Invited by Mr. Giff Searls, Project Manager of ACDO (Admission and Career Development Office), Mr. Mike Chinoy, Senior Fellow at USC's US-China Institute, former foreign correspondent for CNN, visited UIC and shared two parts of his seven-part documentary film series titled "Assignment: China" with UIC teachers and students at B101 on 4 May. Seven TESL students, headed by Su Zidong from Year 4, helped translate the subtitles of the first two parts, and will continue to work on this project.
Mr. Chinoy and some of the subtitles translators
For the first time, the documentary film shows the perceptions, experiences and insights of American correspondents' coverage of China since as early as 1945, the civil war period, to current times. For the making of this film, Mr. Mike Chinoy interviewed a large number of American correspondents who interviewed important figures of China, such as Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping, as well as correspondents who experienced China from the very beginning of its opening-up policy implemented by Deng Xiaoping, after being barred from China for over 20 years.
Mr. Chinoy giving the lecture
According to Mr. Chinoy, the film would primarily be of educational use. Just like what he did at UIC, he would show the film during classes and later hold a discussion. Besides, the film will be upload/ed on the internet with additional references.
Many UIC staff and students raised questions during the Q&A section, such as: CNN's coverage of the Tibet riot in 2008; what would he bring back to the U.S. about the development of China from a historical perspective, and the importance of interview preparation, etc.
Mr. Chinoy responded to questions patiently. On CNN's coverage of the Tibet riot,"I quitted CNN since 2006, so that was not my problem." said Mr. Chinoy jokingly. He said that the mistaken report might be the result of a few factors: 1) There is a tradition of western journalism to be cynical and skeptical towards officials and powerful interest groups and to "shine a light on what the official and powerful interest group don't want to be shined." 2) Journalists make mistakes too. The editor of the news was not the correspondent on site, so the editor might have chosen a picture that appeared similar and published it on the internet. 3) Respondents tend to report more on what is on the government agenda. Mr. Chinoy stated that there is no particular anti-China or pro-China attitude among the respondents, but out of the tradition, they focus more on problems and tensions of a society.
As to the question of the current state of China from a developmental perspective, Mr. Chinoy said that China is enormously complicated and dynamic in both high level administration, and in ordinary people's daily life. There are a lot of different perceptions of China, such as China as a threat, but Mr. Chinoy said people should not just listen to one side of the story.
Regarding interview preparation, Mr. Chinoy said that preparation is the key to a successful interview: the more you know about the subject, the more you can get out of the interview, and the easier it will be able to handle the interview process.
Mr. Seyedin, President of AmCham South China, Mr. Chinoy, Mr. Searls and UIC Translaters
Reporter: Richard Xu
MPRO
