The following article is a transcript of one of the plenary session speeches given during the 2016 Forum on the Development of Tibet, which took place over the course of July 7-8 in Lhasa. Stuart Wiggin is the Editor-in-Chief of China Plus magazine.

I would like to point out that I am by no means qualified to speak at length on the situation of Tibet, especially as this is my first trip to the region. However, given my role, I can at least comment on the methods of delivering a message about development, specifically Tibet's development to a certain readership. I cannot, however, guarantee that my comments will be useful or new, and I'm sure that I am preaching to the converted in many instances.

China Plus is a part of state media, and as a result of working in state media, I have seen numerous articles on the Tibetan Autonomous Region. In my experience, I would say there are three main types of report being published as part of the daily news cycle, or weekly news cycle, in reference to Tibet by state media. Firstly, there are overtly political reports. Then we have the cultural reports which emphasize the spiritual nature of Tibet; and finally there are the economic or environmental or agricultural development reports, which are often very narrow in terms of their focus. Of course, there are other types of reports being filed by state media, but these are the three that I have referred to here today.

The stereotypical image of Tibet for many non-Chinese observers is one filled with mysticism, and it is no surprise that state media publishes many reports - video, radio, photo, print - that would pique the interest of such observers. But it is easy to forget when looking at reports like this that Tibet is a rapidly developing region; this message sometimes gets lost. Tibet is a region which is prone to the same kinds of problems facing many other provinces and regions across China.

Earlier this year, Reuters raised the issue of shadow banking within Tibet; a practice that would be furthest from my mind when thinking about the region. Nonetheless, news like this highlights the scope that exists for reporting on Tibet, especially with regard to social and economic development. Ultimately, Tibet is subject to all the forces, both positive and negative, of the country's national development process and this should show through in reports on the region, and state media should not shy away from either aspect. Sometimes this does require a sense of confidence from an editorial standpoint.

Subjects like the one raised by Reuters can drastically alter one's image of a region; in this case propelling Tibet into the 21st century, away from the stereotypical image of religiosity and spiritualism held by many. But finding these very relevant and contemporary topics and relating them to Tibet is obviously not enough to report on an entire region's development; it is simply a way to change the focus of discussion.

State media has a job to do and they do it in a fairly uniform way. Earlier I mentioned development reports with a narrow focus. These reports are often be very well researched and provide all the relevant facts. For instance, if I were to write a report for Chinese state media about the internet in Tibet, I'd focus on the cost reduction programs which have led to a surge in Tibet's interconnectivity, so much so that internet usage in Tibet has reached 60 percent in terms of coverage. I would throw in some of the benefits; a quote from an expert; a passing reference to e-commerce and then sum up with how happy everyone is as a result of this.

That is probably where the report would end, and in the case of China Tibet Online, that's exactly how that report ended. But in order to deliver a concept of a developing Tibet that readers or viewers can relate to or at the very least realize what the scale of development taking place actually looks like or what it means, this kind of report would require far more insight, a more critical eye, and a more holistic approach to the idea of development.

In isolation, I could say, "So what?" about this report. It doesn't really tell me anything about Tibet's overall development situation. 60 percent coverage is not anything to celebrate, because the government is actually aiming for and has the capacity to achieve 100 percent coverage. Furthermore, today the internet is all-encompassing and has the ability to transform a region's economy with the possible development of logistics companies and telecommunications and e-commerce companies. This then feeds into the idea of transport links and human resources and the skill sets of the labor force. As becomes apparent, a very narrow piece can quickly turn into a much deeper report on development in Tibet at present and explore the future implications of this one aspect; the internet.

I realize that sometimes state media organizations are content with a narrow focus, but journalists working for state media should aim to deliver more in order to provide a better idea of development in Tibet. Nonetheless, China Tibet Online remains an excellent resource for anyone interested in finding out more about the number of projects going on across the region.

Finally, I want to mention another problem when approaching the idea of development for Tibet; the tendency to pile it in with other provinces and regions in China's west. At the end of 2015, China Plus magazine published an issue on environmental protection, agricultural development and entrepreneurship in Tibet and Xinjiang. When accepting articles for the issue, I received a number of proposals from journalists who wanted to explore ideas of development within both regions in reference to the China Western Development Program. For me, this defeated the purpose of the magazine because the processes of development in western provinces and regions are not homogenous, and there is a danger of falling into the trap of treating them as such. And if journalists are able to steer clear of doing this, most of the time people will then end up sacrificing clarity in order to address the entire western region of China, which is almost akin to talking about half a continent.

When one thinks of how large the regions or provinces in question are, in the context of development for China's western region, it is almost impossible to deliver an idea of development within each of these areas or convey what the situation is if you take them as a whole. It is a useful concept to make reference to and allows writers to throw around statistics and figures, but the concept is far too broad for anything of note to really come out of it and when it comes to reporting on the concrete facts of development, it is hard to reconcile development in Tibet with somewhere like Xinjiang, where the agricultural, environmental and social conditions vary so greatly.

To sum up, in my personal opinion, Tibetan development, or development within any other region or province, should not be treated as just a part of the whole in terms of the development of China's western region. Furthermore, pursuing a holistic approach to the idea of development in Tibet, when writing about certain projects, is an appropriate way of informing readers or viewers of the region's unique development status. What I mean by this is that Tibet is at a foundation point in terms of its development and when audiences realize that every aspect of a development project within Tibet can have a multitude of impacts, on the environment, ecology, communities, and neighboring provinces; and that these projects can have policy implications for other areas of governance within the region, then people will be able to realize the consequences of such development and the huge scale at which it is being undertaken.

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