A New Look at Nixon in China

Just to give you a taste of what the East-West Center in Honolulu has to offer, there were other programs going on while we were there. Former CNN correspondent Mike Chinoy, now a senior fellow with the US-China Institute at the University of Southern California, discussed a fascinating documentary on the journalists who covered Nixon's historic trip to China in 1972. It was fascinating to see media legends like Dan Rather, Ted Koppel and Barbara Walters when they were much younger. Walters, in particular, had a tough time as the only woman on the trip. The entire press corps had to deal with lost luggage, a punishing schedule, and Chinese minders who wouldn't allow them to do anything other than staged photo ops. One of my favorite quotes came from the remote TV truck, where a Chinese interpreter asked, "I understand 'feed' and (satellite) 'bird' but please tell me what is 'f**cking audio?'" As a group, they were sleep deprived and angry about having to cover what they felt was little more than a promo for Nixon's re-election. Read more and watch the film online here:  http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=2672
Hafsah Syed of Dawn TV, one of our Pakistani colleagues, also attended and I couldn't help but reflect on how the journalism profession has changed from the 1970s, when there were few women correspondents and I got my first break in the business. The majority of participants in our journalism exchange are women, reflecting the current trend in the journalism empowering women worldwide. Maybe we won't make history like Nixon's trip to China, but I'm sure our exchange will have an impact.