While Western media are shrinking their foreign correspondent networks,
Chinese media, for the first time in history, are rapidly expanding
worldwide. The Chinese government is financing most of this growth,
hoping to strengthen its influence and improve its public image. But do
these reporters willingly serve formulated agendas or do they follow
their own interests? And are they changing Chinese citizens' views of
the world?
Based on interviews and informal conversations with over seventy current
and former correspondents, Reporting for China documents a diverse
group of professionals who hold political views from nationalist to
liberal, but are constrained in their ability to report on the world by
China's media control, audience tastes, and the declining market for
traditional media.