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Siyu Chen
PhD student

Profile

Biography

The Ph.D. project title: News, Power, and Gender: Chinese journalists and the reporting of sexual violence against women
 
In 2019, Siyu Chen started her Ph.D. at the Centre for Women's Studies, University of York, where she works under the supervision of Dr. Boriana Alexandrova, Dr. Jonathan Howlett, and Prof. Stevi Jackson (emeritus). She has a keen interest in media and gender; specifically, she is interested in how Chinese journalists play a role in covering sexual assault against women. Before this, Siyu worked for several Chinese state-owned news outlets and had also been employed as an editor for multiple commercial news media companies. Previously, she studied at Xi'an International Studies University in China and the University of Sheffield in the UK for her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree.

Research

Overview

Since sex has always been a private and sensitive topic in China, it is rarely discussed in people's daily life. Based on that context, public understanding of sexual assault is largely shaped and influenced by news reports and popular discourses. However, a journalistic discussion of sexual assault cases and relevant research on media are suppressed by multiple factors, especially when those involve complex power issues and may affect institutional reputation. Research in media and sexual violence has yielded many significant results in Western academia; however, in China, the issue has only begun to be aired in the media, not to mention media research on sexual violence. The significance of my research is to address this in the Chinese context. It will not only contribute to the literature on Chinese journalistic narratives of sexual violence. Still, it will advance scholarly understanding of how the Chinese media reports sexual assaults and why that is politically and culturally significant. My study aims to explore how sexual assault against women and girls is reported within a particular Chinese context. The research questions include 1. How do Chinese journalists in differing institutional contexts – i.e. national and commercial news outlets, construct narratives about sexual assault against women and girls? 2. Is the gender of a journalist a contributing factor to how they cover sexual assault? 3. How is their coverage of sexual assault topics influenced by workplace practices within news agencies?

Publications

Selected publications

Conference Papers

Siyu, Chen. (2022). "He wanted me to be his woman”: the Experiences and Consequences of Chinese Female Journalists Encountering Various Forms of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace. The Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) Annual Conference. 7-9 September. Aberdeen. 
 
Siyu, Chen (2022). Positive Energy and Negative Incidents: The Role and Strategies of Chinese Journalists in Reporting Sexual Assault Cases Against Women in China. British Association of Chinese Studies (BACS) 2022 Conference. 31 August- 1 September. The University of Oxford. 
 
Siyu, Chen. 2021. 'Is there a #MeToo movement in China?” The role of Chinese journalists in reporting sexual assault cases within the Chinese context.' Sisterhood in Action Conference. Centre for Women’s Studies, University of York. 
 
Siyu, Chen. 2020. 'The role of news organizations in reporting sexual assaults on university campuses in China: An empirical study of a Peking University incident.' Sisterhood in Action Conference. Centre for Women’s Studies, University of York.

 

 

Full publications list

Siyu, Chen. (2021). "Positive Energy and Negative Incidents: The Role and Strategies of Chinese Journalists in Reporting Sexual Assault Cases Against Women in China." Cultivate, 3. 2-9. [Online]. Available at: https://cultivatefeminism.com/issues/issue-three/positive-energy-and-negative-incidents/. 

Teaching

Undergraduate

Siyu has been a GTA for the undergraduate module ‘Cultivating a Sociological Imagination’ (2021-2022). She is an Associate Fellow of the HEA.

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Contact details

Siyu Chen
PhD student
Centre for Women's Studies
University of York
Heslington
York
North Yorkshire
YO10 5DD