Covering the World Expo Workshop

Shanghai International Studies University | May 31 – June 2, 2010

Twenty-one graduate students and young professors attended the first MEC workshop, Covering the World Expo, which was hosted by Shanghai International Studies University. Students from Hong Kong Baptist University and Ball State University (Indiana) also participated in the first day’s activities, which included lunch with US Commissioner-General to the World Expo Jose Villarreal, an opening ceremony keynote address by Shanghai Daily Editor Zhang Ciyun, and a session on previous coverage of the World Expo by Duncan Hewitt of Newsweek and Guo Ke of the Shanghai International Studies University’s Center for Global Public Opinion of China.

On the second day of the workshop, participants visited the World Expo, with a special tour of the USA Pavilion and question and answer session with Martin Alintuck, Director of Communications. Students then worked on their own stories, which were finished during a Writing Lab on the third day in consultation with the workshop academic director Roger Kendall, who won a Pulitzer Prize with the LA Times.

This workshop gave participants the opportunity to do hands-on reporting, as well as interacting with international journalists and officials. The workshop also drew a diverse group of students from Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Hunan, Qinghai, and Gansu. Future workshops will also emphasize practical skills and reach out to MEC members in China’s interior.

Expo News Stories Written by Participants

American Dream Comes True in China – by Huo Li, Shanghai International Studies University

Earthquake Victims Take Part in Expo – by Wang Di, Fudan University

Expo for All Mankind – by Yang Chenlu, Shanghai University of Sport

Expo Hygienic Evaluations – by Chen Liying, Shanghai Jiaotong University

Expo Stamps Overwhelm the Scene – by Guo Yi, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Expo Taxi Drivers: On the Wheel Story-Tellers – by Li Jing, Shanghai International Studies University

Fake Ad Adds One More Visitor – by Liu Jia, Shanghai International Studies University

Life & Sunshine – by Wang Licheng, Hunan University

Low-profiled USA Pavilion – by Wei Yingying,  Beijing Foreign Studies University

Rwanda exhibits ‘peace baskets’ in Expo by Jiang Jinglan, Lanzhou University

Shanghai Expo 2010: The US Pavilion – by Wu Zhaowen, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Special Volunteers Serve in Expo on Children’s Day – by Hang Lu and Xie Lan, East China Normal University

US Pavilion Filled with Friendly Energy – by Qiao Jie, Qinghai Univeristy

Visitors: We See Heroism in US Pavilion – by Cairang Zhuoma, Qinghai University

We Are Family – by Long Jia, Hunan University