Hugo de Burgh

Hugo de Burgh (born 10 June 1949) is the founder of the China Media Centre at the University of Westminster. He previously ran the Centre for Media Research at Goldsmiths College. de Burgh is State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs Endowment Professor at Tsinghua University, honorary fellow at the 48 Group Club, and board member at the Great Britain–China Centre. de Burgh is a member of the Social Democratic Party and will be standing as a candidate of that party at the next UK general election. Background de Burgh started in academic life teaching history at Edinburgh University before working as an education correspondent and television producer for STV, BBC and Channel 4. In 2004, he joined the University of Westminster as a professor of journalism, where he set up the China Media Centre. Thesis His original focus was the social function of journalism as a reflection of culture. He has said "It is often said that journalism is the first rough draft of history; by contrast, investigative journalism provides the first rough draft of legislation..." In 2020 in China’s Media in the Emerging World Order, he argued that "the way the Chinese media work can be understood as a reflection of culture as much as of political economy."