Based on feedback and research, I have decided to contract the topic "The State of the PRC Press in New Century", which is still so attractive to me, but due to limited human and financial resources, I am afraid of lack of depth in terms of theme and project development. Now, I am to focus on the jailed journalists: their journalistic experience, and the charges against them, and what exact event led them to jail.
(1)WHY: The reasons for choosing this topic are simple: a professional journalist for a decade of working experience in Asia, Africa and America, I would like to share with the general public (the target audience) my understanding of journalism in Communist China, which is claimed to be a People's Republic of China, but actually merely "the Party Representatives of China" a term I coined for its own nature, as it is never a republic, because people are never allowed to exercise their legitimate rights, and only Party officials have and maintain the rights for themselves since its establishment. Today it is still ruled by only one political party-the Communist Party, where the press is under the control of the Party and the government. Journalists who try to seek truth and play the role of watchdog in the interest of the public, often end up behind bars.
It serve the interest of journalism itself, and general public of the world community, to shed spotlight on the fate of journalist who follow their hearts in (the Party Representatives of) China, which claims to have seen economic growth at a double-digit rate, and which is viewed by the outsiders to become a world leader in many fields in the coming decades (before its doomsday, like the USSR?).
Will the world benefit from the development of such an authoritarian regime with growing wealth that disrespects such universal values as human rights and democracy, serves the interest of the ruling Party and elite groups rather than the "proles", and supports other authoritarian regimes such as Cuba, North Korea, Iran, to name a few?
(2)WHAT: If journalists cannot practice their craft the way they should, and often get punished, getting fired, getting in jail, for their professional work, what is it like to be a journalist in that country? What is the state of the press in today's (PR)China? How does the government and the Communists control the press and the journalists? What are journalists doing in day-to-day work? What happened to those journalists who tried to perform their roles?
(3)HOW: I would take advantage of multimedia tools to show the reality of the working environment, by interviewing journalists, both local and international, working in that country, and experts on the Chinese press, and post texts, photos, audio, and video materials (and perhaps cartoons).
With interactive map technologies, readers and viewers can track the tragedies of journalists who were arrested and/or beaten for their reporting, and where these sites are, and when and how these happened, particularly, those behind bars for their journalistic work.
Data mining technologies will help readers/viewers find out stories of those jailed journalists (24 as of December 31, 2009, according to CPJ).
The website will be designed and developed in a reader/viewer-friendly way, with community function, allowing them to contribute their writings, subscribe to RSS, leave their comments, Twitter their favorite material, share on their FACEBOOK, Yahoo Buzz, Digg, and so on.
The above is a third revised draft incorporating feedbacks from peers for further inside and outside classroom discussions. Many thanks for your interest and thoughtful tips.
I look forward to hearing from my classmates and professors and the general public who come across this project idea.
Again, I really appreciate your time and interest.
Putting it all together
15 years ago
Jimmy –
ReplyDeleteYour project “The State of PRC Press in New Century” is a great learning tool. As Americans I think we often forget how lucky we are to have free speech and live in a democratic state. Your proposal allows everyone with internet access the ability to share and learn about other countries, governments, and media coverage. I do have a few questions about website organization and implantation. First off, how are you going to gather the information regarding journalists and how will you cultivate a community environment where they feel comfortable sharing their story? I’d imagine you might have to look into anonymity and protecting those journalists who are going against Communist control. I think the idea of mapping out the location of who and where is a strong element. Too often the area seems ‘removed’ and drawing a visual as well as a personal story links the audience. Who is your ‘target audience’ – are you going to gear this site to be as user friendly as possible so teachers can introduce their students to such atrocities or will it be more top-level, for journalists, professionals, and university students? The idea of ethics in journalism is also strong – would you think of drawing on the SPJ’s Code of Ethics in making parallels etc? Strong idea, defiantly needs to be addressed to the world audience!
-Katherine
Jimmy,
ReplyDeleteYour idea is eye opening and ambitious. I have a few questions.
Who's your audience? Will you try to reach journalists and the public outside the United States and the West? If your audience includes China and Taiwan, how will you avoid attempted censorship and intrusions by the Chinese government to block your efforts? (For example, the recent Google case and repeated statements by U.S. officials who claim China may be hacking U.S. government and civilian networks.)
I'm a little confused about the focus. Are you trying to focus on journalistic restrictions as a human rights issue or as journalistic ethics and freedom issues? On the issue of "hush money"...if you're planning to highlight cases of unethical behavior, what burden of proof would you have to meet before putting on the web information or videos depicting allegedly corrupt transactions? It seems to me this is a very real problem, but would be a huge challenge to document.
Since you have experienced censorship firsthand, how about relating your personal experiences?
I like the idea of an interactive map and data about jailed journalists and those who've been beaten for doing their jobs. Shining a light on intimidation could put pressure on the government to back off.
Bonnie
Jimmy,
ReplyDeleteI also really like your idea but I'm concerned with how you will be able to get the perspective from a journalist from China if they are not allowed to talk about a certain subject. Do you feel that you will be able to get the feedback you want from journalists in China to make your project work?
Secondly, like everyone else asked, who is your target audience? And additionally, how will you attract new viewers?
-Jen
Jimmy,
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of focusing on journalist and ethical values. I believe you could make these case studies and provide a discussion and comments section that focuses on discussion forums that speak about ways to make this better. Sort of like the way the NPR website sets up the comment section for their Ombudsman.
Hi Jimmy. I really like your idea, and would be great looking at the differences in covering topics here in the US and in China as well. I particularly interested in the idea of an interactive portion dedicated to just pay for play. Questions - Will you reach out to others in China so that they can report from there? Is your project tended to be a cooperative project with others? Who is your audience? Who would you like to visit the site?
ReplyDelete