Top students in China learn financial journalism in Bloomberg internship competition and mentorship program

Wendi Hu and Sloan Ye are no strangers to competition, having thrived among almost 10 million Chinese students who enter colleges and universities each year. The duo, students at Tsinghua University in Beijing and Fudan University in Shanghai, respectively, are winners of this year’s Bloomberg News internship competition in China. Hu and Ye are the latest flagbearers of a mentoring program that trains, develops and encourages talented financial journalists around the world.

The competition and mentoring program is part of a larger network of global Financial Journalism Training Programs centered on reporting on financial markets and global economies and advancing opportunities for students and journalists in the fields of finance and business. Bloomberg News journalists teach many of the programs in China as well as Africa, India, the US and Dubai with support from the Corporate Philanthropy team. The Financial Journalism programs are an integral part of Bloomberg’s skills based volunteering programs, which harness the expertise of our employees and the resources of our business to strengthen communities and create lasting impact in the cities where we live and work.

The program in China began in 2007, when Bloomberg became a founding sponsor of Tsinghua University’s Global Business Journalism (GBJ) program — China’s first master’s degree program to focus specifically on financial and economic journalism. Bloomberg contributed a state-of-the-art financial laboratory with support from Matthew Winkler, co-founder and editor-in-chief emeritus of Bloomberg News.

Editor-at-Large Lee Miller then became a full-time professor at Tsinghua and professor of the lab, as part of Bloomberg’s partnership with the university. Hundreds of students have been through his classes, which often feature guest lectures from senior Bloomberg editors and reporters.

In addition, dozens of Bloomberg staff have participated in workshops and mentored students over the past 10 years. These efforts operate under the umbrella of Bloomberg Startup, a global education engagement program which aims to empower Bloomberg employees to help grow strong global leaders of the future through mentorship, collaborating closely with non-profit education partners.

Success breeds success, and Fudan University in Shanghai acquired its own Bloomberg Terminal lab three years ago as part of the expansion of its financial media curriculum. Miller now commutes between the two Chinese cities as part of his teaching duties.

The partnership with Fudan prompted a change in how Bloomberg chose its interns in China, an idea championed by John Liu, executive editor for Greater China, who previously was bureau chief in Shanghai and Beijing. Instead of seeking applications via resume, cover letters, and writing samples, the Beijing and Shanghai internships are now based on the submission of original business or economic feature articles in either English or Chinese. Judges include former interns who now work full-time at Bloomberg.

Ye’s winning entry was about the Chinese coffee chain Luckin, which began as an affordable alternative to Starbucks within China. She combined on-the-ground reporting of the outlets themselves with research from the Bloomberg Terminal to identify that Luckin was threatening Starbucks’ hegemony while not making any profits itself. Five months after she wrote her entry, Luckin was listed on Nasdaq.

Hu’s story covered the launch of a new Facebook-like social media app, in the shadow of an earlier Chinese version of Facebook, Renren, being widely regarded as a failure. In addition to interviewing several users and the company’s CEO, Hu also used advanced equity search functions on the terminal.

Thinking Locally

The internship competition is emblematic of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ commitment to empowering individuals in local communities. Bloomberg volunteers are embedded in these schools, training the next generation of financial journalists.

Bloomberg’s philanthropic partnerships aim to effect change that’s self-perpetuating and sustainable. Bloomberg hosts workshops, seminars, and conferences; not just for students, but for working journalists, business executives, and government officials. Because Tsinghua and Fudan Universities are located in the global cities of Beijing and Shanghai, the campuses have become volunteer destinations for Bloomberg journalists and managers who are passing through on business. The students are able to soak up insights from a steady pipeline of guest lecturers from across the Bloomberg organization.

“The Bloomberg team puts so much emphasis on these local programs in China because we really have become part of the communities,” said Miller. “We partner with Tsinghua and Fudan and they partner with us. Our journalists volunteer in the classrooms, conduct workshops, and serve as mentors to students. So it makes sense to choose interns from within the classrooms we know.”

Mentoring the next generation of financial journalists 

Interns and some of their professors from participating universities were invited to awards ceremonies in Bloomberg’s Beijing and Shanghai offices, which included mentoring sessions. Some of the internship competition’s finalists and semi-finalists are additionally partnered with mentors from Bloomberg newsrooms for several weeks, who provide advice and oversight on research and reporting for actual stories.

Ying Tian, who’s worked at Bloomberg for 16 years, mentored Bokun “Melody” Yu. “We spoke often regarding career development,” said Tian, “and I encouraged her to take a part-time job with a venture-capital firm for experience and to broader her network.” Upon graduation from Tsinghua in June, Yu was hired by CGTN Television in Beijing.

Zhe Huang, who’s worked for Bloomberg News in both Beijing and San Francisco, mentored Tsinghua’s Ye Qian. “We talked about career path, how to discover breaking news that could be useful to financial news readers, basic writing, and even ways to spot fake news,” Huang said. “We aim to stay in touch, as the mentoring is not only a great opportunity for us to share what we know, but also to learn new perspectives from the fresh blood.”

Dingmin Zhang, who joined Bloomberg’s Beijing Bureau more than a decade ago was mentor to Yugang Wang, who “got involved in a story on ‘quant’ investing in China. He did it with passion and found it useful.”

The Interns at Work

Hu began her internship on the markets team, which covers equities, fixed income, and currencies. She’ll then move on to the consumer team, followed by a week on breaking news and another on features. Hu already helped on a story about the difficulty of Chinese university graduates finding jobs in the slowing economy.

“The most valuable thing I’ve gained so far is the ability to patiently and quickly read through equity research,” said Hu. “I’m getting to know a wide variety of interesting industries from elevators to hydrofluoric acid to wind energy.”

Ye’s internship will see her rotate through the breaking news, finance, consumer, and markets teams.

“The most important lesson I’ve learned here is to not be afraid,” said Ye. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to reach out for help. Don’t be afraid to find things you can do and offer your help. Don’t be afraid to own up to your mistakes.” Ye has already contributed to stories on Budweiser’s canceled IPO in Asia and knock-offs of Japanese retailer Muji’s products.

“Not being afraid represents the character and integrity of the journalistic practice: being curious to ask questions, being generous to cooperate, and being responsible to your readers.”