Convergent Journalism: Chinese Approaches [1 ed.] 1032010177, 9781032010175

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Chinese Perspectives on Journalism and Communication

CONVERGENT JOURNALISM CHINESE APPROACHES Woody Bing Liu

Convergent Journalism

Convergent Journalism is an online news system that uses a range of media and methods to collect and present information. With the advent and growth of the Internet, this form of news has been flourishing globally and has become the mainstream in China. In 2014, the Chinese Government established media convergence as a national strategy. This book offers a panoramic view of the theories and practice of Convergent Journalism in a Chinese media landscape. Drawing on a plethora of cases, the author introduces concepts, subjects, and processes, and elaborates on media components including text, visual, audio, and video. In addition, he discusses the application of search engine optimization, hyperlinks in reporting, user interaction, and user creation of content. Aside from providing an in-depth theoretical analysis, the book provides much guidance for practitioners. Students, scholars, and professionals of communication studies, journalism, and media studies will benefit from this book. Woody Bing Liu Ph.D. is the Dean of Department of Journalism, the Director of the Institute of Journalism and Communication at Shandong University, and a reviewer for Dazhong Daily. He has published such monographs as News Writing: Theories, Methods and Techniques (Nanfang Daily Press, 2011), A Coaching Guide to Journalism (Peking University Press, 2017), and more than 100 research papers.

Chinese Perspectives on Journalism and Communication

With the increasing impact of China on global affairs, Chinese perspectives on journalism and communication are seeing growing global demand. This series focuses on theory and research-oriented scholarship on journalism and communication, broadly defined from Chinese perspectives, aided by a variety of methods, and informed by indigenous, interdisciplinary, intercultural, or global approaches. Series Editor: Wenshan Jia is a Professor of communication at Shandong University and Chapman University. Titles in this series currently include: From Cyber-Nationalism to Fandom Nationalism The Case of Diba Expedition in China Hailong Liu ed. Propaganda Ideas, Discourses and Legitimation Hailong Liu Convergent Journalism Chinese Approaches Woody Bing Liu Chinese Internet Buzzwords Research on Network Languages in Internet Group Communication Zhou Yan Science in Movements Knowledge Control and Social Contestation in China’s Hydropower, GMO and Nuclear Controversies Hepeng Jia For more information, please visit https://www.routledge.com/Chinese -Perspectives-on-Journalism-and-Communication-Series/book-series/CPJC

Convergent Journalism Chinese Approaches

Woody Bing Liu

This book is published with financial support from School of Culture and Communication, Shandong University. First published in English 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Woody Bing Liu Translated by Ying Cui, Tianyun Li, Woody Bing Liu Woody Bing Liu is the corresponding translator of this book. The right of Woody Bing Liu to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978-1-032-01017-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-01018-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-17678-7 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India

Contents

List of  figures List of tables Preface

vi viii ix

1

Studies on convergence

1

2

Understanding Convergent Journalism

18

3

News value and the principles of convergent reporting

52

4

Text, pictures, audio, and video

74

5

SEO and hyperlinks

128

6

Interaction, sharing, and social media

152

7

Convergent news presentation

195

8

Convergent Journalism education

226

References Index

241 252

Figures

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 2.1

2.2

2.3 2.4 2.5 3.1 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9

Number of papers on Convergent Journalism research (subject retrieval) Number of papers on Convergent Journalism (title retrieval) Distribution of main topics (topic retrieval) Distribution of main topics (title retrieval) Distribution of Chinese authors (subject retrieval) Distribution of Chinese authors (title retrieval) Tangshan Qian’an version of “rural style” singing on CCTV’s Micro-blog [12 dancers from Hongmiaozi Village, the Town of Shaheyi, Qian’an City combined the local dancing elements such as shadow play and donkey dance with the fashionable style popular around the world.] No video at the “rural style” singing report [The text describes a dancer who is a barber. She organized a team to perform “Gangnam Style” dancing and uploaded their video online. The video went viral, and the director of “2012 Memory of Three Rural Issues” invited them to the evening party.] “Project Syria” using virtual reality technology Flow chart of traditional media news Flow chart of convergent news Content created by users of China Radio Network The integration of mobile phone and camera: Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom Wireless EVF camera Galaxy NX The award-winning mobile photography A Grunt’s Life told daily life stories of the US military in Afghanistan “Global Mapping” of DXY NetEase’s “Brazil World Cup Top 32 Group Schedule” Composite chart of Tencent’s “How much money Liu Tienan Embezzled” Cartoon Hot Dry Noodle from Chen Xiaotao Multi-image set of cartoons presented on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, which were drawn by farmers from Qiu County Audio and text joint report

