My column at 21cbh

http://21cbh.com/businesslife/author.asp?Id=123,

In case you can read Chinese, I’m sharing my my Chinese column at 21cbh, an influential  Chinese business newspapers- China’s WSJ.

My content  is casual, talking about lifestyles, culture difference between the U.S. and China, and how hard to raise a kid in the U.S..

Different Way to Tell A Story

If I change the Culture Revolution story into a different media outlet to publish, let’s say a broadcast piece. It would be looking like that:

China Media Censorship and Internet Freedom of Speeches

My teachers always asked me about China’s media censorship and its statue quo. I posted it from the materials for an assignment, but there are more and more cases and details not included in this post.

Nowadays, there are over 2,000 newspapers, 8,000 magazines, and 3,000 TV channels in China. People have no right of getting a license for a TV station, all the print and broadcast media belongs to local or central government. Therefore, censorship is everywhere, from blocking a piece of sensitive news to be published to shutting down newspapers, magazines.

I have a friend, who used to be editor-in-chief of 21st Century Worldwide Herald. But in 2003, after publishing an interview with Lirui, former secretary of Chairman Mao, the newspaper was stopped by the department of propaganda and he was removed from the chief editor position. And this year, Southern Metropolis Weekly’s managing editor, Zhangping, known as Changping, a renowned Chinese columnist lost his job over commentaries on unrest in Tibet which did not conform with the official line.

They are just among the cases of being censored or so-called “harmonized” media and journalists. The other circumstance is self-censorship from media. I remembered Changping said in one of his column article: “I am afraid of other people praising me as a brave newspaperman, because I know I am full of fear in my heart. I did write some commentaries on current affairs, and edited some articles that exposed the truth. I lost my job and was threatened for speaking the truth. However, in my various media positions in the past decade, what I’ve practiced most is avoiding risk. Self-censorship has become part of my life. It makes me disgusted with myself.”

While print and broadcast media (hereafter “traditional media”) have been strictly controlled by the government, online speeches enjoy a relatively larger space. Internet users are able to make online speeches anonymously. When Internet booms up in China, we hoped that anonymous and two-way communication platform – Internet can give more freedom of speeches to Chinese people. Is it another way to avoid the censorship? It seemed to be. People can talk about anything, as long as their speeches are not about politics and other sensitive topics. Comparing to traditional media, speeches on new media such as the Internet really enjoy more freedom.

But it is not.

Recent events also indicated that the government has regarded the Internet as media and started controlling and supervising it. According to government’s surveillance practices on traditional media, the Internet could also be converted into an official mouthpiece. In Xiamen’s PX protest, the famous online blogger Lianyue’s blog was blocked and he was asked to talk to the policeman.

All the events indicate that the government is considering further enhancing restrictions on online speeches. On the policy side, for example, the education network, which is composed of different university websites, is regulated as an internal network, and no external IP is allowed to take part in the discussions on campus BBS. For another example, no commercial websites are allowed to do independent interviews and news releases. And, as a hot topic, the Chinese government is brewing an online real-name registration system.

On the technology side, a good example is GFW (the Great FireWall). As the government gains more knowledge on technical skills, Internet portals and domain analysis, the censorship and surveillance on the Internet are expected to be tighter than on traditional media. The Internet policemen have been cultivated to track IP addresses, block sensitive speeches, and work closely with multinational companies, such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.

Wikipedia, Youtube, Facebook, and lots of other oversea website has been blocked in a period of time, especially on important moments, like Olympic Games, the National Congress of the Communist Party of China or the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference every year.

Two circulation audit cases in China

Ying Zhao, published at China Media Research Vol.3 No.1

Abstract：This thesis analyzes two Chinese media circulation audit cases with BPA: 21st Century Business Review and China Marketing. It summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of current circulation audit models in China. It applies the theory of double selling, the circulation spiral and the competitive monopoly of the media market. After analysis of the trial-run of China’s local circulation audits, this paper predicts the future of circulation audits in China. [China Media Research. 2007;3(1):103-113].
Key Words: Circulation audit, BPA, Double selling, Guoxin publication circulation audit research center Introduction

Branding Fashion in China

Milton Kotler, Kate Zhao, published on China Marketing (Chinese version)

In China, fashion apparel industry competition is fierce, but most of the domestic companies don’t understand the core competency relies on dividing brands into segments and targeting at the segmented consumers. Analyzing western apparel branding methods can help us investigate deeply on real targeted consumer needs.

In China, fashion means capitalized icons in most of times, so everyone regards owning a Louis Vuiton handbag or dressing in a pair of Prada high-heeled shoes as their icons of wealth. They haven’t form a certain value and mission of fashion industry, that’s why they are eager to express their wealthiness via full of logo apparels. We call it fast-food fashion branding period, which opens doors to hundreds of unrecognized brands.  However, knockoffs always ruined the high-qualitied, fashionable branding apparels. It’s a complicated question to answer: whether China is ready for the global competition on fashion industry.

There were always two major questions from our audience. Why are Chinese consumers buying Western apparel and accessory brands rather than Chinese brands, in spite of the greater advertising input and distribution access of the Chinese apparel industry? How and when can Chinese fashion design be branded for export to the West and take its place on the runways of Paris, New York and Milan? These are tough questions and the answers are even tougher.

The first thing to keep in mind for the apparel industry is that there are many ways to make money besides creating and selling fashion. Fashion is only a subset of apparel consumption. There is luxury, fashion, styling and unbranded apparel. If you are a good business person you can make money in any of these segments, you’re your own brand or for OEM. If you are a bad business person you cannot make money in anything, including fashion.

The first step is to understand what we are talking about today, – fashion apparel and accessories, not luxury goods. It is important to understand the difference between luxury and fashion. Luxury goods, including apparel and accessories, signify wealth status, – they do not signify taste and social and personal identity. Luxury represents established money power signified by heritage and prestige. Fashion presents change and new trends of identity. Both are very expensive but they appeal to different consumer segments. In short hand, luxury expresses status; fashion expresses taste and new identity.