GLOBAL BUSINESS JOURNALISM NEWSLETTER
December 2023
By VICKI CHALERMLAPVORABOON
Global Business Journalism reporter
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
A wise person once said, “time flies when you’re having fun.” Time has finally flown to the end of the year and we thank you for following our newsletter. From our GBJ family to yours, we hope you enjoyed this journey and may this upcoming year be filled with new hopes, new aspirations, and new beginnings.
This month at GBJ: Winter took over Beijing, with the longest stretch of sub-freezing weather in more than four decades, the first snowfall of the year and snowmen popping up all over the frigid campus. We bade a special farewell to our visiting scholar, Michelle Ng from Singapore, and welcomed a camera crew to shoot a promotional video on the GBJ program.
For more details, read on ...
1. ONE BIG THING: JOURNALISM DEAN ZHOU QING'AN OFFERS A GLIMPSE OF THE NEWLY RENOVATED J-SCHOOL BUILDING
About 90 years after it opened, the historic classroom building that is home to the Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication is preparing to reopen. After a two-year overhaul, students and faculty will return to the j-school building in the spring semester. It will be the first time that the current group of GBJ students has been inside the building used by the journalism school since it was revived in 2002.
In early December TSJC Dean Zhou Qing'an took a delegation led by International Center for Journalists senior vice president Patrick Butler on a tour of the almost-finished building. Among the highlights were a new, spacious and well-lit Global Business Journalism classroom, a new coffee shop, and a massive fourth-floor space for workshops and conferences.
2. GUEST LECTURERS OFFER INSIGHT ON COVERING CHINA, REPORTING BIG, BREAKING NEWS STORIES FOR A GLOBAL AUDIENCE
Students in Professor Rick Dunham’s Hot Topics course heard from Hu Yumeng, a Global Business Journalism alumna and senior New Media reporter for China Daily, on how to create innovative multimedia content. Yumeng (pictured on the top right) shared strategies for effectively telling compelling stories about China for a global audience. She described key features created by China Daily to create interesting and informative content about life in China. For example, she told how China Daily invites foreigners who are long-term residents to explain how they perceive China’s policies, sharing experiences of living in China as well as light-hearted travels.
GBJ students in the Multimedia Reporting course gained insights into being a resourceful reporter from Patrick Casey, a former reporter and editor at the Associated Press and China Global Television Network. Casey (pictured on the bottom right) covered the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, in which Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people by exploding a truck bomb in front of the federal courthouse. While a young reporter in Arkansas, he covered the rise to power of future president Bill Clinton. He has lived in Beijing for the past 11 years, where he worked as a business news editor at CGTN. Now retired, Casey and his wife Wanli have a website dedicated to their photography of average people in Beijing and the area's natural beauty.
A week later, Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst and Washington bureau chief for Bankrate.com, discussed the state of the global economy and international finance markets. Hamrick, who led Associated Press business broadcast news for two decades, also offered tips for young business journalists. Among them: explain facts clearly, put numbers into context and convey to your audience the importance of new developments.
>>> Read more about Hu Yumeng’s tips on how to tell China’s story here: https://www.globalbusinessjournalism.com/post/telling-china-s-story-global-business-journalism-grad-hu-yumeng-leads-an-innovative-new-media-effort
3. PROFESSOR RICK DUNHAM DISCUSSES THE DEEP DIVIDE IN AMERICA OVER THE WAR IN GAZA ON CGTN'S "DIALOGUE" PROGRAM
Professor Rick Dunham is a regular commentator for global television, radio and print outlets on international hot topics. In the past month, Professor Dunham discussed topics as diverse as the summit meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden, the death of former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the Israel-Hamas war, and the growing influence of "Global South" nations such as India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Brazil.
In an appearance on CGTN's primetime "Dialogue" program with Xu Qinduo, Professor Dunham discussed the issue of the limits of free speech on college campuses in the United States, and the controversies over a Palestinian writers' conference and pro-Palestinian protests at the University of Pennsylvania that led to the resignation of the Ivy League university's president.
