China Ink: The Changing Face of Chinese Journalism

This book makes for fascinating and very timely reading. . . . Polumbaum and Xiong’s interviewees provide a vivid series of snapshots that enable us to gain a feeling for the fast pace of change [in the journalistic realm]. . . . China Ink’s great virtue is that it offers rich and interesting primary material that, to the best of my knowledge, cannot be found anywhere else, at least in English.

Innumerable pundits have vied to pronounce upon the social and cultural development of the Chinese, but Polumbaum”s approach―letting her subjects speak for themselves―appears to be the one now needed most. After putting her interviewees into context with a concise introduction, she simply lets each one recount their own story in a dedicated chapter, resisting the temptation to analyze and conclude, and eschewing clichés such as the prediction that the free market will break down censorship entirely. What results is an unadorned snapshot of a moment in Chinese media, both intimate and unusual.

China Ink is a fascinating window onto the world in which Chinese journalists operate. Among the book”s most striking revelations is the wide variety of personalities, tactics, values, and aspirations with which they approach their task. — James Fallows, The Atlantic Monthly

By reading China Ink you will learn more about Chinese media, building codes, swimming and diving, censorship, and writing styles than you could in ten different books―and all of it through the eyes, ears, and pens of significant Chinese journalists. China Ink is both a primer for the beginner and a reinforcement for the frequent visitor and scholar. — James Harris, founder, Prairie Lights Bookstore