Yu traveled to Guangdong Province, where she hoped to snag an interview with Zhong Weixian, chairman of Macat. Her first attempt was thwarted by the businessman. Later, Yu was able to obtain interviews with Zhong and other leaders of Macat, as well as the company’s underwriters and attorneys. Eventually, she was able to dig right into the core of the company’s scandal. She wrote a story, The Macat Nightmare, that appeared on the front page of Caijing.
“I later learned that the local court was ready to let the company’s top executives go with only a slight slap on the wrist,” she said. “[Then] our report came out and generated huge publicity.”
Yu, winner of the 2005 IWMF Fellowship for International Women Journalists, never bargained for a career in journalism, and certainly not a career as an investigative reporter covering China’s business and financial communities. After graduating from Beijing Normal University with a degree in Chinese literature she taught the subject. Later, she realized that the academic environment was not for her.
Desperate for a change, she jumped to Life Style, an up-and-coming magazine that was looking for reporters. After five years covering industry and consumer trends at the magazine, she went over to China Business Weekly as a business reporter. “I didn’t invest in the stock market and I couldn’t read a balance sheet,” said Yu. “So, I had a great deal of pressure put on me.” Yu succeeded in teaching herself about China’s financial markets, eventually becoming deputy editor of China Business Weekly’s finance desk.
After five years at the magazine, in 2001 Yu made another switch, this time to Caijing. Her story on Macat was the first of many investigations she has conducted into scandals in China’s financial markets. During her IWMF Fellowship, she will be based at the San Francisco Chronicle, where she will be assigned to the business section.
“I want to get a better understanding of the American financial system and the ways American businesses and business people work,” said Yu. “This will give me entirely fresh perspectives that will benefit my future career in China.”
At Caijing, there are more women than men on the staff and the editor in chief is a woman. “This isn’t typical,” says Yu. “There are mostly men who work on newspapers.”
Many women in China leave journalism when they start families, she says. “[Women] can’t imagine being 40 years old and running around reporting everywhere … after they have kids.”
In the future, Yu hopes to write a column and she would also like to teach again. Only the next time, she will teach her passion: journalism.
“Journalism students don’t know how journalists really work, how they face difficulties,” said Yu. “There are some newcomers in Caijing and other organizations where I’ve worked. … They have a bachelor’s in media, but they still can’t adjust to the position.” Yu would like to change that by teaching journalism students the nuts and bolts of the profession that she has come to love.
May 2005