By Judy Yi Zhou

The growing presence of Chinese media in America has caught much attention in recent months, but most reports from Western media sources only express voices of non-Chinese experts, and in some cases, non-Chinese employees of these Chinese media outlets. The result is a series of misrepresentations that leads us further from the truth, assuming there is such a thing.

For one, those who think Chinese media’s global ambition is a recent trend may want to redefine “recent.” China Daily, a major state-owned English newspaper, was founded in 1981, three years after Deng Xiaoping opened China to the world. Following that, in 1985, another state-owned newspaper People’s Daily issued its first overseas edition in over 80 countries and regions.

With a large bilingual billboard display of Xinhua, China’s largest news agency in Time Square, Chinese media’s presence might seem more pervasive than ever. But this increasing globalization is more than the result of the reported $6 billion the Chinese government committed to push its media abroad.

Few Western reports recognized the commercial ambitions of Chinese media because the focus has been on China’s frustration of the dominant (and often negative) Western perspective, and its surge to build a positive image in the world. “Expanding the advertising client base in America is an important goal,” said an employee at People.com.cn’s New York bureau who asked not to be named, “we are trying to reach more clients right now.”

In an interview with Foreign Policy, CCTV America’s senior producer and former “60 Minutes” producer Barbara Dury said: “The mentality (of CCTV) is expand, expand, expand.” CCTV America is a new channel headquartered in D.C. that was launched this February. CCTV is only partially funded by the state, and it earns over $2 billion in annual revenue from advertisement.

Many Chinese media outlets also wish to become the bridge to attract more foreign investors to China.

In 2010, Xinhuanet, the website of China’s largest news agency, began operating as an enterprise instead of a government institution, despite its continued funding from the state.

Not all Chinese media in America work the same way, and the differences in their organization and content regulation may show more about China’s global media expansion than anything else.

There are currently two types of state-owned Chinese media in America: those that produce content (mostly in Chinese) about America for the Chinese audience, and those that produce English content about China for the American audience.

The media outlets that produce America-related content for the Chinese audience are composed of small bureaus or workstations of large Chinese media outlets, such as Phoenix Television, Economic Daily and People’s Daily. Most bureaus have only 2 or 3 employees.

The New York bureau of People’s Daily is an exception. It has 4 employees in an office space in the Empire State Building, in additional to a reporter at the UN workstation. The content generated by the bureau is posted on a separate page on People.com.cn. The bureau functions like a small company, selling its own ads and generating revenue. There are over 12 different Chinese media outlets that have bureaus like this in New York alone, but only People’s Daily admits it is trying to sell ads to Western companies.

On the other hand, China Daily, NewsChina (a magazine linked to the stated-owned China News Service) and CCTV America produce English content. They all claim to target the “western mainstream society,” and aim to give China’s perspective on global affairs and provide information about China.

You have heard it before, the government censorship of Chinese media and its “first responsibility…should be…a good mouthpiece.” Ying Zhu, author of Two Billion Eyes: The Story of China Central Television, said in an interview about CCTV America: “It’s far from being the credible resource for people to seek information about China.” How will Chinese media gain credibility in the West?

First, it reiterates the goal to be “not a Chinese mouthpiece, not a Chinese propaganda tool, but a global channel produced with a Chinese flair,” as a senior CCTV executive told the American head quarter’s newly recruited veteran journalists who used to work for CNN, BBC, ABC and Al Jazeera English. The meticulous choice of staff at CCTV America is another gesture to increase credibility before the skeptical Western audience.

Fred Teng, CEO of NewsChina, said there isn’t much censorship because it is not distributed in China, “the same rules don’t apply. They have a lot of editorial freedom.”

However, a quick search on the magazine’s website of Chen Guangcheng, the blind dissident that was the headline on most Western media back in April and May this year, showed no result. This search actually brings up an error message that invalidates further actions until the webpage is refreshed. Whether it is the result of a governmental censorship or simply an editorial decision (self-censorship or not) is unclear.

Chen was barely covered on CCTV America, but both Xinhuanet and China Daily ran several pieces on him, conveying the so-called China perspective: pointing out the U.S.’s violation of international law in letting Chen enter the U.S. embassy in Beijing, calling Chen’s case a distraction deliberately used by the West to make China look bad, and urging the U.S. to “stop misleading the public.”