6 7 7 8 8 8

28

29 31 33 33 58 92 93 93 98 100 101 104 105 111

Figures 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8

7.9 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17

Keyword rankings and rise rankings about “smog” Baidu keywords’ popularity trend Baidu keywords: News supervision Population attributes of Baidu keyword search The case of a multiple-object link A case of a search link HTML code for “Subscribing News Through Keywords” service Automatically presented keyword search news items “Wall of Remembrance” by The Wall Street Journal Send to BBC News Micro-blog poll survey Emotive feedback survey Sohu’s emotive feedback Game interaction in Tencent’s convergence feature column “Glorious Song” Share buttons Introduction to the author at the bottom of the report from Marketplace Life The journalist information in Newspedia Wang Xiaoyi’s Moments Background text floating when the character avatar speaks or moves The original still avatar speaks and the video plays automatically Automatic calculator for data Start page of Echo of Nuclear Radiation Reading mode selection Click the yellow button to complete the chat: Text and video. (We found a dog … and followed it to the restricted area) Click the yellow button to complete the chat: Picture and text (I washed cars for living near the nuclear power plant from 1992 to 1993. My health was affected soon. I had to give up my work. The government gave me 2500 hryvnia [about 633 RMB] per month. I used to visit the free sanatorium run by the government. But as the economy goes down, I cannot afford the travelling expenses, and they do not provide proper treatment anyway.) Main report, value-added content, extended content, and promotion settings News extended content (interactive chart) Production information and indirect interaction settings Direct interaction setting (comments from netizens) Topic convergence of People’s Daily Online Collection of a large number of reports Real-time bulletin Video from the “Live Wuhan” column Special report of “This is Our War against the Epidemic”

vii 137 137 138 138 145 146 150 150 159 160 162 163 163 164 171 173 174 203 203 204 205 206 207 208

209 211 212 213 213 222 223 223 224 224

Tables

2.1 Selected research findings 2.2 Suitability of media elements 2.3 List of cities in Guangming Daily [This table lists the top and bottom ten cities in 2010 according to the following criteria, respectively: Number of days with grade-2 air quality, PM 10, SO2, and NO2] 4.1 Control of text volume 5.1 Keyword search list about “smog” 6.1 News interaction and clicks 6.2 Number of interactions and clicks from Social Dividend by XU Zhibin 6.3 Statistics on the number of share buttons 7.1 Adding content and method

25 26

27 82 136 154 156 172 210

Preface

Convergent news is a form of internet news that applies convergent thinking and methods to collect and present information. It is based on the development of media convergence technology and makes flexible use of texts, pictures, audio, video, and other media elements to report news. It emphasizes the application of interaction, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Optimization (SMO), and hyperlinks. It also pays special attention to improving news service quality, user experience, and presentation effect. Studies on Convergent Journalism can promote the development of news reporting research, build a new theoretical system, optimize the convergent reporting methods of new digital media, facilitate the transformation of traditional media news, and meet the social needs for convergent news. Convergent Journalism focuses on news production, and has its own strict logic. Meanwhile, it is open-ended, as new content and opinions are constantly introduced with the development of the times. My gratitude goes to Professor Wenshan Jia, a tenured professor with the Communication Department of Chapman University and a distinguished professor at Shandong University. The English version of this book would not have come into being without his encouragement and recommendation. Professor Jia arrived in Qingdao from the United States on December 13, 2019. I went to Qingdao Liuting International Airport to pick him up. Professor Jia was the chief editor of the academic book series The Chinese Perspective on Journalism and Communication, and he invited me to contribute to the series. I had no plans to publish English works before, but with Professor Jia’s encouragement, I submitted a proposal which was reviewed by Routledge’s experts. I received an email from Professor Jia on June 17, 2020, and learned that the manuscript passed the double-blind review. I read the reviewers’ comments and revised the manuscript accordingly. I am very grateful for their valuable suggestions, which have helped me immensely to revise and improve the manuscript. This book was originally written in Chinese. I tried to translate part of it into English and found it really hard. Luckily, my friend Ms Xinmei Tang introduced me to Professor Ying Cui and Dr Tianyun Li who later translated this book into English. I would like to thank Ms Yuqin Cheng and Ms Mengdie Zhang for proofreading and formatting the translated manuscript. It is not easy to meet the

