Every morning I have been able to get up and have a work out and today was the same except that I went to a gym with Michael down the road from the university called “Will’s.” Because the traditional Chinese person isn’t exactly known for going to work out facilities like this, I found it was interesting to see this adaptation to accommodate “外国人” like myself.
Today was filled with two sessions regarding public media. The first lecture was with the general manager and editor of the Global Times and the second lecture was with a two associates from the International Channel of Shanghai. I was interested to hear the information and experiences they had to share because of the governmental environment and my preconceived understanding of its influence on the general public environment. The information that I found the most significant to my particular research topic was that shared about how the serious environmental issues have impacted the public media and when reports that focused on the environment began to surface. The common answer that was communicated was that in the past 4-6 years there has been an increasing amount of coverage on environmental issues. This shift is in part due to arising health consequences of citizens, a large food scandal at the end of 2008, and even the 2009 economic downturn which subsequently influenced the of the most pressing issues of China as a whole to be reported and focused on.
The day ended with a quick visit to the French Concessions called Xintiandi. The distinct European architecture was intriguing to see within Shanghai and seeing this allowed for a visual image to be connected with the history that we had learned of the international influence and presence within the city.
