Barbara L. Yang: Pink Power is Coming
Barbara Liyun Yang, a journalist at Ming Pao Daily, a major Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong, wants to build a media platform about LGBT people living in America. She wants their stories to be known, and to figure out new funding revenue for original content. “I feel that the era of the ‘Pink Economy’ (a term that defines the economy surrounding the LGBT community) is getting stronger in China and I want to give voice to the community involved,” said the reporter, who was raised in Hang Zhou, a city in the east coast of China.
Barbara’s career focused on political and metro news in Mainland China and Taiwan. She started to get into LGBT issues during her studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she got a Master Degree of Gender Studies. “I became a feminist during my college years, observing so much injustice towards women. Since then I have tried my best to report on gender issues and to write about women’s rights,” she said.
During her studies in New York City, Barbara wants to reach the Chinese community living in America and to share their stories back in China. “The Chinese LGBT community is looking for role models and they want to fight for their rights. Sharing their stories will make our society more aware about LGBT people. Chinese society is still very conservative and very sensitive, but people are getting better educated. The government just ignores LGBT rights.”
Barbara won an award from The Newspaper Society of Hong Kong as Best Young Reporter in 2015. One year later, she covered two exciting events: the latest presidential election in Taiwan and the G-20 Summit, which took place in Hang Zhou, her hometown.
“I wanted to be a journalist after my high school graduation, when I got the first internship in a newspaper in Jiaxing, the city where I was born. It was very interesting and it was the first time I realized that I may have been born into journalism. I enjoy talking to strangers, meeting different people, different stories, new things everyday. My major is in TV & Broadcast Journalism, but I always preferred print.”
This is Barbara’s second time in the US. She attended an international summer school in Riverside, California, in 2011. This is her first time in New York City. “It’s very exciting, full of events, different people, crazy people. Huge diversity,” she said. “People have different lifestyles and I feel like they respect each other.”