x

Preface

traditional Chinese translation criteria of faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance, and I highly appreciate their time and efforts. I would like to thank Ms Lian Sun, who is in charge of the China Publishing Programme of Taylor & Francis, for her timely and efficient assistance in publishing the English version of my book. I would also like to thank Ms Ying Jing, who is the Books Editorial Assistant of Taylor & Francis, for her promptness and replying in time. I would like to further thank the School of Culture and Communication, Shandong University, for funding the translation and publication of the book. I began to study Convergent Journalism systematically as a doctoral student in 2012. I started to teach at Shandong University after graduation. The university has campuses in three cities, and journalism is taught in both Jinan and Weihai. The journalism major of Shandong University has developed rapidly in recent years, and it has been selected as a national first-class undergraduate major. I often discuss various issues with students and have learned a lot from such discussions. Therefore, I would like to express my thanks to my students. Last but not least, I thank my readers. It is with their support that the value of this book can eventually be realized. I have paid attention to readability when writing this book and tried to avoid monotonous discussions to provide readers with a good experience. I welcome readers to share their opinions about this book on various social media. I hope we can meet someday on the Internet.

1

Studies on convergence

There are both connections and differences between media convergence and Convergent Journalism. Media convergence is a broad concept, while Convergent Journalism is a smaller one; the former includes the latter. Media convergence concerns the media system, ownership, operations and management, organization, and news operations, among other things. It touches upon the convergence and reform of all aspects of the media industry. Convergent Journalism is a study of media convergence from the perspective of applied journalism, which mainly involves the convergence of news collection and narrative presentation. Convergent Journalism is an organic component of media convergence. It is the concrete implementation of media convergence at the level of news communication.

1 Introduction 1.1 Exploration of media convergence originated in the United States The landscape of information communication has witnessed enormous changes, from the birth of the Internet to the practice of media convergence. The Internet originated from the experimental network ARPANET built by the US Department of Defense in 1969. ARPANET developed into the National Science Fund Network (NSFNET) in 1986, which later evolved into the Internet. The Internet spread rapidly around the world in the mid- and late 1990s. China was fully connected to the Internet on April 20, 1994, and traditional media has since been gradually digitalized. The development of digital technology and network technology makes media convergence possible, and the pursuit of economic interests has become its main driving force. The United States has been one of the leading countries in the practice and exploration of media convergence. Media General Inc. built the Tampa News Center in Tampa in 2000. The Tampa Tribune, WFLA-TV, and Tampa Bay Online (TBO.com) were integrated, and the cooperative model of news production was very successful in that year. Press outlets have launched a number of convergent news works in the practice of media convergence. For example, StarTribune.com launched 13 Seconds