>>> Watch Professor Dunham’s appearance on The Dialogue here: https://radio.cgtn.com/podcast/news/5/Decoding-US-public-division-and-Palestine-Israel-conflict/2710021
4. GBJ PROFESSOR LEE MILLER TRAINS STUDENTS FROM THAILAND'S CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY IN BANGKOK WORKSHOPS
The connections between Tsinghua University and peer institutions in Thailand keep growing, as students from Chulalongkorn University recently attended workshops in Bangkok hosted by Global Business Journalism Professor Lee Miller. More than 50 students and faculty from the Communication Arts and Economics departments at Chulalongkorn came in separate sessions to the Bloomberg newsroom and Terminal Lab in Bangkok, where they were given streamlined modules from Miller’s Corporate Strategies and Data Mining courses in Tsinghua’s GBJ program. The lectures focused on China’s Huawei, Moutai and BYD, as well as Thailand’s CP Group and Thai Beverage Pcl.
>>> Read the full article here https://www.globalbusinessjournalism.com/post/pad-thai-and-peking-duck-spice-up-global-business-journalism-program-s-beijing-bangkok-connection
5. THE FIRST SNOW AND THE LAST CLASSES OF 2023
From what used to be mornings with warm sunshine earlier on this semester, it is now filled with cold breeze and icy roads.
The snow which suddenly fell in the early morning of Dec. 11, soon covered the Tsinghua University campus. The very next hour, students were out sculpting snowmen and having snowball fights. Here are a few snaps of GBJ students enjoying themselves in the snow!
6. A SPECIAL FAREWELL: THIS MONTH'S "GBJ SPECIAL SCOOP" PAYS TRIBUTE TO VISITING SCHOLAR MICHELLE NG
We want to use this month’s "Special Scoop feature" to say a special farewell to our visiting scholar, Michelle Ng from Singapore. Michelle works at The Straits Times covering politics and real-estate news. She joined the Global Business Journalism program for one semester, which started in September 2023.
Michelle brought her insights from being a full-time journalist and an experienced business reporter. She has supported GBJ students with tips on English news writing and financial reporting. She will travel back to Singapore in January.
“Her empathetic nature, care, and compassion, paired with your intelligence and kindness are truly unparalleled,” said Evender Hsu from Malaysia. "The wisdom she has shared and the advice given has been incredibly impactful. The GBJ family won't be the same without her."
Michelle wrote some of the best breaking news stories on the GBJ website during her semester, Professor Rick Dunham said. And her classmates said happily shared her knowledge and advice.
“Her presence has truly enriched my experience,” said Shirley Chen, a GBJ student from Canada. "The thought of the upcoming semester without you is unimaginable. Her absence will be deeply felt, and I sincerely hope she will return to Beijing soo."
Another GBJ student, Emily Dong from the United States, added: “Saying goodbye is never easy, especially to someone who's made such a positive impact. Your intelligence, grace, and infectious enthusiasm have transformed our first semester into a memorable journey. We're all going to miss you more than words can say.”
During the semester, Michelle applied some of her newfound expertise by creating an in-depth multimedia business news project for the Straits Times. In addition to her professional advice, GBJ students said they will always treasure her warm personality.
“It's tough to say goodbye,” said Irene Angelia from Indonesia. "You're kind, caring, and beautiful, and I've loved having you around at GBJ. I've been so lucky to have you in my life, even if it's been a short time."
7. COMING SOON: GBJ'S FIRST-EVER PROMOTIONAL VIDEO
The Global Business Journalism program is going to be getting some global promotion in the coming months. Tsinghua University on Dec. 22 sent a camera crew to the Tsinghua Future Media Lab to shoot a 30-minute video designed to explain the GBJ's merits to potential applicants. International administrator Chengzhang Li coordinated GBJ's efforts, which featured appearances by co-director Rick Dunham and students including Hannan Gillani of Pakistan, Irene Angelia and Amanda Kusuma Wardhani of Indonesia, Tudor Finneran of England, and Corazon Scheppy of the United States. We'll share the video with you as soon as the editing process is finished.
8. STAY TUNED: THE GBJ PROGRAM MIGHT BE GOING TO EUROPE THIS WINTER
The fun does not stop on the Tsinghua campus. The Global Business Journalism program is hoping to meet this winter in Europe under the “Europe Cross-Cultural Exchange and Leadership Project” led by Professor Rick Dunham. Students are planning to visit leading media organizations and universities to exchange discussions with academics, policy experts and students from Italy, Belgium and Amsterdam. We'll have plenty of news, photos and videos next month ... as long as the project doesn't encounter last-minute visa snags.
