Every day, it seems like we hear about newspapers cutting costs, laying off employees, or shutting down. But here in China, we found one newspaper that is in expansion mode.  The China Daily is the English-language national newspaper, published by the Chinese government.  It’s based in Beijing.  And we got an awesome look behind the scenes, thanks to Bill Gaspard, the design director (and a friend of Jennifer Palilonis at Ball State).

Bill has worked in the big cities like Las Vegas, San Diego, and Los Angeles.  Now he is working his magic at the China Daily.  It is one good-looking paper.  And it is getting bigger.  It recently added an American edition and will soon expand to Europe.  That means jobs.  And we met some folks who have recently taken jobs at China Daily, which recently celebrated its 29th anniversary.  We met Annette Fuller, a veteran of newspapers in Indianapolis and Dallas, and Todd Balazovic, a graduate of Central Michigan University, who had previously interned at the China Daily.  All three explained to us why they left the comforts of home to come to China.  The common theme – they wanted a new challenge.  And they found it!

Bill also introduced us to his boss, Qu Yingpu, the deputy editor-in-chief.  He explained the newspaper’s mission and the plans for the future.  From the looks of it, the future should be bright for the paper, and its staff.

China Daily's Bill Gaspard gives the Ball State crew a tour of the newspaper.