At this CECC Roundtable, a veteran journalist for The Atlantic magazine who covers China*, two members of the Media Freedoms Committee, Foreign Correspondents' Club of China, and an expert on Chinese media and the Internet will describe the reporting climate for Chinese domestic and foreign journalists covering the news in China. Have conditions improved for journalists since China hosted the Olympics last year? What has been the impact on journalists’ work in China of recent events in Xinjiang, a year of significant anniversaries, the global economic downturn, and the Internet? Will China move towards greater press freedom in the future?

Panelists:

Ashley Esarey, Visiting Assistant Professor of Politics, Whitman College

Jocelyn Ford, 2007-2009 Chair of Media Freedoms Committee, Foreign Correspondents' Club of China; freelance radio and multi-media journalist

Kathleen E. McLaughlin, Chair of Media Freedoms Committee and Secretary, Foreign Correspondents' Club of China; China correspondent for BNA, Inc., and freelance journalist

*James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic magazine, was unable to attend the roundtable but submitted a written statement.

Click here to download a copy of the Commission's full 2008 Annual Report.

Click here to download the section on Freedom of Expression in the Commission's 2008 Annual Report.

CECC Roundtables are open to the public. No RSVP is necessary.

A complete transcript of this CECC Roundtable is available on-line in PDF or TEXT.