Ian Johnson on Muck Rack

Ian Johnson

Verified
Berlin, Germany, London
Covers:  Chinese society, history, religion, politics
Doesn't Cover: tech, markets
China civil society, religion, politics. 2024-25 fellow @wiko_berlin. Founder @mjdanganguan. Pulitzer for international reporting. Author three books on China.

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Ian Johnson’s Biography

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Ian Johnson is a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer focusing on society, religion, and history. He is a winner of the National Endowment for the Humanities Public Schlars program for a new book he is writing on China's unofficial history.

Johnson first went to China as a student in Beijing from 1984 to 1985, and then in Taipei from 1986 to 1988. He later worked as a newspaper correspondent in China, from 1994 to 1996 with Baltimore's The Sun, and from 1997 to 2001 with The Wall Street Journal, where…

What was your first job as a journalist?

Reporter at The Independent Florida Alligator, a student-run newspaper at the University of Florida. It was a great experience.

How is social media changing news?

Too many journalists frame their stories to be tweetable. It also creates an echo-chamber effect that causes copycatting.

What does it mean to be a journalist?

Trying your best to reflect reality, even though you won't succeed.

Pulitzer Prize

2001 - International Reporting

Coverage of China

Shorenstein Journalism Award

2017

The award, given annually by the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, is conferred to a journalist who produces outstanding reporting on Asia and has contributed to greater understanding of the complexities of Asia.

Society of Professional Journalists Award

2001 - Foreign Correspondence

Ian Johnson of The Wall Street Journal won for "A Death in China," a report of China's repression of the Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa.