New York: Columbia Journalism Review Launches Chinese-Language Edition in China

[Harold Schiffman]

Columbia Journalism Review Launches Chinese-Language Edition in China
New publication brings CJR’s analysis of U.S. media to critical foreign audience

By The Editors

Single Page Print Email Comments Digg Facebook Reddit StumbleUpon
Delicious New York, NY (March 3, 2009) — The Columbia Journalism
Review (CJR) has launched a Chinese-language edition published and
distributed in China. This is the first time the Columbia Journalism
Review will regularly publish a foreign-language edition since its
founding in 1961. The inaugural issue was released in December 2008.

CJR has partnered with the World Executive Group (WEG), a China-based
private company specializing in strategic consulting and information
research, to publish each of its bimonthly issues. The new
publication, called Columbia Journalism Review Chinese (or
CJRChinese), also includes up to 20 percent of original content
created by WEG and branded separately from CJR.

Based at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, the
Columbia Journalism Review examines the media industry and its
coverage of current issues in politics, the environment, business, and
other areas. The Review’s reporting, analysis, criticism, and
commentary are widely read by members of the press as well as
educators, media executives, and others who desire in-depth analysis
of the media and current affairs.

The advent of a Chinese edition of the Columbia Journalism Review
reflects the growing need for open dialogue about the media and its
coverage of significant issues, not only in the United States and
China, but also in countries around the world.

“I hope that CJRChinese helps push forward the development of a free
press in China,” said Dean Nicholas Lemann of Columbia’s Graduate
School of Journalism.

Original CJR articles in the first issue of CJRChinese include: “Love
Thy Neighbor: The Religion Beat in an Age of Intolerance,” by Tim
Townsend (May/June 2008); “May I Speak Freely: Anthony Lewis on the
First Amendment’s March to Victory,” a review by Aryeh Neier
(January/February 2008); and “Red Ink Rising: How the Press Missed a
Sea Change in the Credit-Card Industry” (March/April 2008), by Dean
Starkman. The section of the magazine created by WEG includes material
on “The World’s 500 Most Influential Brands of 2008.”

“Given the vastly different press traditions in our respective
countries,” said Victor Navasky, chairman of CJR, “we consider the
advent of CJRChinese a major cultural breakthrough. We expect that the
information and analysis that is the hallmark of the Columbia
Journalism Review will provide unfamiliar perspectives to our new
Chinese readers, and that the relationship will also improve our own
understanding of journalism in China, a country whose influence in
world affairs continues to grow daily.”

Issues of the Columbia Journalism Review are translated into Mandarin
by the World Executive Group and vetted by CJR-hired bilingual
speakers and readers of Chinese and English, who work closely with CJR
staff, before publication in CJRChinese. The company will initially
distribute copies to key members of the Chinese media and also sell
single copies; they estimate an initial print run of around 12,000.

“We at the World Executive Group are pleased to be partners with the
Columbia Journalism Review, a respected publication and peerless
resource for the press,” said Ding Hai Sen, founder and CEO of World
Executive Group. “There are more than 10 million members of the media
in China, and for every eight employees there is a manager. We are
confident they hold great expectations for our partnership with CJR.”

The World Executive Group, which has offices in Beijing, Shanghai,
Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, where CJRChinese will be published, is
chaired by Nobel laureate Robert A. Mundell, Columbia University
professor of economics. CEO and founder Ding Hai Sen is an alumnus of
Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs as is the World
Executive Group’s Vice President and CFO, Yuan Hao Dong.


About the Columbia Journalism Review

Columbia Journalism Review’s mission is to encourage and stimulate
excellence in journalism in the service of a free society. It is both
a watchdog and a friend of the press in all its forms, from newspapers
to magazines to radio, television, and the Web. Founded in 1961 under
the auspices of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism,
CJR examines day-to-day press performance as well as the forces that
affect that performance. The magazine is published six times a year,
and offers a deliberative mix of reporting, analysis, criticism, and
commentary. CJR.org delivers real-time criticism and reporting, giving
CJR a vital presence in the ongoing conversation about the media.

http://www.cjr.org/events/columbia_journalism_review_lau.php

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)
*******************************************