The case of the disgraced former Chongqing chief Bo Xilai also got plenty of coverage on China Daily and Xinhuanet, and even appeared in 10 videos on CCTV America’s website. All three media outlets used it as an opportunity to showcase the Chinese Communist Party’s effort to punish and eliminate corruption.

A large western misconception about Chinese media is the assumption that any pro-China view is propaganda, and any criticism is a sign of freedom of speech. Some criticism could be tailored to serve the state and create a false sense of freedom. For example, Zhu reveals that the newsmagazine program Focus on CCTV-1 in China is given a quota of two negative stories per week.

Many pro-China views on Chinese media are in fact truthful reflections of popular social sentiment, especially when it comes to territorial disputes (such as the Diaoyu Islands and Taiwan) and other nationalistic issues. Zhu points out that even though the Chinese media does not always speak for the people as it vows to, but for the government instead, “there are times when the two voices overlap.”

One may remain skeptical about Chinese media’s global ambitions and credibility because that is what democracy supports: the freedom to choose and have our own opinions. The very presence of China’s voice in the Western-dominant media market is an endorsement of Western democracy. It would perhaps be more interesting and beneficial for the West to embrace the trend of globalization in all aspects, and listen to China’s opinions about its own controversies.

This story will appear in the Fall 2012 CQ Magazine .  Judy Yi Zhou is a senior at New York University studying English and American Literature.

By Fernando Peinado

Despite the controversy last spring on Sheherazad Jaafari´s admission to Columbia, the former press aide of Syrian president Bashar al Assad is now studying hassle-free at another university in New York, Communiqué has learned.

She is currently enrolled at The New School of Social Research, a small university with a liberal reputation.

Jaafari was one of the most controversial students to be admitted to Columbia. Students at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where she planned to study, along with Syrians based in the United States, asked the university to rescind her admission due to her work for a government allegedly responsible for war crimes. “To avoid being harassed,” Jaafari did not enroll at SIPA, she explained in September in an interview with Communiqué.

Until now, her presence at The New School had gone unnoticed by those who campaigned against her at Columbia.

Contacted by Communiqué, Rashad al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the Syrian American Council, a grassroots organization based in Illinois, said that “any institution she enrolls in would be indirectly complicit in supporting the regime.”

“I reiterate our earlier stance to reject her admission for her role in advising Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to manipulate the American public,” said Al-Dabbagh.

A university spokesman, Sam Biederman, declined to comment on her enrollment, citing privacy, but said that The New School evaluates candidates on the basis of their merits.

After a recent class on a Monday evening for her Graduate Program in International Affairs, some of Jaafari´s classmates at The New School said they had no knowledge of complaints about her admission.

One student, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid her resentment, said that many classmates did not know she had worked for the Syrian government, but a rumor about her identity had been circulating since orientation week last September.

“There is more gossip than real opposition to her enrollment,” added this student.

In her interview in September, Jaafari said that she wanted to study at SIPA next year after the controversy had settled down, but now she seems to have abandoned the idea.

“SIPA is a past chapter in my life,” she told Communiqué after her Economics for International Affairs course at one of The New School buildings in Greenwich Village. “I came here (to The New School) to remain anonymous and to not be disturbed,” she added, but did not want to discuss the matter further.

In another conversation with Communiqué, Jaafari´s mother, Shareez, said that while her daughter still wants to pursue a Ph.D. at Columbia, she does not support that option.

“I do not want her to study at a university where people do not accept her,” she said, and mentioned how disturbed the family was last June when they saw CNN interviews with SIPA students criticizing her for working for President Al Assad.

Her mother also revealed that an administrator at SIPA had suggested Jaafari use a fake identity in order to avoid harassment. “She was told that people who do not want to be identified can do that.”

Associate Dean Caroline Kay acknowledged that students have done this in the past but did not comment on specific cases.

Jaafari, however, is using her real identity at The New School, according to her classmates, but keeps a low profile.

One of Jaafarí´s female classmates, who also requested anonymity to avoid her resentment, said that this is not difficult at their program because many of the students are working part-time and classes are held in the evenings.

However, according to one of her male classmates, it is not clear that she is deliberately trying to keep her past unknown.

“On the first day of orientation week, she introduced herself by her real name, said that she came from a family of diplomats and that for that reason she liked international relations,” he said.

