25 MA students  from Hong Kong Baptist University, specialising in Financial Journalism, attended the CMC study trip “Financial and Economic Reporting in the UK” from 3 January until 10 January 2010. The delegation was lead by Prof Huang Yu, who took his PhD at the University of Westminster under Professor Colin Sparks and is Head of Department of Journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University. Among highlights were visits to the Financial Times, London Stock Exchange, BBC and City of London. The trip was designed by Dr Zeng Rong and managed by Alja Kranjec.

Representations of China in the UK Press

Speaker: Prof. Colin Sparks
Date: Wednesday 18th November, 2009
Time: 2.00-4.00 pm
Venue: MHW_A4-4 Harrow Campus,
University of Westminster

Abstract:

The Chinese government, together with many ordinary Chinese people, particularly students, are frequently angered by the way in which China is portrayed in the western media. This anger, however, is a response to the coverage of particular incidents and is not based on real knowledge of how China is covered on a day to day basis.

This presentation reports on a project that made a start on a more systematic study of the subject. The analysis covers the UK national press reporting of China during 2008 and presents data on the frequency and distribution of stories. It also reports a more detailed qualitative study of China in the elite and popular press, demonstrating that analyses concentrating on small-circulation up-market newspapers risk seriously misrepresenting the ways in which China is portrayed in the press. The seminar will be in English but some of the material is available in translation.

Biography:

Prof. Colin Sparks has worked with and advised the European Union, Unesco, the Open Society Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the British Council, Universities in the US, Europe and East Asia, and many other organisations, academic, official, and non-governmental. He was one of the founders of Media, Culture and Society, and he continues to play an active role as managing editor, as well as editing issues on a regular basis. He was also a founder of the European Institute for Communication and Culture. He has organised several of its colloquia, and edited themed issues of its journal Javnost/The Public.
His current research interests include the comparative study of media systems undergoing rapid change. He is particularly interested in comparing the media systems of post-communist countries with those of other societies that have moved away from different forms of dictatorship towards more democratic forms of political rule. His other major current interest is in theories of media and communication.

(more about Prof. Sparks, see http://chinamediacentre.org/about/staff/colin-sparks/ )
If you have any inquiry about CMC events,  please contact Miao Mi at m.mi@my.westminster.ac.uk.

Leading the centre will be Professors Hugo de Burgh, Colin Sparks and Professor Harriet Evans, all of whom have long established expertise in Chinese media and culture.  The centre, which already has a number of doctoral students from mainland China, has just been awarded substantial funding by the University to build upon its excellent links with Chinese universities and media institutions, with new courses, academic exchanges and research projects.

The Centre will be launched later this year with a series of conferences designed to offer its expertise to government, businesses and NGOs keen to build links with China and to gain more understanding of its culture and ethos through the agency of its media.