidden. This filters considerable spam to a certain extent.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: I chose Zhi Hu as a valuable source because of high authority of the answers on the website based on the credit-based SNS relationships. This also almost negates the possibility of any large Internet company entering the Quora Q&A. Because large-scale Internet companies generally have a wide audience, Quora-based quizzes are not simply based on sentiment, but value-to-information ratios (value information/total information volume), that is, the amount of elite information generated.

 

Data sources

  • Title: CNKI
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: Tsing Hua University
  • Format/ type of the source: data source
  • How to access the source: http://www.cnki.net/
  • Updating frequency: will update when scholars have new articles to publish
  • Detailed description
    • Country of origin: China
    • Language: Chinese
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: Journals, newspapers, doctoral dissertations, conference papers, books, patents, etc. Therefore, the content of CNKI has extremely high collection value and use value of literature, which can serve as a basis for academic research and scientific decision-making.
    • The source’s perspective: neutral, database for Chinese scholar’s researches and reports
    • Strengths and weaknesses: Based on the detailed indexing of document content, CNKI literature search provides search functions for titles, authors, keywords, abstracts, and full-text data items. The knowledge clustering function provided by CNKI literature search is not available for general search engines. Based on the fast clustering algorithm, the knowledge points of the returned results are clustered, and the main knowledge points are displayed to the user, helping the user to improve the search expression and expand the search intention.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: I chose this because it provides a comprehensive gateway of knowledge of China. It would update randomly and frequently based on the articles and researches put. It is a database construction and services group in China as a state-owned enterprise holding by Tsinghua Uniersity. It is dedicsted to integration and dissemination of knowledge, online publishing and related technical services.

 

  • Title: UN Data
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: United Nations
  • Format/ type of the source: data source
  • How to access the source: http://data.un.org/
  • Updating frequency: once a year
  • Detailed description
    • Country of origin: no country, United Nations
    • Languages: 5 official UN languages
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: basic data worldwide covering politics, economy, population, transportation, and energy.
    • The source’s perspective: neutral, statistical language to demonstrate the data on various indexes to measure national development
    • Strengths and weaknesses: it is precious to check a lot of information through China’s country report and different divisions in China like demographic and information society. It is an important database in the world, covering politics, economy, population, transportation, and energy. It can be divided into basic data and country profiles, rich in information, access to data from the Internet.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: The United Nations Statistics Division is committed to the advancement of the global statistical system. We compile and disseminate global statistical information, develop standards and norms for statistical activities, and support countries’ efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems. We facilitate the coordination of international statistical activities and support the functioning of the United Nations Statistical Commission as the apex entity of the global statistical system.

 

  • Title: World Bank Databank
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: The World Bank
  • Format/ type of the source: data source
  • How to access the source: https://data.worldbank.org/
  • Updating frequency: update regularly (quarterly, monthly, annually)
  • Detailed description
    • Country of origin: no country, The World Bank, basically the United States
    • Languages: 5 official UN languages
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: the Development Data Group coordinates statistical and data work and maintains a number of macro, financial and sector databases. Working closely with the Bank’s regions and Global Practices, the group is guided by professional standards in the collection, compilation and dissemination of data to ensure that all data users can have confidence in the quality and integrity of the data produced.
    • The source’s perspective: neutral, statistical language to demonstrate the data on various indexes to measure national development
    • Strengths and weaknesses: Developing countries face a number of problems in providing statistics that meet these criteria. They often find themselves caught in a vicious cycle—under-investment in national statistical systems constrains activities and results in data of poor quality, which policymakers are unwilling to rely on. This lack of demand for the data leads to fewer resources being made available for their production and quality control. Other than that, the World Bank works closely with the international statistical community including the agencies of the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the regional development banks,
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: although China has its own professional team to study and operate data and statistics, it is hard for ordinary people to look up and have a visit. However, the World Bank Databank includes investments in statistical activities, creating and implementing standards and frameworks for data collection, analysis and dissemination, strengthening the international statistical system, and compiling global data sets. There is also much to be done in raising awareness of the value of statistics among governments, decision makers and other users. As advocates for statistics, we work in close partnership with developing countries and our partners in the international community.