2

Studies on convergence

in August – the 35W Bridge Collapse in August 2007, tampabay.com launched A Girl in the Window on August 1, 2008, The New York Times website launched Avalanche on December 20, 2012, and The Guardian website launched “NSA Files: Decoded” on November 1, 2013. These works are all valuable reference sources for the study of Convergent Journalism. 1.2 The turning point of newspaper industry and the development of China’s network China’s newspaper industry encountered a turning point in 2005, and the advertising performance of some major newspapers dropped severely. Beijing Media, the “first overseas stock of Chinese media”, announced on August 26, 2005, that its net profit in the first half of the year was 170,000 RMB yuan, which was a 99.7% decrease from 66.309 million RMB yuan in the same period of the last year. Wu Haimin, President of The Beijing Times, wrote that the winter of the newspaper industry had come ahead of time and the traditional Chinese newspaper industry had encountered a historic turning point.1 The year 2005 was crucial in the history of China’s Internet development. Chinese people took control of the Chinese Internet after 2005. Since China’s Internet bubble broke in 2002, “Chinese companies embarked on a completely different road” from their counterparts in the United States. Three years later, around the year 2005, their efforts paid off in the local market, “Chinese companies beat all their American competitors in almost all the areas, such as C2C (Customer to Consumer) and B2C (Business to Customer), online bookstores, search, emails, games, news portals, etc”.2 The year 2005 is, thus, also crucial in the study of media convergence. The concept of media convergence was also introduced in China in 2005. Cai Wen, a professor of journalism at the Renmin University of China, joined the Fulbright Program and went to the United States to carry out research from 2004 to 2005. Professor Cai published the article “Cultivating Journalists with Media Convergence Skills – A Dialogue with Professors of the Missouri School of Journalism” in The Press in September 2005. It introduced the concept of media convergence to China, which led to the later upsurge of media convergence and Convergent Journalism research in China. Yantai Daily Media Group set up the All Media News Center in March 2008, which marked the actual operation of media convergence in China. People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, Southern Metropolis Daily, Ningbo Daily, and other media outlets actively explored omnimedia operation strategies. Tencent, Netease, Sina, and other network companies have also accumulated rich experience in the convergence of news topics. With the rapid development of Internet applications (apps) since 2010, the Internet has entered the era of Web 3.0,3 Weibo (Micro-blog), WeChat, and other apps, have become the most frequently used. Importantly, Tencent launched WeChat in January 2011, and its registered users exceeded 600 million by November 2013 – which has had a profound impact on the social life of Chinese

Studies on convergence 3 people. The Internet has long been deeply embedded in people’s daily life, and people rely on it for shopping, social networking, games, and news. Social development has also entered the era of the mobile Internet, and the mobile phone has become almost a part of the human body. The Internet is no longer restricted to fixed locations, and people’s work and life are becoming tied more and more closely to the Internet. The rapid development of the Internet has also had a profound impact on people’s news consumption habits. News media must face this reality, explore the development of convergence, provide convergent news services, optimize user experience, and meet users’ needs. Organizations or individuals can hardly fight against the general trend of social development. Even some news media with no intention of transforming have to comply with the general trend of online development and begin to consider media convergence under the pressure of the frustration of traditional advertising management. 1.3 Media convergence as China’s national strategy The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee places great importance on media convergence, which is of far-reaching significance to the development of media convergence and Convergent Journalism in China. On August 18, 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the Fourth Meeting of the CPC Central Committee Leading Group for Deepening Reform. The Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Integration and Development of Traditional Media and Emerging Media were approved. These showed that media convergence in China was no longer confined to the research of academics and the practice of media and it started to receive direct intervention from the state administration. The national top-level design plays a very strong role in promoting the research and practice of media convergence which have grown enormously since then. Xi Jinping visited the newspaper office of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in December 2015. He presided over the CPC Symposium on News and Public Opinions in February 2016. On both occasions, he put forward a clear request to promote the development of media convergence. He also pointed out the approach to media convergence: From “adding” to “converging”. Xi Jinping went to People’s Daily to carry out research and heard the report on the “central kitchen” construction on February 19, 2016. Xi Jinping affirmed that the construction of the central kitchen platform was the right way to promote convergence and development. Liu Qibao – member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and head of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee – delivered a speech at the Forum on Promoting the Deep Media Convergence on January 5, 2017. He pointed out that we should focus on achieving a breakthrough at the key intersection of procurement, editing, and distribution. He suggested innovating the internal organizational structure of media and establishing a new type of media procurement, editing, and distribution network via the construction of a “central kitchen”, that is, the convergent media centre.4

