ASSIGNMENT ONE:
PROVIDE THE INFORMATION BELOW

Name:Christina Yao
Mobile phone:13141319324
Email:christinafq@yahoo.com.cn

Add photo here:

Personal Web page

Blog address: http://outofordinary.blog.sohu.com

Survey:

Career goal:

What do you want your job to be in 20 years?
To set up my own international communication corporation

In 5 years?
To be a journalist

When you graduate?
To be a journalist

Are you interested in a career in journalism?
Absolutely

How can this course help you reach your goals?
Learn the basic skills of being a journalist
Goals for this course:

Are you interested in producing for this course:

Podcasts?
Video segments for YouTube?
Newspaper or wire stories?
A Blog?
A regular news broadcast?

Guests:

Would you like guest speakers from any particular professions?

Experience:

Please briefly describe any work you have done in the news media.
I've done a lot of work, but none of them was related to the news media by now

How many television packages have you produced at this school? (Please include links if possible)
None

Do you have any production skills necessary to run a news broadcast? Please list.
I don't think so

News Habits:

Which foreign and Chinese newscasts do you regularly watch?
We don't have a TV in the dorm ,so we rarely watch newscasts at school. But we do get inforamtion from the internet. I prefer CNN. When at home, I mainly watch CCTV, and foreign newscasts are unavailable.

How familiar are you with foreign news broadcasts? Can you watch them at home? Over the Internet?
I've learned courses about the foreign news broadcasts. As I said, it's impossible to watch them at home. We can merely get them from the internet.

Please list some strengths and weaknesses of foreign news broadcasts compared to Chinese broadcasts.
The foreign news broadcasts are more independent while the Chinese news broadcasts are more attached to the government. But the Chinese also have advantage. Thanks to this kind of news broadcasts, the whole nation can be united by one party.

What newspapers and news Web sites do you visit regularly?
Xin Hua News, CNN and Sohu

Do you read the Washington Post and the New York Times? (Hint: You should)
Occasionally

ASSIGNMENT TWO

Please paste the broadcast script you wrote in class on Sept. 10 based on the news wire report here.

ASSIGNMENT THREE
Please paste the Obituary assignment here.
Christina Yao, former president of People’s Republic of China, died this morning at the age of 75 ending her 10 years’ fighting against breast cancer. Her life-long friend Ian Zhan was by her side until the last moment and blessings from millions of people who she once served around the world never stopped. Known as the first female president in contemporary China, Yao led the nation into its prime day, dwarfing any great male leaders in Chinese history. Under her leadership, China has eventually been a united nation with Taiwan, Xinjiang as well as Tibet developing harmoniously with the mainland and has officially become the major political, economic as well as cultural center of the world, terminating the US dominance. “Attributing China’s rise to one woman may sound unbelievable, but that’s exactly what happened in reality. Her death is a great loss, but it won’t be the end of era, her impact still guarantees China’s prosperity in the foreseeable future.” said Richard Huo, chief director of China’s Political Research Center. China’s Yao is more than the leader of one nation. She has been a world-peace advocator and played a significant role in stabilizing the unsteady situation in the Middle East. She remained single and gave heart and soul to the course of mankind. “Even when she was diagnosed the cancer, she refused to walk away. She’s a total workaholic which made her health even worse.” said Ian.
Now that the star has fallen, what China and the world will be like without her shadow?



ASSIGNMENT FOUR
Write three pitches that you and some classmates can actually produce with the time and resources available to you.

The audience will be English speaking You Tube viewers. Your pitch should offer them something they cannot see elsewhere. This means slice of life and human interest stories are OK, but try to come up with some hard issue pieces or stories related to breaking news as well. Foreigners love to hear about: The Olympics, counterfeit or dangerous products, the environment and global warming, martial arts, student trends, China's economy, interesting tourist destinations, and anything unusual or surprising. Think about a story you would like to hear about in another country, and try it here.

Also think about the big stories in the world, and look for a Chinese connection. Are there Iraqi students here? Does China have an Islamic insurgency? What do Chinese students think about the US presidential race? Who is in charge at the Palestian Embassy here now that the Palestinians have split amid civil war?

Your pitch should include the names of the people you plan to interview, and the shots you plan to include.
1. Bin Laden's new video has been disclosed. We can make an in-depth coverage of this. Pay attention to his physical condition. He dyed his beard, looking much younger. FBI has confirmed that the voice is from the real Bin Laden. What is the purpose of his statement on the 6th anniversary of the 911 attack? Was he trying to emphasize the influence and power of the Al-Qaeda or warn the US of a new wave of terrorist attack? Interview Rice, US Secretary of State.

2. China's stock market has been overheated, what measures will the government take? In order to cool the overheated stock market and the expanding inflation, China's central bank will definitely raise interest rate once again maybe even more within the year. But will it be effective? Apparently previous similar moves have all failed and the stock price is soaring with a superpower engine. The Chinese government looses restrictions of mainland investors investing in foreign stock market, mainly in Hong Kong. And the first QDII funds are as well on the way. Hopefully the new acts will lead the domestic currency flow into international market. Interview Zhou Xiaochuan, Chairman of China's Central Bank.

3. Opera loses famous star Pavarotti, his life, his death and his funeral Pavarotti, the legend of Opera, has gone. He has been the flag and symbol of opera for years. Some of his classical performances will deeply graved into people’s minds. He is the honor of Italy and his influence has far crossed the border.The future of opera seems cloudy in his absence. He changed his will to give all his assets to his ex-wife, which made people curious. Interview his ex-wife to get to know about their life.


Assignment 5 Due Sat .Sept 22.

Please read the Washington Post pig disease story.


Please evaluate the story in terms of fairness and bias, focusing on how the story is sourced.

In other words, go through the story and determine the sources of all the reported facts. Please weigh how credible each source is. Then consider whether the facts she has assembled support the conclusions she draws. Has she assembled a solid foundation of facts, or is leaving out important information or points of view? You should also consider things you know about this situation that are not reported in the story.

If you think she has a bias, please support the claim.

I am going to compile your answers and send them to the writer, so please include any questions you want to ask her.

Please complete this by Saturday evening. I am not looking for length, but quality of ideas. Please dont spend more than an hour on this assignment.

Did this story give you any ideas for your own methods of reporting?


The author did some interview with the direct victims of the disease, got information from the Chinese government authority as well as some experts both from inside and outside China and some international institute, and of course from some other media source. While the Chinese government claimed they had informed the public as soon as they knew and since then had been fully collaborating international organization, some experts from abroad still complained China’s reluctance of sharing information. Though the Chinese government provided more transparent information announcements than the SARS case, it was certain possibility that the information and statistics were inaccurate. The author of this article clearly has a bias. First she quoted some experts to criticize the Chinese government hiding the exact truths from the public and unwilling to share information with the outside, but later when the government authority did publicize and update the information about the spread of the disease, she once again blamed the action for causing unnecessary wastes that some sick herds with unrelated virus were also slaughtered and farmers had to give up their old business and move to the factory. If either way is fault, I’d like her to offer a perfect solution. In addition, the author seems to exaggerate the impact of the disease. “The virus has been devastating pig communities throughout China for more than a year, wiping out entire herds, driving pork prices up nearly 87 percent in a year and helping push the country's inflation rate to its highest levels since 1996.” The increasing pork price is due to more causes. Let alone the inflation. The short of food supplies played an significant role in the rise of the pork.