EXC: Leaked Document Names Mainstream Journalists Taking Pay-For-Play Trips To China

Natalie Winters

SubscribeSign in

EXC: Leaked Document Names Mainstream Journalists Taking Pay-For-Play Trips To China<br>Outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, NPR, PBS, Newsweek, Time, Foreign Affairs, USA Today, Financial Times, and more...<br>Jul 28, 2026

144

25<br>59

Share

An exclusive investigation into archived records from a pro-China influence group reveals a years-long propaganda pipeline targeting senior figures at The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, NPR and other major outlets. A leaked internal report shows organizers privately celebrated changing how the journalists viewed, wrote about and edited coverage of China.<br>A years-long Chinese influence operation quietly targeted the people responsible for deciding how Americans understood Communist China.<br>An investigation by this publication identified at least 26 prominent American journalists, editors and broadcasters brought to China through a delegation program run by the Committee of 100, an organization repeatedly linked to figures and institutions inside the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front. The United Front is China’s military-grade influence network described by U.S. officials as working to “co-opt and neutralize sources of opposition” to the CCP with various tactics including pay-for-play trips.<br>Subscribe for free to keep exposing the truth.

Subscribe

The targets included managing editors, editorial-page chiefs, bureau leaders, nationally syndicated columnists and influential broadcasters from:<br>The New York Times

The Washington Post

Politico

The New Yorker

The Atlantic

NPR

PBS

WNYC

Newsweek

Time

Foreign Affairs

USA Today

Financial Times

The records reveal a deliberate propaganda model: identify the Americans controlling China coverage, bring them through a carefully managed experience inside the country, provide privileged access to Beijing-approved interlocutors and send them back into their newsrooms with friendlier views of China.<br>Committee of 100 called the participants American “opinion leaders.”<br>Its records said the program sought to “enhance understanding and improve perceptions of China in the U.S.” Participants were expected to share their experiences with colleagues after returning home and reshape what the organization portrayed as unfairly negative coverage of Beijing.<br>C100 later promoted survey findings showing that 70 percent of American opinion leaders who visited China reported improved opinions of the country afterward.<br>Now, a leaked Committee of 100 document obtained by this publication shows how the organization privately measured whether the operation worked.<br>The report is marked:<br>“Trip Report (Internal Use)”

It reveals the cost of one delegation, identifies the media figures targeted, records how their views changed and tracks the China coverage they produced after returning to the United States.<br>C100’s own verdict was explicit:<br>“The C-100 Leadership Delegation Program has had a visible impact on their understanding and perceptions of China.”

A senior Financial Times editor said he would never again “think or write about China” without reflecting on the trip.<br>WNYC host Brian Lehrer confirmed that his perception of China changed “in 100 ways.”<br>A deputy business editor at The New York Times returned with new story ideas and plans to “shape my staff across Asia in some different ways.”<br>A Chinese academic congratulated the organizers:<br>“You made the change!”

Here Are the Names

The titles below reflect the participants’ positions at the time of the trips.<br>2007

David Brooks , columnist, The New York Times

Juan Williams , senior political analyst, NPR

Charles Cook , publisher, The Cook Political Report

2009

Jill Abramson , managing editor, The New York Times

John Byrne , executive editor, BusinessWeek

Clarence Page , columnist and editorial-board member, Chicago Tribune

2010

Rana Foroohar , deputy editor, Newsweek

John Gapper , associate editor and columnist, Financial Times

David Ignatius , associate editor and columnist, The Washington Post

Tavis Smiley , host, PBS and Public Radio International

Dean Baquet , former Washington bureau chief of The New York Times (listed on schedule but omitted from the final public roster)

2011

Eugene Robinson , columnist and associate editor, The Washington Post

Nicholas Goldberg , editorial-pages editor, Los Angeles Times

Rekha Basu , columnist, The Des Moines Register

2012

Clive Crook , senior editor, The Atlantic

Brian Lehrer , host, WNYC

Winnie O’Kelley , deputy business editor, The New York Times

Gary Silverman , U.S. news editor and deputy managing editor, Financial Times

Jonathan Tepperman , managing editor, Foreign Affairs

2013

Henry Finder , editorial director, The New Yorker

John Harris , editor-in-chief, Politico

Fred Hiatt , editorial-page editor and columnist, The Washington...