4

Studies on convergence

Xi Jinping delivered a report at the Nineteenth National Congress of the CPC on October 18, 2017. He proposed to “strengthen the Internet content construction, establish a comprehensive network governance system, and create a clear network space”. The National Propaganda and Ideological Work Conference was held in Beijing from August 21 to 22, 2018. General Secretary Xi Jinping attended the conference and delivered an important speech. He pointed out that “we must do a solid job in the construction of the financial media center at the county level in order to guide the people and serve the people better”.5 The Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee put forward a plan on September 20 of that year to achieve full coverage of county-level convergent media centres by the end of 2020. General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the Fifth Meeting of the CPC Central Committee for Deepening Reform and delivered an important speech on November 14. The meeting deliberated and adopted the Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of the Convergent Media Center at the County Level. It noted that Chinese media convergence had entered a second stage, that is, the era of Chinese media convergence version 2.0. During the first stage of media convergence, marked by the adoption of “August 18 Guiding Opinions” in 2014, the “central kitchen” mode of large-scale news media such as People’s Daily was explored. In the second stage of media convergence, marked by the National Propaganda and Ideological Work Conference in August 2018, the focus shifted to the construction of county-level convergent media centres. The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held the Twelfth Collective Study Meeting on the omnimedia era and media convergence and development in the office of People’s Daily on January 25, 2019. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed the importance of promoting media convergence and the development of omnimedia, which was an urgent task. Xi Jinping put forward the concept of “four omnimedia”. He pointed out that the continuous progress of the omnimedia had brought about new forms of media including the whole process media, holographic media, full personnel media, and full effect media. He also mentioned that information was everywhere, pervasive, and used by everyone, which has resulted in profound changes in the ecology of public opinion, the media structure, and modes of communication, and hence new challenges for the field of news and public opinions.6 Academic circles have since explored the concept of “four omnimedia”. The “whole process media” concerns the overall processes of news production, which realize communication with zero distance and zero-time gap. The “holographic media” refers to the digitalization and immersion of news transmission methods, so as to achieve the three-dimensional, multi-dimensional, and wide-angle presentation of news reports. The “full personnel media” refers to the diversification and coordination of information transmission and reception, where everyone is a reporter and users participate in the content production together with professional journalists. The “full effect media” refers to the precision and aggregation of information dissemination, and the media integrate various functions such as content production, social interaction, and news service to maximize the communication effect.7 Experts believe that omnimedia is the sum of all media forms and the integration of traditional media and new media.8

Studies on convergence 5 In this sense, media convergence is a process. Omnimedia is the result of the convergence of traditional media and new media, and it is the media form we should target to promote the development of media convergence. General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired the Fourth Meeting of the CPC Central Committee for Deepening Reform and delivered an important speech on June 30, 2020. The meeting deliberated and adopted the Guiding Opinions on Speeding up the Deep Media Convergence. The meeting stressed the importance of promoting the in-depth development of media convergence, deepening the reform of the system, enhancing the training of omnimedia personnel, creating a group of new, influential, and competitive mainstream media, accelerating the construction of a mainstream public opinion structure with the integration of online and offline as well as internal and external publicity linkage, and establishing omnimedia based on content construction and supported by advanced technology and innovative management in order to guide public opinions and ideology, carry on cultural heritage, and serve the people.9

2 The concept of convergence revisited 2.1 Early prophecies Farber and Baran proposed a “convergence of computer and communication systems” in 1977, which has become the earliest known research on convergence technology. Nicholas Negroponte, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), later used three intersecting rings to represent the computer industry, the publishing and printing industry, and the radio and film industry, respectively, in 1978. Negroponte demonstrated the convergence process of different industries and indicated that the media industry would merge with digital technology. Ithiel de Sola Pool, a political scientist at MIT, had his book Technologies of Freedom: On Free Speech in an Electronic Age published by Harvard University Press in 1983. Pool claimed that “a process called ‘convergence of modes’ is blurring the lines between media” and even between point-to-point communication and mass communication. Henry Jenkins, founder of MIT’s comparative media research project, regards the book as the first to describe the concept of convergence as a transformational force in the media industry and considers Pool as the prophet of media convergence.10 Alvin Toffler, a famous American futurist, predicted media convergence in his 1990 book. He visualized that new media systems would be interconnected and integrated, exchanging information, sound, images, and symbols with each other, and the future would be dominated by media convergence instead of sound and images.11 2.2   Subsequent definitions Andrew Nachison, Director of Media Research Center of American Journalism Association, defined media convergence as a strategic, operational, and cultural alliance involving print, audio, video, and interactive digital media organizations in 2001.12 This definition has become a classic example, and constantly offers enlightenment on the subject.

