About

I’ m a third-year PhD candidate in Media and Communication. Before this, I had 16 years of working experience at CRI (one of China’s three national broadcasters), where I was a senior editor and held positions including vice director of news of CRI Online and chief correspondent at CRI Mexico Bureau. I had been an academic visitor at the BBC (2010-2011) and at CSLS, Oxford University (2014.10-2015.03). I hold a MSc in Politics and Communication from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a master degree in International Relations from Peking University (Beijing).

Research interests

My thesis working title is: Online platforms in China: media power, implications and regulation. The project examines a current and important issue—media power of online platforms. Outside China, there are rising debates around the role of online platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in relation to news production, distribution and consumption and how to regulate these platforms (in relation to fake news, algorithmic power, etc.). Similar debates have also been seen in China, where popular platforms like WeChat and Weibo have increasingly become the converging media platforms hosting colossal content produced by various news and information producers (e.g., news media, individual authors, government departments). The rise of online platforms as important media actors has facilitated a media power shift in China: a large proportion of Internet users mainly rely on these platforms in accessing news; the traditional news media largely rely on these platforms to deliver their content; and many individual authors are empowered by the platforms and become online opinion leaders. While Chinese government traditionally uses the state-controlled news media to guide public opinion, almost all popular online platforms are owned by private Internet companies.

What do these new developments mean in relation to China’s public opinion guidance? What kinds of media power do these platforms hold and how they interact with China’s party-state? This project will adopt empirically based mixed methods (e.g., interviews, policy document analysis, and social media observation) to answer such questions.

I am co-supervised by Dr. Joanne Garde-Hansen and Dr. David Wright.

Selected publications

• Jufang Wang (2013). The Way of the BBC (BBC之道): Core Values and Global Strategies. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company（三联）.
• Jufang Wang (2013). BBC’s Global News Strategy under Tight Funding. TV Research (ISSN 1007-3930). Issue 6, pp.76-78.
• Jufang Wang (2011). International Conference Coverage Planning. In Zhang Yanqiu and Liu Suyun (Ed.) Global Communication Planning (《国际传播策划》). Beijing: Communication University of China Press, pp. 87-97.
• Jufang Wang and Wanli, Yu (2008). The Rise of Fox News Channel and American Conservatism (福克斯新闻频道的崛起与美国保守主义). American Studies Quarterly (ISSN 1002-8986). 88(4) pp.105-117.
• Jufang Wang (2008). Examining the reasons behind the rapid rise of Fox News Channel (福克斯新闻频道缘何迅速崛起). TV Research (ISSN 1007-3930). Issue 9, pp.78-80.
• Jufang Wang (2017). Framing and counter-framing: shaping the perceptions about OBOR. Conference paper, presented at OBOR Summit, Oxford University, on September 14, 2017.