Reporting in China can be a very different experience from that of reporting in other countries and journalists may face unfamiliar challenges. But it is possible to prepare with the help of reporters’ guides from the Foreign Correspondents Club in China and Human Rights Watch respectively.

If we learn of other reporters’ guides, they will also be posted here.

Reporters' Guide from the Foreign Correspondents Club of China

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) represents the interests of the foreign news media in Beijing to the Chinese authorities and enjoys working relations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Council, BOCOG, the Beijing municipal government, foreign governments and the IOC on various issues.

In the run-up to the Olympics, the FCCC has produced a reporters guide based on input from experienced China-based journalists to help foreign media work more effectively and anticipate some of the challenges involved in reporting from China.

Go to Reporters' Guide

Go directly to subpages of interest to you

Reporter's Guide to China Olympics from Human Rights Watch

The NGO Human Rights Watch has published a pocket guide for reporters planning to travel to China to cover the Beijing Olympics. It has been produced with the support of the Committee to Protect Journalists, and it gives advice to journalists on how to report in a largely closed country.

The handbook covers a number of key issues:

• Risks and Rights: an overview of both the risks faced by reporters and their rights, in particular under the temporary regulations for foreign journalists;

• Outside the Arena: important but sensitive human rights topics and the Chinese government's legal tools to prevent and punish such coverage;

• Security, Surveillance and Safety: tips on countering censorship, and dealing with the police in problematic situations;

• Protecting Your Chinese Contacts: how not to endanger sources and news assistants;

• The Great Firewall: internet censorship and tips to counter it;

• Practical Information: an appendix listing useful numbers and websites as well as a bilingual (English/Chinese) version of the temporary regulations
  
  
  The full version of the report as pdf
• The report will soon soon be available in French, German, Spanish, and Japanese
  
  

Send us your suggestions

Something missing? Have you come across guidelines or advice on how to report from China that could be of interest to journalists travelling to Beijing, please let us know. Send us a link via our contact page.