James West (Australian journalist)

James West (born 21 February 1982) is an Australian journalist, author, and documentary film maker. He lives in Sydney, Australia.

He was born in Sydney and attended high school at Barker College, an independent school in Hornsby, a North Shore suburb of Sydney. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney (Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications) and New York University (Masters of Journalism). He has worked as a radio producer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Sydney, in Beijing as a Foreign Expert at China Radio International and briefly as producer of the Mr Science Show, and currently as Producer of Triple J's national, daily current affairs program, Hack.

His memoir, Beijing Blur (ISBN 9780143006756), will be published by Penguin Books in Australia in June 2008. The book is an account of West's time in Beijing in 2005-06, particularly at China Radio International, and also includes chapters on the capital punishment, Chinese punk rock music, blogging, and China’s gay and lesbian culture.