Veteran journalist remembered for legacy of integrity and professionalism

Chinese journalists, broadcasters, and viewers are mourning Jing Yidan, a veteran television journalist and presenter remembered for her calm, thoughtful style and decades-long commitment to professional journalism.

Jing, a familiar face to generations of Chinese television viewers, passed away on Sunday at 71 after suffering an acute cerebral hemorrhage in her hometown of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, in June, according to a death notice released by her daughter. She was later transferred to a hospital in Beijing, where she received treatment until her death.

Tributes poured in from former colleagues and fellow broadcasters, many recalling Jing not only as a prominent television host but as a journalist whose restrained reporting, careful questioning, and sense of responsibility earned the trust of viewers.

Jing joined China Central Television in 1988 and worked as a reporter, editor, and presenter before becoming a broadcast director. Over her career, she hosted influential programs such as Focus Report, Oriental Horizon, and News Probe.

She also anchored live coverage of major events, including the handovers of Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions to China. Jing received the China Golden Mic Awards, one of the highest honors for broadcasters in the country, three times. Her most enduring professional legacy was her two decades with Focus Report, a program known for investigative reporting and public-interest journalism.

"I was with Focus Report for 20 years," Jing said in a speech at the 2026 graduation ceremony of Peking University's HSBC Business School in May. Reflecting on her career after retirement, she said the most valuable thing she had done was "to amplify the voices of the vulnerable, spread the voices of the wise, and advance the progress of civilization".

Bai Yansong, a longtime colleague and partner on Focus Report, said he had worked alongside Jing for more than 30 years and would never again have such a good partner. "Jing walked her journey with composure and determination, always smiling and curious as she experienced the seasons," Bai said in a tribute. "This life was worthwhile."

Broadcaster Cao Kefan, who received the China Golden Mic Awards in the same year as Jing in 1997, remembered her as warm and considerate in private and exceptionally dedicated to her work. "She devoted herself wholeheartedly to every work," Cao wrote in a tribute, adding that the restraint and conscience she demonstrated on screen had long been an example for other presenters.

Former CCTV sports commentator Han Qiaosheng also recalled Jing as calm and rational, saying she used "calm and sincere reporting to record the times". Writer Yi Zhongtian said Jing's hosting style was dignified and composed without being distant, while remaining approachable and mindful of boundaries.

For many viewers, Jing's programs were a part of everyday life for generations who watched TV around the dinner table. "Oriental Horizon, and Focus Report— the programs we loved watching while having dinner when we were children," one commenter wrote on social media. Another described Jing as a journalist who "used integrity to embody the spirit of journalism", adding that her voice and image would remain in viewers' memories.

Jing's daughter said in the death notice that her mother had received an outpouring of concern and good wishes during the nearly three months between the summer solstice and the White Dew solar term. "I cherish her sincerity, kindness, clarity, and persistence, in words and images," she wrote.

On June 17, her social media account posted a video of her visiting Cai Lei, a former senior executive who has been living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Jing brought him a bundle of wheat and a copy of his book Believe. Cai wrote on Sunday that they had planned for Jing to host an offline reading event for an expanded edition of the book. As she left his home, she repeatedly told him, "We have to keep believing."

"I never imagined that those warm words would become a farewell," Cai wrote. "I will carry her words with me, continue to 'believe' and continue moving forward."

Shi Shusi, a famous commentator in China, said the tributes to Jing have become a remembrance not only of an individual broadcaster but of a generation of television journalism in which professionalism, restraint, and public trust were central to the craft.