media - Nieman training program for Chinese officials causes a stir


The intention of several Harvard institutions, including the Nieman Foundation, to conduct a media training for Chinese officials involved in handling the media during the 2008 Olympics has quite a stir among previous fellows, all journalists, of the Foundation, according to the New York Times today. The officials want to get a better understanding of how the American media work ahead of this prestegious event.
The event was disclosed this weekend, as former fellows gather for a meeting and asked questions. The curator Bob Giles confirmed the Nieman Foundation was involved in the eigth-day program. The New York Times:

"The reaction was visceral right off the bat," Mr. Berkes said yesterday. He said he objected to lending the program's good name to a repressive government to teach tactics that could be used to thwart reporters. "The major interest of the Chinese will be to limit damaging news coverage," he said.

Eugene Carlson, a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, said the concern was as much with educating Chinese officials "about how to duck questions" as it was
with Mr. Giles's decision to involve the foundation.

The officials will be paying for the training course.

I do not agree with the Pavlov-reaction of the quoted journalists. What China is dearly missing is more exposure to the rest of the world, especially when it concerns the media. That is one of the reason why I think it is important to join this kind of meetings and participate in it. Of course, it does make a difference whether you are training journalists or officials, but both need it very much.

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