 

Visual and Audio Based Sources

  • Title: Videos on CCTV.com
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: Chinese Government
  • Format/ type of the source: Visual and/or audio-based sources, such as television and radio sites
  • Updating frequency: every day
  • Detailed description
    • Country of origin: China
    • Language: Chinese and English
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: videos and tv shows programs from various functions such as news dissemination, social education, culture and entertainment, and information services.
    • The source’s perspective: positive on everything going on in China. It is a typical form of media to show the world in China’s perspective.
    • Strengths and Weaknesses: The Central Television Station (CCTV for short, CCTV for short) is a national deputy ministry-level institution directly under the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China. Founded on May 1, 1958, it is a news media organization and ideology in China. Cultural sites have various functions such as news dissemination, social education, culture and entertainment, and information services.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: I chose it because of its official characteristic. It is the official news TV reporting in China, while it also has a lot of foreign countries’ website updating global and Chinese news including the United States. It is constantly updated with top news from China and around the world, offering news reports, live and on-demand video content and searchable archives.

 

  • Title: TED Talk
  • Author/ Organization behind the source: Ted talk company.
  • Format/ type of the source: Visual and/or audio-based sources, such as television and radio sites
  • Detailed description
    • Country of origin: the United States and Canada
    • Language: English and other more than 40 languages
    • Format/ type of the source and what type of information can be found: There are many types of TED video lectures, including outstanding figures in the fields of science, design, literature, and music, sharing their thoughts and explorations on technology, society, and people.
    • The source’s perspective: various perspective from the speakers to spread their thoughts on diverse topics
    • Strengths and weaknesses: it is intriguing particularly on the project of TEDx, on China’s topics. TEDx’s localized, self-organizing activities can bring people together to share experiences and experiences similar to TED. In the TEDx event, the video of the speech combined with the live speaker inspired a deeper discussion and closer contact within the group. This local, spontaneous activity is called TEDx. “x” represents the TED activity of an independent organization. The TED conference provided general guidelines for the TEDx project, but the individual TEDx events were organized by the (locals) themselves.
    • Why I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country: I chose TED as the source because it has a considerable influence of celebrities to increase its authority. Everybody who has the opportunity to come to the TED conference to give a speech has an extraordinary experience. They are either leaders in a certain field or start-ups in a certain emerging field, or they have made certain enough for the society. Innovation to change. For example, Craig Venter, a leader in human genome research, and Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the “One Hundred Dollars Laptop for Every Child” project, single-player Ben Saunders who slid to the North Pole, and contemporary brilliant linguist Steven Pinker. As for stars like Al Gore, it’s a regular visitor to TED.

 

 

Global News Post #6-China

The article targets to point out the consequence of dropping One-Child policy to allow couples who are both the only one kid at home to give birth twice because of a shrinking labor force in current China. “Chinese Communist Party (C.C.P.) …hoped that the new policy would bring three million additional births a year through 2020 and add more than 30 million workers to the labor force by 2050.”In case of this new policy, Mainstream demographers believe that relaxing the birth control policy will not lead to a surge in population. It will also bring about many benefits such as the normalization of the sex ratio at birth and the relaxation of social conflicts. From the survey sample distribution, the number of people thinking that the two children should be implemented accounted for 58.23%, more than half, and the number of people who chose to continue to adhere to strict one-child only accounted for 9.17% of the overall ratio.

