CHINESE MEDIA CENTER 以中传媒中心 – AN ISRAEL-CHINA MEDIA BRIDGE

CHINESE MEDIA CENTER 以中传媒中心

- AN ISRAEL-CHINA MEDIA BRIDGE

The School of Media Studies

The College of Management – Academic Studies, Rishon LeZion, Israel

By Alex Pevzner alexander.pevzner@gmail.com

GOAL: To improve Israel – China ties by engaging in a systematic dialogue with the Chinese media.

THE ISSUE:  China is playing an increasingly central role in global affairs. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and the world’s second largest economy, China has a voice in virtually every important international issue and it is increasingly engaged in the Middle East.

Israel considers its ties with China to be of crucial importance. Both Israel and China are ancient civilizations and have highly complementary economies, so the potential for cooperation is high. Israel can work together with China on a range of issues such as agriculture, water treatment, food and health.

Israel needs to engage the Chinese media, as it serves as a window on China. It is the world’s largest media system in terms of sheer numbers and language reach. Building bridges to the Chinese media and society is the best way for Israel to bring its story to Chinese audiences.

MISSION: Under the auspices of the School of Media Studies of The College of Management Academic Studies (COMAS), Rishon LeZion, Israel, the Chinese Media Center (CMC) will maintain a dialogue with the Chinese media, conduct cutting-edge research of the media systems in the Greater China area and be an educational tool for COMAS students. CMC will be in a regular contact with the Chinese working print, digital, and broadcast media, thus facilitating greater understanding of Israel in China and vice versa.

Currently no Israeli academic institution or non-profit organization engages or studies the media in the Greater China area in any way. The Chinese Media Center, the first of its kind in Israel and one of the few globally, will leverage the state-of-the-art facilities and communications research of the school and will connect Israel and China in a systematic dialogue and scholarly and professional exchanges. The Center at the School of Media Studies will serve Israel’s long-term interest by pursuing independent scholarship and building bridges between the two nations.

ALEX PEVZNER BIO:

Alex Pevzner is an expert in the area of Chinese media and regularly publishes on Israel-China ties in the leading Chinese news media publications. Pevzner was the founding director of the China program of The Israel Project, the first ever program of its kind aimed at increasing understanding of Israel in China. Prior to that, Pevzner worked for over five years as a staff reporter of Dow Jones Newswires in Taiwan. Pevzner holds an M.A. in Asian Studies and a B.A. in East Asian Studies and International Relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has also studied modern Chinese in Tsinghua University in Beijing and classical Chinese in National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Hebrew, and English.

618 million Internet users in Chinese end-2013

A quarter of the world’s newspapers are Chinese