As an international student who aspires to work in the media, I have always admired foreign, nonnative English speakers who have gained a toehold in the industry. Youyou Wang, a White House correspondent at Phoenix TV, is undoubtedly an outstanding member among them.
The most notable aspect of Wang is her presence on social media. According to her LinkedIn description, Wang’s social media accounts across different platforms, including TikTok, WeChat and YouTube, have attracted 2.1 million followers and 180 million views.
Wang appeared most frequently on Weibo, China’s equivalent to Twitter, on which she has more than 1.7 million followers. Most of her posts are instant reporting of breaking news in the United States, often with first-hand sources. Due to the rampant censorship in China, Wang’s account has become a niche for people to peek at some of the most important stories on the other side of the Pacific. Over the years, the timeliness, reliability and proximity of Wang’s reporting established her a solid fan base, including many celebrities, scholars and influencers.
Also, Wang has embraced multimedia storytelling by launching the “#YouyouCheckItNow” program, which consists of explainer videos and podcasts highlighting key stories in the U.S. Like Vox videos, Wang’s explainer videos incorporated narration, infographics and video effects, which unfolded complex stories efficiently and created an engaging viewing experience.
Take her recent viral video about Biden’s executive order to implement funding in the Chips and Science Act of 2022 as an example. In the first 20 seconds, Wang used a bold yellow font to underscore the conflict between the urgent demand for chips and the plummeting stock prices of manufacturers, which was described by Wang as a “dark comedy.”
Then, the video delved into different aspects of the story and explored why leading economies are making historic investments in chips. Throughout the video, different clips were mixed with smooth transitions, the script was written with colloquialism, and Wang has used an energetic tone in voiceovers, all of which essentially helped increase viewer retentions. So far, the video has more than 260,000 views on Weibo.
In addition to her success in digital presence, I regard Wang as a role model because we, as foreigners in the industry, have experienced similar struggles. The most challenging obstacle we faced is the language barrier. However, the video clip below shows that when Wang questioned Trump about using the “China virus” label, though she had a strong accent, and her voice trembled, she nevertheless made it.
In another press briefing at the White House, Trump pressed Wang about the ownership of Phoenix TV, a stereotypical assumption I have been asked about in job interviews when I talked about my previous experiences. Nonetheless, Wang countered Trump’s interrogation by explaining that Phoenix TV is privately-owned. I sincerely wish I could overcome the self-stigmatization about accents, the language barrier, and stereotypes imposed by others just like Wang did.
Xiangyuan Chi 