About William Moss
Trans-Pacific spin doctor. Head of Global Media Relations at TSMC. Occasional writer of humor and PR analysis. This is a personal blog and opinions are my own. More information at “About Imagethief“.
Also on Substack (where full posts live now), Bluesky, the usual places.
Archives
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- June 2024
- April 2023
- March 2021
- February 2021
- August 2019
- May 2018
- June 2015
- November 2014
- May 2014
- November 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- November 2009
- October 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- May 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- January 2005
- October 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
Tags
- Aging
- America
- Apartments
- Audio
- Aviation
- Beijing
- Books
- Bureaucracy
- Business
- Cats
- CCTV
- Censorship
- China
- China Daily
- China in the News
- Chinese
- Corruption
- Crisis Management
- Driving
- Economy
- Environment
- Ethics
- Food
- Generational Angst
- Global Times
- Humor
- Internet
- Journalism
- Korea
- Mandarin
- Marketing
- Media
- Memoir
- Motorola
- Music
- Nationalism
- Notices
- Olympics
- Palo Alto
- Parenthood
- Pets
- Politics
- Pop Culture
- Propaganda
- Public Relations
- Radio
- Rants
- Rectified.name
- Remebrances
- Renegades
- Reputation
- Resident Alien
- Role Playing Games
- San Francisco
- Science
- Scuba Diving
- Shanghai
- Silicon Valley
- Singapore
- Soft Power
- Substack
- Taiwan
- Technology
- The '80s
- Travel
- TSMC
- USA
- Video
- Weird
- Whatever
- Xinhua
Feed
Meta
Tag Archives: China
How to turn one terrible scandal into two
Note: This includes two posts originally published on back-to-back days. Part 1: How to turn one terrible scandal into two Imagethief loves watching companies hang themselves. Unless they are his clients, in which case he has fits watching them hang … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Business, China, Crisis Management, Ethics, Olympics, Public Relations
Comments Off on How to turn one terrible scandal into two
A funny thing happened on the way to political re-education
Imagethief was morbidly fascinated to find a Reuters article over the weekend that explains how the Chinese Propaganda Ministry has launched a point-based “demerit” system to try to encourage proper behavior from the print media: CHINA’S Communist Party propaganda department … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged China, Media, Politics, Propaganda
Comments Off on A funny thing happened on the way to political re-education
Apartmental, a part mental
As regular readers will know, Imagethief has been on cross-assignment to his company’s Shanghai office in recent weeks. The company is, meanwhile, attempting to persuade me to consider semi-permanent reassignment to Shanghai. I have not yet made a decision about … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Apartments, China, Rants, Shanghai, Whatever
Comments Off on Apartmental, a part mental
I’m sorry, the government has killed your story
Colleagues from American and European offices often ask Imagethief how PR in China is different from PR in the west. Usually I give a two-part answer. First I tell them that were they to step into our offices in China … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Censorship, China, Media, Propaganda
Comments Off on I’m sorry, the government has killed your story
Olympics mean a softer touch for foreign correspondents, maybe
Ed Cody of the Washington Post’s Beijing bureau has written an interesting story on a new decree from the Chinese government that will grant foreign correspondents in China significantly more freedom in the months before and after the games. The … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged China, China in the News, Journalism, Olympics, Propaganda, Public Relations, Soft Power
Comments Off on Olympics mean a softer touch for foreign correspondents, maybe
The elephant in the newsroom
Imagethief was interested to read in yesterday’s People’s Daily Online a brief articlereporting on a conference to address the problems that China’s international news organizations face in reaching foreign audiences. The discussion focused on how China is portrayed by services … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Censorship, China, China in the News, Journalism, Media, Politics, Propaganda, Soft Power
Comments Off on The elephant in the newsroom
Adventures in mucilage
Every now and then, just when I think I’ve got this living in China thing totally handled, something spins out of control in a way that reminds me to maintain a little humility. On Friday that moment came when I … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged China, Resident Alien, Whatever
Comments Off on Adventures in mucilage
Foxconn shoots themselves, Apple in foot
Note: This post consolidates three original posts on this topic that were published on consecutive days. It was also cross-posted on my CNET blog, published in 2006 and 2007. Part One: Foxconn shoots themselves, Apple in foot You may recall … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Business, China, Crisis Management, Ethics, Journalism, Public Relations, Reputation
Comments Off on Foxconn shoots themselves, Apple in foot
The kid
The kid had staked out a patch of sidewalk and was working the steady stream of locals and foreigners passing through. The limits of his territory were the entrance to a restaurant popular with foreigners and that of a convenience … Continue reading
The trouble with English teachers
AP ran an interesting article (via Peking Duck and Paper Tiger) on the perils of being an English teacher in China. I found it a fascinating read both because it strengthened my own reservations about the seedy Chinese black market … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Business, China, Resident Alien
Comments Off on The trouble with English teachers
Imagethief 