Around 40 students were present for the economics class, one of the core courses of the program, taught by professor Max Fraad-Wolff, a frequent contributor to CBS, Bloomberg, and other news outlets.

Jaafari, like other students, arrived a few minutes late without the professor’s objection.

She had dyed her hair blonde and was dressed casually, in jeans and t-shirt. “That is weird because her style is normally more posh,” a couple of female classmates commented later in a conversation with Communiqué.

That sense of fashion would make her clearly stand out in a class environment where the students predominantly belong to the hipster subculture.

Jaafari sat on the first row and paid close attention to professor Fraad-Wolff´s lecture about fiscal policy and his comments on the so-called U.S. fiscal cliff, one of the main financial news stories these days.

In a laid-back style (professor Fraad-Wolff used the F-word several times), students participated during the lecture, answering the professor´s open questions that were intended to check student´s understanding of the United States’ fiscal dilemma.

Jaafari was no exception. “Could you clarify the concept of the balanced-budget multiplier?” she asked, referring to a theory that argues that the economy can be stimulated without running fiscal deficits.

After an hour and a half of class, Jaafari left without talking to any other students.

Bashar´s former press advisor was controversial at SIPA for political reasons, but at The New School, if she’s noticed at all, it might be for much more conventional reasons.

One of her male classmates recalled seeing her at orientation, observing, “everybody was paying attention when she spoke. Because she was the first to stand up to introduce herself, and because she was very hot!”

Fernando Peinado is a first-year Master of International Affairs student.

If we on the Communiqué Editorial Board had it our way, we’d combine the aspects of all five SIPASA Presidential candidates – Nick Mider, Olivia Snarski, Rachel Boehr, Shreevardhan Sinha, and Marmik Joshi — to create our ideal President. Each candidate has an impressive resumé, commendable past achievements, and reliable leadership qualities. After our interviews with the candidates, we believe that they all have the talent, capacity, and persistence to achieve their self-written goals. In our endorsement, we looked for a match between the candidates’ aspirations and goals and the needs of the SIPA community, rather than focusing on their past achievements and experience.

Mider hopes to strengthen OCS and build stronger relationships with alumni. This is important and extremely relevant, given that OCS and our alumni are critical platforms to launch our careers.  On the same lines, Snarski promises to work to revamping the Professional Development Program to make it a powerful career tool for students. Snarski, either through personal experience or by hearing the voices of her peers, has understood the strong sentiment to make the program more effective.  The current employment market has raised concerns and anxiety over the job search task. Both Mider and Snarski deserve recognition for putting this on top of their agendas.

Sinha, on the other hand, places a larger emphasis on academics – the reason most of us come to SIPA in the first place. He promises to work on improving the quality of courses, as well as provide students the option to work on a ‘thesis’ in lieu of a capstone project, thus offering students more options and better content.

Boehr’s candidacy comes with a unique offering – more experience with Columbia University by virtue of being an undergraduate student here. She was involved in student government then, too, and claims to understand the system better. Her big ideas for SIPASA are to integrate the student groups better and interact more with other schools in the University.

Finally, Joshi has many big ideas, a few of which are far-fetched. He plans to launch a website for students to raise their concerns and track SIPASA’s progress. Formation of this public opinion sphere sounds feasible, given that SIPA has two large student-run websites already – Communiqué and The Morningside Post. Joshi also addresses a major whine among the student body – the registration process. He proposes an alternative system like bidding for classes, something that is currently practiced at Columbia’s Business School. While this change does not seem likely in the immediate semester or year, it is important that a President communicates the students’ voices to the concerned authorities.  The same goes for his other more ambitious promise to work with the SIPA administration on a loan assistance program. Although this program would benefit the majority of SIPA students, the change seems far beyond the jurisdiction of a SIPASA President and more like an empty promise.

However, we at Communiqué like the way Joshi thinks. He seems to understand the biggest concerns of the student body at large, and promises to work on finding solutions for them. For this reason, we endorse Marmik Joshi for SIPASA President 2012.

Food for thought for the next President-elect would be to draft a longer term vision for the school that addresses the larger issues that cannot be resolved or improved within one year. Strengthened career services, a better registration processes, and more effective collaboration among student groups are some of them. It will be highly beneficial in the longer term if no President loses sight of these larger goals.  We also thank the current board for their contribution in improving student life at SIPA and appeal to them to make an effective transfer to the new board.

