Note: This blog post also ran in the Society of Professional Journalism’s “Journalism and the World” blog. Click here to see the original post (and comments).
The most common question I get from new hires — and other reporters new to China - is how to get people to talk on the record.
Here’s a typical example:
Assignment: [...]

Note: This blog post also ran in the Society of Professional Journalism’s “Journalism and the World” blog. Click here to see the original post.
Last night at our regular drinking get-together at Cotton’s Bar, about half-a-dozen of us expat journalists got together and complained about falling rates. Well, we also had a furious argument about whether [...]

Note: This blog post also ran in the Society of Professional Journalism’s “Journalism and the World” blog. Click here to see the original post (and comments).
I’ve managed journalists from pretty much everywhere — the US, Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Central Asia, and, now, India and China.
In my experience, the differences between individual reporters far outweight [...]

Note: This blog post also ran in the Society of Professional Journalism’s “Journalism and the World” blog. Click here to see the original post.
The Associated Press ran an interesting story yesterday about a Chinese crook who passed himself off as a reporter or editor from the People’s Daily. Usually these kinds of bribes are [...]

Note: This blog post also ran in the Society of Professional Journalism’s “Journalism and the World” blog. Click here to see the original post (and comments).
There are three possible stages in a journalist’s career, and each transition is very painful and difficult.
The first stage is that of the reporter. You are responsible for your own [...]

Note: This blog post also ran in the Society of Professional Journalism’s “Journalism and the World” blog. Click here to see the original post (and comments).
For another view of working in China, by 24-year-old Charlie Gidney, who writes for the China Daily, check out his blog Positive Solutions.
In Sunday’s post Boxes he talks about the [...]

Note: This blog post also ran in the Society of Professional Journalism’s “Journalism and the World” blog. Click here to see the original post (and comments).
Thursday night was our weekly Cotton’s Bar drinks get-together. One of our new visitors was a man who launched twelve magazines.
Twelve magazines!
And in not a single case did a [...]

Note: This blog post also ran in the Society of Professional Journalism’s “Journalism and the World” blog. Click here to see the original post.
More proof that here in China, we’re covering the biggest business story on the planet. This year, for the second year in a row, a Pulitzer was awarded for China coverage. This [...]

Note: This blog post also ran in the Society of Professional Journalism’s “Journalism and the World” blog. Click here to see the original post.
There was a great story in the LA Times today — Reporter recalls the layers of truth told in Iraq (thanks, Lauren, for bringing it to my attention).
The part that particularly struck [...]

Note: This blog post also ran in the Society of Professional Journalism’s “Journalism and the World” blog. Click here to see the original post.
Here is the translation of a report about a bit of investigative journalism into KFC and McDonald’s wage problems in the south of China. (Thanks to Fons Tuinstra for bringing it to [...]