Reporting China on the Rise Habitus and Prisms of China Correspondents

Drawing on the structural-constructivist framework of journalistic field and habitus, Reporting China on the Rise examines the internal and external dynamics which are shaping the work of foreign correspondents in China during Xi Jinping’s tenure.This study presents findings from extensive surveys and interviews with current and former correspondents based in China. It aims to explore how they have responded, and continue to respond, to pressures from within the journalistic field (such as a transforming media industry), as well as from constant shifts in global geopolitics, and China’s increasingly restrictive journalistic environment. These factors are shown to work together to relationally define the news production practice of these correspondents and, ultimately, shape the final news product.Journalism in modern China has become a widely discussed, yet gravely under-researched topic, both for policy-makers and academics. Reporting China on the Rise seeks to open up discussions around the role of the foreign press in generating meaningful media coverage of this growing superpower. It will be an invaluable resource for students and researchers of Journalism and Media Studies.

1. Introduction; 2. Confrontation and Obedience: When Foreign Journalists Meet Chinese Media Culture; 3. Journalism or China: Habitus and Types of China Correspondents; 4. Organizational Control and Autonomy: Journalistic Logic in the Newsroom; 5. Reporting as a Tribe: Journalistic Logic in Collective Interpretation; 6. ‘The Anaconda in the Chandelier’: China’s Uncodified State Coercion; 7. Conclusion: Reporting the Unreportable China?

Yuan Zeng is a lecturer in Media and Communication at the University of Leeds, UK where she researches and teaches journalism studies. Her research focuses on the dynamics between international journalism and foreign policy, media, and social change in China and beyond. She has a PhD in media studies from City University of Hong Kong.