 | Press ReleasesBBC Chinese co-hosts a media freedom in China debate in UK |
BBC Chinese has teamed up with POLIS, the joint London School of Economics (LSE) and London College of Communication Journalism and Society Institute, to co-host a debate discussing media freedom in China. The Media Freedom Forum will be held at the LSE in London on Monday 26 November 2007 at 8.00pm. Chinese students studying at the LSE and other London colleges will make up the audience and the debate will be broadcast on BBC Chinese radio and webcast on bbcchinese.com. The 60-minute forum will discuss what freedom of media means including whether there should be any boundaries or limits on the media, the impact of new technology on media freedom and possible changes over the next decade. On the panel will be Duncan Hewitt, former BBC Chinese correspondent; Lifen Zhang, Editor of the Financial Times online site FTChinese.com; and Bingchun Meng, Media and Communications Lecturer at the LSE. Lorna Ball, Head of BBC Chinese, said: "We are very pleased to be co-hosting this special radio debate with POLIS and students at the LSE. "They are the future of media which is why it is important to give them the platform to express what role freedom of media, speech and expression plays in their lives. "I am confident the students, and audiences across the world, will benefit from discussing both the local and international perspectives on the issue and the opportunity to interact with experts from China and abroad." Charlie Beckett, Head of POLIS at the LSE, said: "POLIS is concerned with global media issues and delighted students will have the opportunity to explore the media specifically in China and its impact on society. "We are also proud to be associated with the world's leading international radio broadcaster and hope this will be the beginning of future cooperations." The Media Freedom Forum is part of BBC World Service's 75th anniversary Freedom To Speak season of programmes starting on Sunday 9 December. Further information is available online at bbcworldservice.com/freetospeak. Notes to Editors  BBC Chinese can be heard in Mandarin on FM in more than 20 cities in China and on shortwave across the Asia Pacific for four hours each day.
Cantonese programming is also re-broadcast in Hong Kong. English language broadcasts on shortwave 24 hours a day. The 24/7 site bbcchinese.com provides Chinese news and information to Chinese audiences across the world with in-depth analysis of global events and an English learning micro site, bbcchina.com.cn. POLIS is the joint London School of Economics (LSE) and the London College of Communication Journalism and Society Institute, aimed at working journalists, people in public life and students in the UK and around the world. POLIS is the place where journalists and the wider world can examine and discuss the media and its impact on society. Further information is available online at www.lse.ac.uk/polis. BBC World Service information is in World Service Key Facts. BBC World Service Publicity | 
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