Yul Kwon:
After the shootings in Los Angeles, the story has been followed by a number of Chinese student journalists. We're joined by one of them today on Skype. Gracie Zheng is a graduate student at the USC Annenberg School of Communications, and a reporter for the school's online newspaper. Thanks for joining us Gracie.

Gracie Zheng, University of Southern California:
My pleasure.

Yul Kwon:
What's been the reaction among Chinese students at USC to the criticism coming out of China about the two USC students who were shot?

Gracie Zheng:
At first the Chinese students were really upset and outraged about the online conversation about the shooting. First it was the AP report saying that the BMW was a new car worth USD$60,000, which is not true. And then some Chinese media focused their story on the BMW and on the backgrounds of the two students, saying they're second generation of the rich and that they have powerful parents, which is also not true. I had a chance to talk to some of the friends and classmates of the two victims, and they said lived a thrifty life and were hard-working students. The women, Ying Wu, actually lived in a single room, and she shared the room with another student in order to save on rent. Before she was killed, she had just found work on campus in order to support herself.

Yul Kwon:
So basically, the students there feel like these two students are being misrepresented in the media as being part of the elite, whereas in fact they're not so rich and they are actually very hard working. Now, there are about, what, 2,500 Chinese students at USC. What are they doing to try to respond to this. Are they trying to take any collective action?

Gracie Zheng:
As far as I know, some of the friends of the two victims actually sent back posts to China on Chinese social media Sina Weibo explaining who they really are and clarifying things such as the BMW and their backgrounds.

Yul Kwon:
Thanks Gracie. Gracie Zheng is a student journalist at the University of Southern California.