The new breed of Chinese war correspondents: Their motivations and roles, and the impact of digital technology

Abstract

The reporting of international news in China has changed significantly in recent years. Since the late 1990s, driven by the demands of the domestic market, the growing financial strengths of national and metropolitan news organizations, the availability of digital technology, and the state's strategy of enhancing soft power and making China's voice heard in the global arena, more and more Chinese correspondents travel to war and conflict zones abroad to report and file news coverage back home -a rare occurrence in the past. This study examines a new breed of Chinese war correspondents arising from this very new journalistic environment -how they negotiate their changing and challenging roles by questioning their identities, motivations and perceptions, and how they reflect on their roles, and the use and impact of digital technologies such as microblogging. This article uses semi-structured in-depth interviews with 16 Chinese correspondents who have been posted abroad to cover war zones. The author finds that this new breed is neither traditionally Chinese in their approach nor western in their perceptions but uniquely pragmatic in negotiating a complex mix of identities, motivations, corporate influences and state interests.

Chinese-style pragmatic objectivity in war reporting

“…The Chinese-style pragmatic objectivity, on the contrary, emphasizes and promotes allegiance and patriotism. As Zhang (2013) argues, Chinese journalists are also propagandists and patriots who need to cover news from the Chinese perspective, uphold China's overseas interests, and transmit China's voice on the world stage.…”

“…As for wartime journalism, Chinese journalists claim to have adopted a Western model of objective reporting to a certain extent. Zhang (2013) finds that Chinese war correspondents perceive their complex mix of roles as objective reporter, interpreter, propagandist and diplomat. Their main job is to bring facts from the frontline and explain the origins, causes, occurrences and effects of the conflicts to Chinese audiences and decision makers.…”

Conflicts through the lens of Chinese war photojournalists

“…During the Chinese Resistance against Japan, the Chinese press established 'heroic resistance' and unity as the dominant narratives in the treatment of the war to maintain morale, even in the face of China's defeats and retreats (Coble, 2010) From the 1990s to the present day, Chinese war correspondents were posted overseas to cover news from international hotspots such as Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya driven by media commercialization, professionalization, and the development of digital technology (Zhang, 2013). There are few English literatures that look into this new phenomenon.…”

“…Since the 1990s, China, as a new global power, plays an increasing role in international affairs. Chinese correspondents have travelled to war and conflict zones overseas to report and file news coverage back home (Zhang, 2013). By studying how the Chinese journalists and photographers depict the conflicts through the lens of cameras around the world, this research is meant to contribute to the existing knowledge about wartime photojournalism from Chinese perspective.…”

Using social media in the news reportage of War & Conflict: Opportunities and Challenges

“…Sambrook, 2010;Moeller 1999), more recent discussion has also focused on the possibilities of social media networks for reportage of international war and crisis (e.g. Zhang, 2013;Otto & O Meyer, 2012). The interactions between journalists and different activists during the recent so-called "Arab Spring" protests have been a recent example of both the hope and hyperbole that the use of social media engenders.…”