Liu Xin speaks at Peking University on her life and choices as a journalist at CGTN
Apr 26, 2018
Peking University, April 26, 2018: Liu Xin, currently, a host of a weekday prime-time opinion show The Point with Liu Xin as well as a journalist at China Global Television Network (CGTN) English service, spoke at the Peking University Global Center for Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship on April 25, 2018. Hosted by Associate Professor He Shu of the School of Journalism and Communication, Liu Xin talked about her life decisions and experience as a notable journalist in an international platform of the Chinese media and a mother of two at the same time.
Liu Xin delivering a speech
Graduated from Nanjing University in English studies, Liu Xin joined CCTV, at the time where English reporting would last for only 30 minutes. Most of her schedule was a mixture of time-lapse routine work combined with narrating scripts that encapsulated second-hand knowledge. It was at this very moment that she decided to explore the world through her own eyes. With great optimism and ambition, Liu Xin was stationed at Geneva, Switzerland to set up CCTV’s Geneva Bureau while serving as its bureau chief. During that tenure, Liu Xin received a grounded experience in international media allowing her to cover reports on different UN agencies, tell stories that helped her explore investigative journalism, and provided insights on Chinese with additional coverage on the perspectives of ambassadors from around the world.
Through a slideshow of pictures, she took us down her memory lane of when she received an opportunity to ask a question in a high-level UN press conference to reporting stories on victims of a tragedy, China Expo in Italy and also the farm that Deng Xiaoping visited in his trip to France in 1975.
The scene
In 2016, Liu Xin returned to China and received an offer to host The Point with Liu Xin. This would be the first show named after a person on the national television network’s English service. Since then, The Point with Liu Xin has been a platform for connecting China to the world audience through Liu Xin’s perspective on the global news and discussion sessions. Over time the program has conducted panel discussions like the 5-wing debate addressing the BRICS 2017 China and one-on-one debates making it the flagship show of CGTN.
As one of the signature anchors of CGTN, Liu Xin revealed that sometimes it can be challenging for journalists when the opinion of the guest interviewee on sensitive topics are rigid. However, these challenges have enhanced her knowledge and experience in this media field and made her a pioneer in the International platform of the Chinese media.
The last hour of the talk was dedicated to an interactive session where students were given an opportunity to ask questions. Liu Xin answered questions related to her decision to begin her career in journalism, issues of western countries having misunderstandings about China and the role of women in the Chinese media. She mentioned that her primary goal is to introduce China internationally and emphasized the importance to interact with the world. Furthermore, she stated that being a woman in the Chinese media has been an advantage instead of a challenge as she believes that being a woman, especially while reporting sensitive issues, has helped the interviewee open up to her.
Q&A session
A YuanPei College student at Peking University, Jimmy Billy Mkandawire shared that as an international student, the interactive session with Liu Xin has given him an insight in the Chinese media and sees Liu Xin as a role model for university students who wish to understand the important issues around the world.
The talk ended with few words from a special guest in the audience, Jaime A.FlorCruz, former CNN’s Beijing Bureau Chief and Correspondent and a founding president of the Peking University International Alumni Association. Then followed by a gift session from Associate Professor He to Liu Xin expressing gratitude on behalf of the class.
Gift presenting (Photo by Zhang Yusheng)
Group photo (Photo by Zhang Yusheng)
Liu Xin's lecture was enthralling and inspirational for students even from different subjects to have an insight on a life of a journalist and most importantly, to move forward in understanding not only the society we live in but also the society around us.
The poster
Reported by: Aneka R. Rajbhandari
Edited by: Zhang Jiang
