Beijing, a city of 22 million people and where Ferrari’s and rickshaws occupy the same streets, provides the perfect backdrop to explore life in China today.  William Babcock professor and deputy director in the School of Journalism, has just returned from a five-month stay in this city of paradox.

Babcock was a visiting professor at the Beijing University of International Business and Economics as part of a teaching exchange program. Faculty members from SIU Carbondale and UIBE have been participating in the program since the 1950s. Babcock taught classes in media ethics, reporting, and Hollywood and Journalism.

He and his daughter Lillian stayed in a modest apartment that was part of the university’s student housing. According to Babcock, their apartment was considered luxurious because it had two air conditioning units and a small refrigerator.

Lillian attended high school classes at the Beijing World Youth Academy during the pair’s stay, working on an international baccalaureate in taking classes with students from China, Tibet, South Korea, Russia, Egypt, and other nations.  This was her second trip to Beijing and she had studied Mandarin for nearly five years.

Babcock talked about how Chinese students often would swarm around Lillian so that they might have their picture taken with an American teenager.  Such "photo ops" were a regular part of most outings in Beijing, Babcock said.

In a recent presentation to faculty, students and friends of the School of Journalism, Babcock discussed his teaching and living experiences.

“I had very bright and talented students in my classes,” said Babcock. “They were eager to learn and discuss media issues from a Western perspective.”

Babcock said he approached the classes in a manner that engaged and involved the students, rather than just lecturing. This teaching style was not what the students are accustomed to, but they enjoyed it and class discussions added a great deal to the courses.

“There was always the party presence [communist] in the class,” Babcock said. “There were note takers and minders in each class, who would report back to the party.”

Babcock said while the minders did not identify themselves, it was often easy to recognize them, especially in discussions.

Despite the presences of minders, Babcock led discussions on a wide variety of media topics. His media ethics class discussed how Western media cover China and how Chinese media could cover the government’s involvement in everyday life.

During his Feb. 1 presentation Babcock compared the historical Great Wall of China, to great cyber wall of China today. Both were designed to keep foreign influence out of the country, and neither has been successful.

“There are certain words and names that cannot be found in a Google search when you are in China,” said Babcock. “People learn to be creative when searching and they can find what they are looking for.”

Babcock said that it is very difficult to find any information online, and off, about the events of 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. A search on this subject would usually result in a “this topic does not exist” message. One could search the phrase “tank man,” though, and get results for images.

“Students are aware and curious of the things that are blocked online, such as the ethnic cleansing in Tibet and Tiananmen Square,” said Babcock. “Students, and others would most often ask me about the events of Tiananmen Square.”

Babcock, who was the senior international news editor for the Christian Science Monitor during the 1989 protests, had a unique perspective to share with those who asked. He said people of all ages were curious to hear what he had to say on the topic.

Many of the students in Babcock’s classes were not yet born when the protests occurred. The parents of current students are the generation that took part in the event.

Even though the Chinese government does everything it can to expunge the events surround the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, people in China still can find out what happened, Babcock said.  “Students both around the world and in China are exceptionally good at using the Internet to find out what is happening in their own countries.  Their curiosity can’t be silenced.”

In July 2010 the SIUC MCMA School of Journalism assumed responsibility for publishing the St. Louis Journalism Review. Charles and Rose Klotzer started the St. Louis Journalism Review in 1970 with the purpose of providing critical coverage of print and broadcast media in the St. Louis area.

"The Dean (Gary Kolb) saw this as an opportunity to give SIUC an advantage; to be able to bring the St. Louis Journalism Review here and produce it is a great experience for staff and students," said William Freivogel, director of the School of Journalism. "It is exciting to be able to create a whole new magazine and to build on the SJR shoulders with the help of our staff and students."

Freivogel said the geographic area the Journalism Review will cover is expanding well beyond the St. Louis region to encompass the 16-state region of the Mid-West. The name change to Gateway Journalism Review reflects this expansion of coverage.

While each issue will contain a special supplement focusing on media in the St. Louis area, the new regional coverage will provide a larger "megaphone" to talk about journalism issues and keep SIUC's School of Journalism in the discussion, according to Freivogel.

"It's time journalism criticism moved west of the Hudson and beyond the D.C. Beltway," said William Babcock, GJR editor. "We are also expanding to encompass integrated marketing communication. We are in the Twitter age and we need to address all areas of media."

Babcock, an SIUC professor and former editor at the Christian Science Monitor, said Roy Malone would be the editor for the St. Louis area. Scott Lambert, a graduate student at SIUC, is the student editor.

"This is a goldmine of opportunity for the people at SIUC," said Babcock. "We have Ph. D. graduate students, undergrads, and faculty all working together to showcase what we do in the School of Journalism in the Gateway Journalism Review."

Freivogel said Babcock was a University hire specifically to concentrate on ethics. The GJR will be the perfect place to put Babcock's expertise to use through journalism criticism and working with students to help them address issues in media, Freivogel added.

"In a time when the Internet creates new means of delivering news, we have new ethical issues come up every day," said Freivogel. "We need tools like the GJR to analyze and discuss these issues in the digital age."

SJR had been published six to 10 times a year. GJR will be published quarterly to allow for more in-depth articles and packages. In addition to the print copies there will be two special online issues each year. The new website, www.gatewayjr.org recently launched and will contain timely articles.

"If we are fortunate enough to get substantial financial support, we would consider publishing six times a year," said Freivogel.

The University has committed to $25,000 over the first four years for operations. Patrons from the St. Louis area have committed to supplement the budget over that time. However, Freivogel and team are looking for ways to develop and stabilize the operational budget.

The goal is for the Gateway Journalism Review to be self-sustaining through grants, fundraising, advertising and subscriptions. An annual subscription to the GJR will be $25. For more information on GJR visit the web site or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The St. Louis Journalism Review (Online Link) will be taken over by Southern Illinois University Carbondale on July 1, the review and the university said Saturday.

Though the publication's name will not be changed, its focus will be the entire Midwest, said Gary Kolb, dean of SIUC's College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.

William Babcock, an SIUC professor out of the School of Journalism, who is a former editor at the Christian Science Monitor, will be editor in chief. Roy Malone, the review's current editor, will be editor for the St. Louis region.

The review's publication schedule will drop to six issues a year from 10.

The review was founded in 1970 by Rose and Charles Klotzer, and is the only local journalism review in the United States.

Webster University subsidized the publication from 1995 until the end of 2006. Since then, its financing has been tenuous, existing mostly on volunteer help and the Klotzers' checkbook.

"It will remain independent, of course," said Klotzer, who will remain affiliated with the review.

Kolb said the university did not pay anything to acquire the publication and expected to spend $100,000 over the next four years to keep it running.

He said he hoped it would then be self-sustaining through grants, fundraising, subscriptions and advertising.