Xin, Xin
BA, MA, PhD
RCUK Academic Fellow, China Media Centre
E-mail: X.Xin1@westminster.ac.uk
Biography
Dr Xin began her RCUK academic fellowship in Chinese media and culture, and their relationship to the wider world in 2006. She also teaches graduates and undergraduates in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of the University of Westminster.
Xin obtained her PhD in Media and Communication in 2006 and her MA in Journalism (international) in 2003, both from Westminster. She received her BA in Russian Language and Literature in Beijing in 1994. Before starting her academic career in London, Xin worked as a journalist in Beijing for seven years and spent a year (1999-2000) as a visiting scholar in State Pushkin Russian Language Institute, Moscow.
Xin was UK/China Fellow for Excellence 2008-2009. She held several visiting fellowships at leading research centers based in China and the US, including the National Center for Radio & TV Studies (NCRTS) of the Communication University of China (2009), the Center for Global Communication Studies of the Annenberg School for Communication and the Center of East Asian Studies of the University of Pennsylvania (2008), and the International Center for Communication Studies of Tsinghua University, Beijing (2004).
Xin was a member of the editorial board of the online academic journal Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture (WPCC) (2004-2008), where she edited the issue Media in China (2006), and a member of the editorial board of the peer-viewed journal Interactions: Studies in Communications & Culture (2008 – present).
Research interests
Media, culture and society in transitional societies, particularly in China and Russia; international communication; impact of marketization and globalization on media institutions; impact of new technology on journalistic practices, journalism ethics; propaganda, public diplomacy and international relations.
Research grants (as principle investigator)
UK/China Fellowship for Excellence (2008)
University of Westminster Developing Researchers Initiative Grant (2008)
British Academy Small Research Grant (2006-2007)
British Academy Overseas Conference Grant (2006-2007)
Universities' China Committee in London (2006)
Main research projects
China’s Soft Power, and its media and cultural internationalization:
This book project examines the impact of China’s increasing cultural and media interventions around the world, particularly in the USA, UK, East and Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach to critically examine the cultural implications of China’s ‘going abroad’ strategy for national sovereignty, culture and identity as well as for mediated trans-cultural communication empowered by new information technologies. It is based on an empirical study of the major cultural and media initiatives, such as Confucius Institutes, China Central Television, China Radio International, China Daily, Xinhua News Agency and Shanghai Media Group. The research outcome will be a monograph Enter the Dragon: China Presents itself to the World. The data collection in China, US and UK is completed. Some findings were presented in conference papers and forthcoming publications.
Currently, Dr Xin is developing two new collaborative research projects:
(1) Comparing media systems and journalistic practices of China, Russia and Brazil.
(2) The impact of new communication technologies, such as mobile phones and the web 2.0 technology, on traditional journalism and society. For the latter two projects, potential research collaborators are welcome.
Awards and professional honours
UK/China Fellowship for Excellence (2008-2009)
Associate of the High Education Academy (2008 -- Present)
Postgraduate Certificate of Special Study in Supporting Learning (2007)
RCUK Academic Fellowship (2006-2011)
CAMRI PhD Scholarship (2003-2006)
Scholarship of the Ministry of Education of China (1999-2000)
Publications
In peer-reviewed journals
(Forthcoming/2010) ‘The Impact of Citizen Journalism on Chinese Media and Society’, Journalism Practice.
(Forthcoming/2010) ‘Public Diplomacy Games: A Comparative Study of American and Japanese Responses to the Interplay of Nationalism, Ideology and Chinese Soft Power Strategies around the 2008 Beijing Olympics’, Sport in Society (co-authored with Christopher J. Finlay).
(2009) ‘Xinhua News Agency in Africa’, Journal of African Media Studies, 1 (3): 363-377.
(2008) Structural Change and its Impact upon Journalistic Practices: Xinhua News Agency in the Early 2000s, Journalism Practice, 2(1): 46-63.
(2008) Research into Chinese Media Organizations: The Case of Xinhua Shanghai Bureau, Javnost – The Public, 15(5): 39-56.
(2006) ‘A Developing Market in News: Xinhua News Agency and Chinese Newspapers’, Media, Culture & Society, 28(1): 45-66.
(2006) ‘Editorial’ in the issue Media in China, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, 3(1): 1-10.