 

However, according to the news report, after the full-fledged two-child policy was opened, some experts predicted that “the Chinese population will usher in an explosive growth. In 2017, China should have at least 20.23 million people born.” What is the truth? Not long ago, the National Bureau of Statistics released a set of data: “In 2017, China’s total birth population was 17.23 million in the year, a decrease of 630,000 from 2016; the birth rate was 12.43‰, and the neonatal and birth rates were both lower, and the ratio of two children was 51.2. The above data shows two points: 1. The number of births of two children is far below the expected value (a digital gap of 3 million); 2. In the case of a decrease in the total birth volume, the number of two children increases, but it means that one child was born. The number was severely declining, and the data hit the experts’ predictions. The reality is that after 80s, they do not want to chase their second child, and even after 90s, they do not want to be born. Indeed, today, after 80 and 90, they are faced with all sorts of colors. The pressure is on the social status quo of high housing prices, high investment in education, highly competitive workplace environment, and incomplete medical and social security.

 

Fincher, Leta Hong. “China Dropped Its One-Child Policy. So Why Aren’t Chinese Women Having More Babies?”The New York Times. Feb 20, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/opinion/china-women-birthrate-rights.html Accessed April 2, 2018.

 

Marta Monteiro. “Second Child Policy for New Born Babies.” The New York Times. Feb 20, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/opinion/china-women-birthrate-rights.html. Accessed April 2, 2018.

 

China Global News Post #5– Feminism boosting in China on International Women’s Day

This piece of news is illustrating the upraising feminism in China along with the celebration of International Women’s Day. The issue was triggered by the event that “a prominent Chinese feminist account was forcibly shut down on Thursday – International Women’s Day. The Feminist Voices account on Sina Weibo, one of China’s most popular social media platforms, received a notice saying it was suspended due to “irregularities” late on Thursday evening.” Many women in China today believe that the existence of Women’s Day is not only the result of women’s pursuit of their own equal rights, but also the social concern for vulnerable groups. However, this result also precisely reflects the phenomenon of inequality. Gender equality should be a consensus, reflected in all times when human beings exist. When women’s rights can only be one day out of 365 days, acceptance means that people can selectively forget about the remaining 364 days. Hong Kong Free Press is a non-profit, English-language news source seeking to unite critical voices on local and national affairs. Free of charge and completely independent, HKFP launched in 2015 amid rising concerns over declining press freedom in Hong Kong. It was the city’s first crowdfunded media outlet, and the fastest-funded, biggest crowdfunding project of its time.

Lv, Pin. “Photos reposted by Feminist Voices opposing sexual harassment.” Weibo. Hong Kong Free Press. March 9, 2018. https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/03/09/prominent-chinese-feminist-social-media-account-censored-international-womens-day/. Accessed March 25, 2018.

Lai, Catherine. “Prominent Chinese feminist social media account censored on International Women’s Day”. Hong Kong Free Press. March 9, 2018. https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/03/09/prominent-chinese-feminist-social-media-account-censored-international-womens-day/. Accessed March 25, 2018.

 

 

Xi Jinping is turning China backward?–China News Post #4

This news is kind of a big news, as a dramatic change in Chinese political structure. Starting from March the 5th, China is going to hold its National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the two most important political meeting in China to promulgate significant policies and changes on political structures. The decision of abolishing term limits of China’s president will be officially published, already announced on February 25th. The maximum of president term limits is 10 years, determined by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s in order to validate the credits of governments after the chaos of the late Mao era (Mao Zedong, the first president of PRC). After the announcement, there are a lot of critics and skeptical news reports demonstrating Xi is going to turn China back to Mao’s era, while trying to shape China’s images as highly globalization and international friendly. I have searched for several news from New York Times, The Economist, and Hong Kong Press, the voice of repudiation on China’s current dictatorship is predominant. However, back to the voice of official press in China, the government claims that at present, the CPC constitutional chapter has not stipulated “no more than two consecutive terms of office” for the party’s general secretary of the Central Committee, chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission, and president of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China.

 

“Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits.” The Economists, The Economist Group Limited, 1 March 2018, https://www.economist.com/news/china/21737543-unhappiness-china-palpable-xi-jinping-decides-abolish-presidential-term-limits. Accessed 4 March 2018.