On a more serious note, we asked each of the candidates their position on an important policy question:  the plight of the poor-quality bags given at orientation. Each of their responses had great solutions and big promises. Whoever wins the election, in this area, it looks like we have hope!

Remember to vote on Monday, November 19^th from 9:00am—4:00pm using SIPASA’s online ballot!

On Tuesday, November 13th, SIPA students gathered in the 6th floor Cafe to hear the SIPASA hopefuls speak. Below are the speeches by the candidates for Career and Alumni Affairs Chair.

Carlos Petersen

Houda Sahyoun

On Tuesday, November 13th, SIPA students gathered in the 6th floor Cafe to hear the SIPASA hopefuls speak. Below are the speeches by candidates for Academic Chair.

Itamar Hauser

Rainbow Wong

On Tuesday, November 13th, SIPA students gathered in the 6th floor Cafe to hear the SIPASA hopefuls speak. Below are the University Senator Candidate speeches.

Kristen Jestin

Kelechi Mbiamnozie

On Tuesday, November 13th, SIPA students gathered in the 6th floor Cafe to hear the SIPASA hopefuls speak. Below are the Treasurer Candidate speeches.

Nikita Hira

On Tuesday, November 13th, SIPA students gathered in the 6th floor Cafe to hear the SIPASA hopefuls speak. Below are the Vice Presidential Candidate speeches.

Ed Brockhoff

Maria Covalenco Tietz

Alissa Sevrioukova

Last week, Communiqué met with the SIPASA Presidential candidates to dig deeper on the details of their campaign platforms and what they hope to accomplish as President. From these interviews, we compiled a list of each candidate’s main ideas, and a “bests” lists that we hope will inform your voting decisions.  To download the full interview transcript, just click the candidate’s name.

Big Ideas

Rachel Boehr, MPA IFEP:

• SIPASA’s purpose is to gather student opinion, form policy on those opinions, and keep students informed on what the administration is doing
• Better integrate student groups with one another & better support them
• Strengthen SIPA’s integration with other Columbia schools
• Expand SIPASA’s substantive role and build its profile and reputation

 Marmik Joshi, MPA EPD:

• Launch a “Raise Your Voice” website for students to raise concerns & track SIPASA progress on issues
• Establish a loan assistance repayment program, like Harvard Kennedy School has. We should set up a mechanism to pay back loans of students who go into public service
• Devise a more equitable registration process, such as the Business School’s bidding system
• Collaborate more with other policy schools

Nick Mider, EMPA, Economic & Monetary Policy:

• Raise SIPA’s profile by better building community while we’re here
• Be the voice for students to the administration
• Launch a “Hire Seeple” plan. We must collaborate with OCS to strengthen our alumni network and encourage them to hire SIPA students and alumni for open positions.

 Shreevardhan “Shree” Sinha, MIA IFEP:

• Look for solutions that are already being implemented on campus for common student concerns and implement them here.
• Core courses need to be of exceptional standards. They need to be directly applicable to our work & taught well.
• Give more options to students, such as allowing students to substitute a thesis for the capstone requirement for students who want it
• Devise a better mechanism for addressing student concerns in a class, especially in instances of cultural insensitivity

Olivia Snarski, MPA-DP:

• President’s job is to keep open communication with students
• Create a Columbia-wide grad school community
• Get SIPA more involved in the neighborhood community
• Revamp our professional development program to better utilize our alumni network

Candidate “Bests”

 Best crazy, non-feasible plan:

• Olivia’s cheer-up “hug center”
• Rachel’s plan to solve climate change, eradicate child hunger, and cure malaria

Best crazy plan we hope will work:

• Nick’s “Hire Seeple” plan
• Marmik’s Loan Assistance Repayment Program

Best solution to the crappy SIPA backpack problem:

This one was split between two camps:

• Rachel, Nick, and Olivia all proposed investing in some form of better backpack, name-brand or other
• Marmik and Shree proposed scrapping the bag altogether in favor of another product that will serve the function of welcoming students

Best party idea:

• Nick’s Truman/Capote black-and-white Welcome Back party
• Rachel’s intercultural night

Most creative campaign posters:

• Nick’s memes
• Olivia’s emotive facial expressions

Best Freebies:

• Shree’s stress balls

Most in love with SIPA:

• Rachel. Who else would rave about Alice’s Café?