Owen Churchill

2017 - Journalist of the Year

Owen Churchill is a freelance journalist based in Shanghai and London, who has written widely on Chinese media, social injustice, and culture. Previously, he was a founding member of digital media outlet Sixth Tone, where he worked as an editor and writer covering media, arts, and culture. Educated at London's School of Oriental and African Studies and Shanghai's Fudan University, he has spent over five years living in China. From our judges: Owen "writes with both sensitivity and authority about a variety of subcultures in contemporary China, from pornographers to professional athletes to attendees of an Internet-rehab bootcamp. Thematically, each piece is loosely connected by exploring an aspect of the forbidden. The profile of an Internet-addiction bootcamp is the product of a sustained investigation that included interviews with former students and parents, as well as the school’s vice principal, among others, revealing a disturbing pattern of abuse.”