 

Wong, Andy. Souvenir plates bearing images of Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and late Chinese leader Mao Zedong are displayed at a shop near Tiananmen Square. March 2016, Beijing. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/05/23/xi-jinping-is-putting-the-house-in-order-or-is-china-facing-destabilizing-changes/?utm_term=.c242ef8fe08a. Accessed 4 March 2018.

Global News Post #3– China

This news is illustrating a racism critics China faced in its celebration of Lunar New Year of Spring Festival Gala, which is the most important TV program in China annually. However, this year the Gala included a sketch set in Africa to acclaim the achievement of Chinese railroad built in Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya. In the segment, the stereotype elements such as young marriage in underdeveloped regions and an older Chinese actress darken her face to affect as an African woman raised some critics to be racist. The screenshot of the black actress shouting “I love China!” intensifies the controversial conflicts, accused as globally racial discrimination due to the widespread viewers. The resources are of diversity of both primary and secondary. In the article, the evidence is mostly gathered from the quotes of Sina Weibo and Twitter users along with the original show of the play. In addition, the author also cites the interview sections to defend China CCTV, saying “not intend to defend …but are guilty of laziness or ignorance…”

CCTV Screenshot. Screen capture from Chinese spring festival gala via Hong Kong Free Press. 17 February 2018. Global Voices. https://globalvoices.org/2018/02/19/chinese-state-tv-lambasted-for-racist-lunar-new-year-sketch-featuring-blackface/ Accessed 23 February 2018.

Hong Kong Free Press. CC BY 3.0.“Chinese State TV Lambasted for ‘Racist’ Lunar New Year Sketch Featuring Blackface”. Global Voices, 19 February 2018. https://globalvoices.org/2018/02/19/chinese-state-tv-lambasted-for-racist-lunar-new-year-sketch-featuring-blackface/ Accessed 23 February 22, 2018.

 

Global News Post #2– China

The news introduces the notorious breaking stories among the hottest rappers in China recently. As the article depicted, the famous talent show “Rap of China” provided a fresh and fertile soil for rap to grow as an old but nor so familiar form of art in China nowadays. However, the Communist political background does limit some voices to demonstrate rappers’ points of view in China, since a significant part of rapper is to mock with some ribaldry. Moreover, the champion in the news, PG One-Wang Hao, gained his bad reputation by his personal affair with a known married actress who was acclaimed as a wonderful mom and wife with a lovely family. Under the Chinese entertainment atmosphere, celebrities should not only win the praise from their professions, but also need to do more on the establishment of their personal images about virtues. The evidence in the news are all effective from the picture to the quotation of the videos, since they are both prevalent materials about this issue posted on the official claim in Sina Weibo, one of the biggest social platform for people in China. The news is from the magazine The Economist, known as the popular magazine with elites readers and credible sources.

 

“Why hip-hop scares the Chinese Communist Party.” The Economist, 25 Jan. 2018, https://www.economist.com/news/china/21735605-criticised-his-coarse-lyrics-rapper-china-blames-influence-black-music-why-hip-hop. Access 4 February 2018

China–Country Report: International Network

Traditional Format—China Daily is a national English-language newspaper founded in 1981. Even though the company is established in China as its main location site. It holds nearly 45 million print and web readers worldwide, and its global circulation accelerates around 900,000 copies. It covers domestic (China) and world news through nine print editions and digital media. As the name suggested, it updates daily. I chose this newspaper because it is one of the most-frequently quoted Chinese media around the world, and may check the digital media every two or three days.

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/

 

Traditional Format—The Economist Magazine: This magazine has known to nearly everyone who holds a little bit knowledge about history, created in 1843 to campaign against the Corn Laws. This magazine is popular worldwide and I have been subscribing it since I entered college. In addition, I chose this also because it was one of the traditional magazines that include a large portion of China’s news in its international section. It updates per week, and I will check it weekly as usual.

https://www.economist.com/

 

New Media Website—Global Voices: I came to know this website in class a few weeks ago and found it intriguing. Although there are some students reporting its ineffective updating news on their countries, I was surprised to find that its China’s news section is quite in trend. In addition, there are a considerable number of news posts about women, gender, and sexualities, which is the exact direction I am trying to research more. I would check it twice a week to some extent.

https://globalvoices.org/

 

Social Media Sources—Sina Weibo: Weibo is a leading social media platform for people to create, distribute and discover Chinese-language content. It provides an unprecedented and simple way for people and organizations to publicly express themselves in real time, interact with others on a massive global platform and stay connected with the world. I chose it because it is more formal than a twitter but casual than a post blog, holding the largest user population in China. Also, the users include ordinary people, celebrities, and other public business, government agencies or organizations. I check it everyday. [NOTE: I have the Weibo app on my phone as the resource.]

 

Data sources—CNKI is a database construction and services group in China as a state-owned enterprise holding by Tsinghua University. It is dedicsted to integration and dissemination of knowledge, online publishing and related technical services. I chose this because it provides a comprehensive gateway of knowledge of China. It would update randomly and frequently based on the articles and researches put.

http://oversea.cnki.net/new/

 

Visual and Audio Based Sources—Videos on CCTV.com: CCTV is the official news TV reporting in China, while it also has a lot of foreign countries’ website updating global and Chinese news including the United States. It is constantly updated with top news from China and around the world, offering news reports, live and on-demand video content and searchable archives. I chose this resource because its authority in China and would check it twice a week.

http://english.cctv.com/

 

Search Process:

Since I have spent my last 18 years in China and born there, some resources directly came up to my mind when I began the brainstorm of this assignment. For instance, since Sina Weibo and CCTV are the media resources nearly every Chinese checks up everyday for many times, there should not be a better choice for them to take the roles of social media and video resources categories. However, China Daily and The Economists share some common in my researching process: I got in touch with them after I came to the United States, and they are both important resources for me to reference in term papers and articles during the semesters. Global Voices and CNKI are later resources I happened to know in this class and I found CNKI as one of my resources by following the strategies introduced in class on the discovery of data bases. One of the biggest fruit on searching for international information is how to find the diverse databases in the library websites. Additionally, I learned to check the authority of a news media. I plan to find more casual resources in the future since my current ones are so formal and serious. Furthermore, I also would search some forms of media in particular filed such as entertainment or cultural.

 

 

 

 

Global News Post #1– China

https://globalvoices.org/2017/10/12/chinas-sina-weibo-hires-1000-supervisors-to-censor-harmful-content-including-womens-legs/

 

The news demonstrates the origin of the policy “1000 Weibo Supervisors” and its after effects about the complaint on unequal treatments of women’s right to post body pictures. On August 11, 2017, the Cyberspace Administration launched an investigation into the three leading enterprises Tencent, Baidu, and Sina Weibo on whether their platforms had violated the laws to inadequately manage information published by their users. As the conclusion of this investigation illustrated, all ‘the three had violated Article 47 of the Cybersecurity Law by hosting “information of violence and terror, false rumors, pornography, and other information that jeopardizes national security, public safety, and social order.’” Therefore, Sina Weibo then started to recruit its 1000 users to report on illegal and harmful information. As a result, the criticism on this policy and the qualification of those supervisors boomed, and further conflicts were intensified by those young women’s photos labeled to be “pornographic”. Such policy was questioned to be gender inequalities as women “forfeit” the rights to post their images with body exposed, even there is nothing sensitive information. The evidence shared in the article was mainly composed of original users’ comments published on Sina Weibo. According to the quotations, the evidence is needless to say to be credible, also supportive effectively.

Lam, Oiwan. “China’s Sina Weibo Hires 1,000 Supervisors to Censor ‘Harmful Content’—Including Women’s Legs.” Global Voices, 12 October 2017. https://globalvoices.org/2017/10/12/chinas-sina-weibo-hires-1000-supervisors-to-censor-harmful-content-including-womens-legs/