First-Year Faculty Publish Paper on Depiction of China by U.S. Media

Zhuo Ban and Shaunak Sastry come from different fields of research within the discipline of communication. Ban studies the public relations side of things while Sastry focuses on health and intercultural communication.

Combining their two interests produced an analysis of current United States' media and how its depictions of China reflect the changing U.S.-China relationship.

This project began in 2010 when Ban and Sastry were in the same graduate seminar at Purdue University. The analysis and completed paper were finished within a year, but the revisions cost the pair the most time.

After two years of revisions and updating news stories, a version of their paper was selected for presentation at the International Communication Association convention in May 2012. Only 20 percent of papers that are submitted get selected.

One more round of revision led to a final product which was published in the "Journal of International and Intercultural Communication" and can also be found online

here

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Both Ban and Sastry have published papers before, but this one was different.

Working with a friend or colleague is one thing, but this became personal. When they started this paper, Ban and Sastry were dating. They have since gotten married and are now expecting their first child.

The biggest challenge for the couple was separating their work life from home life. “Relief” is the word used to describe their reaction after working on it for three years. They are not positive if they will work on a second paper together but look forward to becoming parents and enjoying their time at UC.