(2006) ‘News Probe: What Does It Tell US about Chinese Journalism Today?’, Medien Journal, ‘Media, Culture and Modernization in China’ (double issue), 2/3: 52-66 (co-authored with Hugo de Burgh)
In academic books
(Forthcoming/2010) ‘Web 2.0, Grassroots Journalism and Social Justice in China’ In Graham Meikle and Guy Redden (eds) News Online: Transformation and Continuity, New York: Palgrave.
(Forthcoming/2010) ‘Xinhua News Agency in the context of the ‘Crisis’ of News Agencies’ In Oliver Boyd-Barrett (ed.) News Agencies in the Turbulent Era of the Internet, Generalitat de Catalunya: Col-leccio Lexikon.
(Forthcoming) ‘Investigative Journalism, Citizen Journalism and Social Justice’ In Amaro LaRosa and César Carrillo (eds) Impact of Globalization and Technology on Behavior and Everyday Practices: Cross-cultural Studies.
(2007) How to Do Fieldwork? In Nico Carpentier, et al (eds) Media Technologies and Democracy in an Enlarged Europe. The intellectual work of the 2007 European media and communication doctoral summer school. Tartu: University of Tartu Press.
(2006) ‘Xinhua News Agency and Globalization: Negotiating between the Global, the Local and the National’, in Boyd-Barrett, O. (ed.) Communications Media, Globalization and Empire, pp.111-128, Eastleigh, UK: John Libbey.
Conference Papers/Selected Presentations/invited speeches/panel discussions
(Forthcoming/2010) Panel discussion on Racism, Ethnicity and the Media around the World, CAMRI Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa Conference, 25-26 March, London.
(Forthcoming/2010) A Critical Analysis of the Resources of China’s Soft Power and its Distribution in the Information Age, International Communication Association (ICA) Preconference on `Chindia' and global communication, 22 June, Singapore.
(Forthcoming/2010) The Role of "Citizen Journalism" in China’s Changing Media and Social Environment, ICA Conference, 22-26 June, Singapore.
(2009) ‘China's 'Soft power' and its 'Going abroad' strategy in the media and cultural sectors’. Academic Salon, 23 December, Renmin University of China, Beijing (invited speech).
(2009) ‘Confucius Institutes’, Wilton Park’s Panel Discussion for Dialogue with Russia: Moving from a Resource-based to a Knowledge-based Economy’: Cultural Perspectives, 19-22 November, Winston House, Wilton Park, UK (invited speech).
(2009) ‘Citizen Journalism, Mainstream Journalism and Social Change in China’, Conference on Modernity’s Cultural Politics: China in Context, 23-24 October, the Courtauld Institute of Art, London (invited speech).
(2009) ‘China’s Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy’, British Council’s Panel Discussion for
Celebrating 75 Years of Cultural Relations: The Role of Cultural Diplomacy in European Foreign Policy, 22 October, London (invited speech/panel discussion).
(2009) ‘Web 2.0, grassroots journalism and social justice in China’, Conference on Future of Journalism, 9-10 September, Cardiff University, Cardiff.
(2009) ‘Building a Chinese CNN’: An Assessment of Constraining Factors’, China Media Centre conference on Creativity and Innovation in Chinese Media, 22-23 June, University of Westminster, London (co-authored with Hu Zhengrong).
(2009) ‘Web 2.0, Citizen Journalism and Social Justice in China’, Conference on China’s Internet development, 27-29 May, Philadelphia, Annenberg School for Communication, Pennsylvania, USA.
(2009) ‘Searching for a solution to theorize Confucius Institute’, Preconference of ICA, 21-25 May, Chicago, USA.
(2008) ‘Confucius Institute, Intercultural Communication and Soft Power in China’, Conference of Communication Association of China, 13-14 December, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
(2008) (Co-authored with Christopher J. Finlay) ‘Soft Power and the Management of Nationalism at the Beijing Games’, Conference on International Conference on Political Communication and China’s Global Communication, 10-11 December, Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
(2008) ‘Xinhua News Agency’s Presence in Africa’, CAMRI-CMC round-table conference on China in Africa: What does it mean for the media? 17 September, London.
(2008) (Co-authored with Christopher J. Finlay) ‘Soft Power and the Management of Nationalism at the Beijing Games’, SOAS workshop on Documenting the Beijing Olympics, 12 September, London.
(2008) ‘“Exporting” Chinese Media and Culture in the Age of Globalisation’, the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) conference, 20-25 July, Stockholm, Sweden.
(2008) 'Confucius Institutes: Their Role, Activities and Implications', China Media Centre conference, 12 June, University of Westminster, London.
(2008) ‘Chinese Media and Beijing Olympics’, presented at the workshop for high school students organized by the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, 1 May, Philadelphia, USA (invited speech).
