Jocelyn Ford

on February 6, 2015

Jocelyn Ford is a Beijing-based radio correspondent and filmmaker who has been based in Asia for 30 years. For over a decade, Ford was Bureau Chief for U.S. public radio's premier national business show, "Marketplace," first in Tokyo, later in Beijing. She has reported for "Radio Lab," "The World," "Studio 360," and other public radio shows. Her first documentary film, "Nowhere To Call Home: A Tibetan in Beijing," premiered in 2014.

Ford has been a pioneer in pushing for media freedom in East Asia, and giving a voice to marginalized groups. In Japan, as the first foreigner in the prime minister's press corps, she persistently challenged unspoken taboos. Her reporting on the WWII “comfort women” was a catalyst for the Japanese government to acknowledge a role in WWII sexual slavery. In 2001, Ford became the first foreigner to co-produce and co-host China Radio International’s first live drive-time news show. There she got an inside view of China’s state-run media and experienced a Communist Party-style self-criticism session following her failure to heed state censors while reporting on 9/11. Jocelyn has chaired the Media Freedom Committee of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China and was a key strategist in the lobbying effort to reduce government controls on foreign media. She is a frequent speaker on media freedoms issues.

Ford’s professional honors include an Overseas Press Club award, a National Press Club award, and a Jefferson Fellowship from the Hawaii-based East West Center.

Parched Beijing’s Olympics Bid Based on Fake Snow

Undaunted by Water Shortage, Beijing Bids to Host the 2022 Winter Olympics

on February 5, 2015

Where better for a Winter Olympic Games than famously arid north China?

Drought and a fast growing economy have created water shortages so severe that China’s government has spent more than a decade, and up to U.S.$80 billion, constructing 2,400 kilometers of canals and tunnels to pump 45 billion cubic meters of water from the moist south to the parched capital and surrounding areas.

Why Chinese Promote Confining New Mothers for a Month

By Rachel Lu on February 5, 2015

HONG KONG—Giving birth is never easy, but for new Chinese mothers the month following a baby’s arrival is particularly fraught. Immediately after I became pregnant for the first time, I started to hear about zuoyuezi, or “sitting the month.” It’s a period during which new mothers are supposed to stay confined with their babies, and it’s considered crucial, full of strict, sometimes incredible requirements.