CHINA, MEDIA: On the Wings of CCTV-9
--An interview with Jiang Heping
By Editorial Staff
He controls the flow of the English elites in China; to a large degree, he decides the success of many journalism departments around the country; he is Jiang Heping, Chief Executive of CCTV-9.
CCTV-9’s Status Quo: At the outset of the interview, Mr. Jiang appeared to be talkative, like a spokesman. He played down our suggestion that an overwhelming majority of CCTV-9 viewers are Chinese learners of English: "This was the situation two years ago. Now, the number of the foreign audience has increased dramatically," he said. "I should attribute the success to the 'Go Out Project.' By carrying out this project, CCTV-9 has gained audiences in different parts of the world. We made extensive progress in landing in America, Britain, Northern Europe, Asia, and Middle East."
Mr. Jiang emphasized the two "big movements" in promoting CCTV-9. First, CCTV-9 has successfully entered the ASTRO Platform in Indonesia, which means that Chinese Indonesians have one more China channel to choose from. Meanwhile, CCTV-9 has been on the Great Wall Platform since Oct. 1st, 2004, which has brought the increase of 10 million viewers.
Although the market area is not as broad as CCTV-9 members anticipated, the two movements did improve CCTV-9’s status among international English channels, according to Mr. Jiang.
CCTV-9’s Standard For Job Applicants: Almost every spring, Mr. Jiang returns to BFSU to hunt for English language elites. So when he was asked which kind of graduate he would choose between students with good English and little knowledge of journalism and students with a good sense of journalism but poor English, he blurted, "of course, the students with good English!" Mr. Jiang firmly believes that journalistic skills can be gradually mastered in practice, but English language fluency can never be easily gained in a short span of time.
"I once recruited a student from BFSU only by listening to her reading a news story. She really sounded like a native Englishwoman, so I enrolled her as one of CCTV-9’s members." Serious and straight-faced, Mr. Jiang shared the story with us to demonstrate his view that encountering such English talent is becoming increasingly difficult in China.
CCTV-9’s Experience in Exploration: As a leader with more than ten years experience at CCTV, Mr. Jiang summed up the reasons why CCTV-9 found a place in more regions and countries. There are many approaches to consolidate CCTV-9’s position and explore new markets overseas.
Mr. Jiang thought the accurate setting of the channel’s identity as a "China Channel" was the key point in the channel’s success. CCTV-9 is making an effort to report what is happening in China and has decided to continue doing so. He also mentioned the balance in reporting. CCTV’s reports during the Iraqi War were considered the most balanced by international societies, with CCTV-9 certainly included. The other efforts are inviting foreign experts to be anchormen, strengthening the channel’s promotion, and so on.
"We did benefit a lot from experience. We should make the best use of it and do a better job in the future," Mr. Jiang said firmly.
CCTV-9’s Tomorrow: When talking about CCTV-9’s plans for the future, Mr. Jiang painted a glorious picture for the channel, "We will cooperate with other media more frequently, especially with English language media. The Southeast Asia and European Platform have also been placed on the agenda. We are also aiming to establish Russian and Arabic channels."
Mr. Jiang is obviously a pragmatist. He showed by facts and figures the achievements CCTV-9 has gained under his team. He also has foresight, because there was no hesitation on his face or in his voice. He knows his responsibility.
By Editorial Staff
He controls the flow of the English elites in China; to a large degree, he decides the success of many journalism departments around the country; he is Jiang Heping, Chief Executive of CCTV-9.
CCTV-9’s Status Quo: At the outset of the interview, Mr. Jiang appeared to be talkative, like a spokesman. He played down our suggestion that an overwhelming majority of CCTV-9 viewers are Chinese learners of English: "This was the situation two years ago. Now, the number of the foreign audience has increased dramatically," he said. "I should attribute the success to the 'Go Out Project.' By carrying out this project, CCTV-9 has gained audiences in different parts of the world. We made extensive progress in landing in America, Britain, Northern Europe, Asia, and Middle East."
Mr. Jiang emphasized the two "big movements" in promoting CCTV-9. First, CCTV-9 has successfully entered the ASTRO Platform in Indonesia, which means that Chinese Indonesians have one more China channel to choose from. Meanwhile, CCTV-9 has been on the Great Wall Platform since Oct. 1st, 2004, which has brought the increase of 10 million viewers.
Although the market area is not as broad as CCTV-9 members anticipated, the two movements did improve CCTV-9’s status among international English channels, according to Mr. Jiang.
CCTV-9’s Standard For Job Applicants: Almost every spring, Mr. Jiang returns to BFSU to hunt for English language elites. So when he was asked which kind of graduate he would choose between students with good English and little knowledge of journalism and students with a good sense of journalism but poor English, he blurted, "of course, the students with good English!" Mr. Jiang firmly believes that journalistic skills can be gradually mastered in practice, but English language fluency can never be easily gained in a short span of time.
"I once recruited a student from BFSU only by listening to her reading a news story. She really sounded like a native Englishwoman, so I enrolled her as one of CCTV-9’s members." Serious and straight-faced, Mr. Jiang shared the story with us to demonstrate his view that encountering such English talent is becoming increasingly difficult in China.
CCTV-9’s Experience in Exploration: As a leader with more than ten years experience at CCTV, Mr. Jiang summed up the reasons why CCTV-9 found a place in more regions and countries. There are many approaches to consolidate CCTV-9’s position and explore new markets overseas.
Mr. Jiang thought the accurate setting of the channel’s identity as a "China Channel" was the key point in the channel’s success. CCTV-9 is making an effort to report what is happening in China and has decided to continue doing so. He also mentioned the balance in reporting. CCTV’s reports during the Iraqi War were considered the most balanced by international societies, with CCTV-9 certainly included. The other efforts are inviting foreign experts to be anchormen, strengthening the channel’s promotion, and so on.
"We did benefit a lot from experience. We should make the best use of it and do a better job in the future," Mr. Jiang said firmly.
CCTV-9’s Tomorrow: When talking about CCTV-9’s plans for the future, Mr. Jiang painted a glorious picture for the channel, "We will cooperate with other media more frequently, especially with English language media. The Southeast Asia and European Platform have also been placed on the agenda. We are also aiming to establish Russian and Arabic channels."
Mr. Jiang is obviously a pragmatist. He showed by facts and figures the achievements CCTV-9 has gained under his team. He also has foresight, because there was no hesitation on his face or in his voice. He knows his responsibility.
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