(2008) ‘How is the Market Changing China’s News in the Age of Globalization? The Case of Xinhua News Agency’, presented at the university-wide forum, 11 February, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, USA (invited speech).
(2008) ‘Investigative Journalism, Citizen Journalism and Social Justice’, presented at the symposium ‘Towards a Harmonious Information Society in China? Technology, Tensions and Observations’, 25 January, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
(2007) ‘Positioning Chinese Media Studies’, presented at the conference ‘Media Studies and Cultural Studies in Arab Higher Education: Mapping the Field’, 4-5 September, University of Westminster, London.
(2007) ‘Internationalization of Chinese Media under the “Going Out” Strategy’, presented at the QUT-CMC Conference, 4-5 July, Brisbane, Australia.
(2007) ‘From Communist Propaganda Machine to Global News Agency? Xinhua 1980-2005’, presented at the ICA 2007 Preconference ‘Methodologies of Comparative Research in a Global Sphere’, 23-24 May, San Francisco, USA.
(2007) ‘Structural Change at Local Level and its Impact upon Journalistic Practices: Xinhua News Agency 1980-2005’, presented at the ICA 2007 conference (Journalism studies division), 24-28 May, San Francisco, USA.
(2007) ‘Understanding the Complexity of Journalistic Practices: the Case of China’, presented at the symposium ‘Minding the Gap”: Reflections on Media Practice and Theory. Postgraduate & Early Career Researchers Training Day’, 12 May, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, UK.
(2007) ‘Chinese Media after the Country's Accession to the WTO’, presented at the conference ‘Defining the Field: Themes in Contemporary China Studies’, 12–15 April, CRASSH, University of Cambridge, UK.
(2006) ‘News and Sovereignty: from National to International’, presented at the CMC conference ‘Modernization, Modernity and the Media in China’, 15-16 June, London.
(2006) ‘From Communist Propaganda Machine to Global News Agency? Xinhua 1980-2005’, presented at the symposium of the Institute for Journalism, Media and Communication Studies of Stockholm University, 26-28 April, Stockholm.
(2005) ‘A Historical Analysis of Xinhua: from a Party Organ to a Centralized National News Agency’, presented at the IAMCR conference, 26-29 July, Taipei.
(2005) ‘Rethinking of Implications of Political Economy of Media: the Case of Mainland China’, presented at the IAMCR conference, 26-29 July, Taipei.
(2005) ‘Xinhua News Agency and Globalization: Negotiating between the Global, the Local and the National’, presented at the 2005 ICA Preconference, 26 May, New York.
(2004) ‘Exploring the Impact of SARS on Chinese Journalists and the Media Ecology’, presented at the conference ‘Epidemics and Transborder Violence: Communication and Globalization under a Different Light’, 17-18 December, Hong Kong.
(2004) ‘Exploring the Impact of Marketization on China’s Media: the Case of Xinhua News Agency’, presented at the Summer School ‘Intensive European Programme for Doctoral Research in Communication’, 22 August - 1 September, Helsinki.
(2004) ‘Exploring the Impact of SARS on Chinese Journalists and the Media Ecology’, presented at the conference ‘Epidemics and Transborder Violence: Communication and Globalization under a Different Light’, 17-18 December, Hong Kong.
(2004) ‘The Transition from ‘Bi-directional Dependency’ to Agency-client Relationship between News Agencies and Newspapers: The Case of China’, presented at the conference ‘Transnational Media Corporations and National Media Systems: China after Entry into the WTO’, 17-21 May, Bellagio.
Language and communication skills
Native language: Chinese (Mandarin)
English: Fluent
Russian: Advanced
Italian: Lower intermediate/intermediate
Teaching in 2009/2010
MA in Journalism (Internaitonal), MA in Global media and MA in Communication
2MED711.2 The Chinese Media and the Emerging World Order (led by Xin Xin)
2COM7H1.1 Theories of Communication (led by Colin Sparks)
MA in Journalism (International)
2MJI 701 Issues in Journalism, Human Rights, Ethics and Democracy (led by Colin Sparks)
PhD Supervision
Oct. 2009 – present CAMRI PhD student Mi Miao (co-supervised with Prof .Hugo de Burgh) is working on her doctoral research about citizen journalism in China.
Jan.2007 – present CAMRI PhD student Yuan Yan (co-supervised with Dr. Roza Tsagarousianou) is working on her doctoral thesis about identity construction of rural migrants in China and media consumption.
