About me
I’m an intersectional feminist writer, multi-platform journalist, media founder, freelance consultant and educator. Having grown up in Hong Kong, spent several formative years in California, and then moved to London by way of Beijing—I’ve always gravitated towards stories that explore identity, belonging, and the legacies of empire. Now a freelancer with more than a decade of journalism experience, my work covers human rights, politics and culture, often with a focus on colonial dynamics in China and Asia.
At present, I teach journalism part-time at Kingston University; I’m also a judge for the upcoming Orwell Prize for Political Writing. My writing, reportage and films have appeared in The Guardian, BBC, Financial Times, CNN, Jacobin, Nikkei Asia, The Economist, New Statesman, openDemocracy, WIRED magazine, Foreign Policy, The Nation, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Quartz, The Telegraph, Novara Media, Prospect Magazine, The Spectator, Mekong Review, Times Literary Supplement and many other publications. I was shortlisted for the Women in Journalism Georgina Henry Award for Innovation and the Philip Hoare Prize for international creative non-fiction.
I also take on diverse coaching, editing, consulting, communications and research projects for think tanks, charities, corporate institutions and NGOs. I’m open to pitches, commissions, speaking engagements and other requests (e.g. workshops, coaching, editing, consultancy, tips, research, collaborations). Let’s work together.
Newsroom experience
In London, I’ve held investigative reporting and producing roles with the BBC World Service and Channel 4 News, in addition to working in video news at the Associated Press. I fronted the BBC Eye documentary “China’s Silenced Feminist” and executive-produced the Channel 4 News film “China’s Feminist Fightback.” After Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong, I also spent a year reporting on the city’s transformation for The Diplomat. Previously, I was based in Hong Kong as a staff reporter with the South China Morning Post, writing about my city in the aftermath of the Umbrella Revolution. My reporting has been recognised by the World Association of News Publishers, the California College Media Association and others.
Translator Magazine
I serve as contributing editor at Translator, a London-based magazine that translates journalism from around the world. We collaborate with editors, translators, writers and publishers around the world to curate and translate non-fiction writing from beyond the Anglosphere, and explore the role of language itself in shaping the world we live in.
New Tide Media Network
I founded New Tide, Britain’s only network strengthening East and Southeast Asian perspectives in anglophone media, for which I was shortlisted for the Georgina Henry Award. ESEA is a vast and complex region of huge importance on the global stage, yet journalists from ESEA and experts who specialise in the area are highly underrepresented in newsrooms, particularly in the UK. We hope to change that.
NüVoices Collective
I edit and serve on the board at NüVoices, a US-based non-profit supporting gender minorities working on China subjects. I founded our magazine featuring underrepresented voices and manage its editorial team as well as online operations. I also help direct our social media output and co-host our podcast, which has been downloaded over 71,400 times since its 2021 launch.
Public speaking
I’m an experienced presenter, moderator and speaker who has appeared on broadcast, in-person and online programs hosted by Chatham House, BBC World News, BBC Woman’s Hour, Oxford University, Channel 4 News and many more. At the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, I’ve spoken about a range of topics from extractive journalism and China reporting to championing diversity in media:
Education
At present, I work part-time as a lecturer at Kingston University, where I teach journalism and media employability to undergraduates and postgraduates studying media and communications. Over the years, I’ve also taught workshops on freelance pitching and writing, in addition to guest speaking at various universities and think tanks. I spent a year as a mentor at Arts Emergency Now, a charity supporting under-resourced youth aspiring to enter creative careers.
An interdisciplinary scholar interested in interrogating coloniality and the rhetoric of nationhood, I hold a MSc in International History from the London School of Economics, an LLM in International Relations from Peking University, and a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley. During my studies at Cal, I volunteered as a line editor at San Quentin News, an inmate-produced newspaper run out of California’s San Quentin State Prison. I’ve also taken part in various training programmes in the sectors of media and publishing. I’m a graduate of the HarperCollins Author Academy, a competitive and free creative writing programme for promising writers from underrepresented backgrounds, and completed a trauma reporting training organised by the Rory Peck Trust and Trauma Work Ltd.
“I would totally recommend Jessie. She has been running a core module on media employability...students really like her and she has so much experience that is so useful to students. She has been absolutely great and I don't know what I would've done without her.”
—Colette Balmain, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at Kingston University
Art
I’m also a visual artist, musician, dancer and photographer. I co-wrote an original song and recorded vocals for the theatre project “Trouble” – a play that was read in the Omnibus Theatre in London. My illustration and photography have also appeared in gal-dem, Mekong Review, Zolima CityMag and the South China Morning Post, among others. If you have ideas for projects, do reach out - I’d love to brainstorm. Here’s a selection of my visual work:
