Bingwu Deng, Associate Chief of Production | China

When, why and how did you become involved in journalism?

After I graduated from college in 1987, I got a job in journalism. At that time, the policy "Reform and Open" in China had been in effect for 10 years. Every industry tried to recruit college graduates and the government helped each industry to search suitable college graduates. (For example, if someone graduated from the department of Chinese literature, the government would give him/her some options, such as editor, teacher and secretary.) Instead of looking for jobs, most graduates have several job options to select from. Since very few universities had a journalism department, media organizations searched for students from other writing intensive departments, such as literature, history and philosophy. My major in college was Chinese literature, which got me my first job in journalism.

How do you define journalism and how do you think it is viewed in your country?

I have never thought about what is journalism. I will answer the second question. In the 1980s, we called our readers and viewers information recipients. The public received information passively. They didn't have adequate access to information and the chance to interact with information providers. News outlets were opinion leaders in society. Therefore, government could manipulate media to control general opinion. However, after China's economic model shifted from planned economy to market economy, state-owned media organizations had to face competition with private-owned news organizations. Besides, with the advent of the Internet, traditional media organizations were no longer the only information providers. Journalism began to face challenges from the market. In China, there are more than 3,000 national, provincial and city TV stations. All news organizations became aware of the importance of meeting consumers' needs.

In sum, from the public's perspective's, journalism is the information provider; journalism used to be controlled by the government to lead public opinions; journalism is now becoming the speaker of the public.

As a female journalist, how has gender influenced your career?

In China, educated women have a lot of opportunities to find decent jobs and get promotions. I don't think my gender comprises my career development. But when I was first assigned to my organization, I faced some challenges. For example, some colleagues thought women need to take care of families, which may negatively influence the work. However, my good job performance swept away all these biases. And in China, if women show good professional competency, they are more likely to get promotions than men. I think this is because journalism in China is a relatively new industry, which developed with the "Reform and Open" policy and the turning point of transforming to online platforms in journalism itself. Without long history and embedded male-dominated culture in this industry, women have more opportunity to get breakthroughs. A lot of women work in newsrooms, and lead the reform of media.

How is the Internet affecting journalism in your country?

The Internet has a crucial impact upon traditional media. In recent years, those hot topics and big events that you see on TV and newspapers were all initiated by the online information. With the wide spread of mobile devices and Internet in China, everyone can be the information provider. Traditional media are no longer the only opinion leader in society. In this situation, Chinese journalism will be more objective and diverse.

What do you see as the future for women working in international and global communication?

I have never considered this issue. This is because gender is a very blurring concept in my mind. I think the difference between women and men is not from genders, but from individual ability and knowledge.

What's the difference between print media and TV media?

Print media use pictures and writings; TV media use videos, audios and more high-technology tools. I like TV more, which is more diverse and straightforward.

What is the most impressive program?

The most impressive program is a documentary named Hunan Girls in Xinjiang, which was produced 10 years ago. In 1958, at the prime stage of the People's Republic China, 8,000 Hunan girls were sent to Xinjiang province. They were assigned by the government to get married with military there. The purpose of this event was to help the family building of military people. All of these girls were aged from 16 to 20. With the ambition to develop New China, they left their families and went to the distant areas. After nearly half a century, their stories attracted us and people in their hometown. We covered their after-marriage life, their jobs and the most important issue of the difficulties they met both on the the physical level and psychological level. After broadcasting the documentary, we got good feedback and good audience ratings. This documentary was broadcast on China Central TV station as well and awarded as the top documentary that year.

What is the biggest challenge you met in your career?

I think the biggest difficulty is that I never found the best business model for my organization. Our channel has existed for 11 years, and it never got out of financial difficulty. As with other TV stations, our organization relies on ad revenue, which is highly related with audience ratings. In China, three kinds of programs earn audiences' attention the most. They are news broadcasts, dramas and entertaining programs. Since City TV stations have limited budget and only cover local audiences, our programs are always with low investment and low profit.

As a female leader, what advantages and disadvantages you have in leadership?

The disadvantage is that I am a flexible person. When I need to do a final decision, I don't insist on my idea always. Women are more likely to be persuaded. However, women are more creative than men. Also women are more sensitive, which is good for personal interviews and make programs more touching.

What's the most important principle for journalists?

To be objective, fair and honest.

Interviewee: Bingwu Deng

Bingwu Deng was born in Hunan Province in the1960s, China. Deng earned her bachelor's degree from the School of Chinese Literature at Xiamen University. She has been working in journalism for 23 years. From 1987 to 2002, she was the editor of Changsha newspaper agency. In 2002, she shifted to Changsha TV Women Channel and became the associate chief of producer there.

Interviewer: Guannan Huang

Guannan Huang, 21, is a first year master's student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. She is from Jiangxi Province, China. As a child she found pleasure in reading and writing. In college, she worked in the campus news agency, where she covered different kinds of reporting, including conference reports, sports reports, investigative reports, and individual interviews. An investigative report about the damage of campus public facilities earned her the position as the leader of the investigative division in the campus news agency. She took internships in real-world media organizations during school breaks, including newspaper, magazine, TV and online media. Her biggest project during her internships was the commercial collaboration between the magazine where she took internship and KFC, a global chain fast food restaurant. In this collaboration, Huang was involved in the whole process, including writing the project framework, conducting interviews and writing feature stories. The more she completed, the more urgent she felt to get professional training in journalism. Knowing that the United States has the most advanced journalism education and free speech, she decided to apply to a journalism master's program in the U.S. Fortunately, she was accepted by the University of Iowa, where she started her master's program in August 2010.