6

Studies on convergence

Rich Gordon, a professor from Northwestern University of the United States, outlined five types of media convergence in detail in his paper Convergence Defined in 2003, including ownership, tactics, structure, information gathering, and storytelling.13 His definition is the most frequently cited in the area of Convergent Journalism studies, which provides a solid theoretical foundation for the proper classification of convergence. Research on Convergent Journalism is more concerned with the practical aspect, or the last two types of convergence discussed in Gordon’s paper, namely, information gathering and storytelling. Chinese scholars began to systematically introduce and study media convergence in around 2005, and it soon became a hot research topic. Cai Wen, a professor at the School of Journalism, Renmin University of China, interpreted the concept of media convergence, with reference to the definitions provided by overseas experts, as follows. Media convergence refers to the process of integrating content, communication channels, and media terminals within the large media industry, which is realized by means of cooperation, merger, and consolidation driven by economic interests and social needs, and which is supported by digital, network, and electronic communication technology.14

3 Convergent Journalism research in China Convergent Journalism is a revolutionary and evolutionary trend in the field of journalism and communication. It has gradually become a hot topic and an outstanding field of learning. 3.1 Data retrieval I have searched the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, using “Convergent Journalism” as the keyword. The CNKI website provides visualized analysis, and the results are summarized in Figure 1.1 and Figure 1.2.15 The data show that the year 2005 was a milestone for Convergent Journalism studies in China. The number of publications was small before 2005, and the growth rate was extremely slow. However, after 2005 the number increased significantly, and the growth rate was high.

Figure 1.1 Number of papers on Convergent Journalism research (subject retrieval)

Studies on convergence 7

Figure 1.2 Number of papers on Convergent Journalism (title retrieval)

Figure 1.3 Distribution of main topics (topic retrieval)

The total number of academic papers in this area was 727 by subject and 334 by title. As shown in Figure 1.3, the main topics by subject retrieval are distributed in areas such as media convergence (224 articles), Convergent Journalism (139 articles), media convergence background (65 articles), news communication (38 articles), and omnimedia (17 articles). As shown in Figure 1.4, according to the title search, the main themes cover Convergent Journalism (134 articles), media convergence (52 articles), news communication (24 articles), media convergence background (20 articles), communication effect (18 articles), strategy research (10 articles), and convergent news reports (9 articles). According to the data shown in Figure 1.5, the authors with the highest number of publications mainly include Liu Bing (Shandong University, 11 articles), Cai Wen (Renmin University of China, eight articles), Liu Tao (Jinan University, seven articles), Song Xuanyu (Jilin University, four articles), and Shi Changshun (Huazhong University of Science and Technology, three articles). Furthermore, it can be seen in Figure 1.6 that, according to the title search, the authors with the highest number of publications mainly include Liu Tao (Jinan

8

Studies on convergence

Figure 1.4 Distribution of main topics (title retrieval)

Figure 1.5 Distribution of Chinese authors (subject retrieval)

Figure 1.6 Distribution of Chinese authors (title retrieval)

Studies on convergence 9 University, nine articles), Liu Bing (Shandong University, nine articles), Peng Lan (Renmin University of China, seven articles), Cai Wen (Renmin University of China, five articles), Yu Yang (Renmin University of China, four articles), Han Shihao (Renmin University of China, four articles), Wang Junchao (Tsinghua University, three articles), and Shao Peng (Zhejiang Industry and Commerce University, three articles). 3.2 Progress in media convergence research It is generally accepted within Chinese academic circles that the concept of Convergent Journalism was introduced to China by Cai Wen from the United States in 2005. To give credit where it is due, some scholars had proposed or discussed the issue of convergence before – but those discussions had not been that systematic or influential. “The concept of media convergence introduced by Cai Wen in 2005 provides a systematic approach beyond the traditional logic, which leads to the subsequent upsurge of research”.16 In this sense, we must concede that it was Cai Wen who planted the banner of media convergence and Convergent Journalism research firmly into China. However, in 1999, Cui Baoguo, an Associate Professor from the School of Journalism and Communication, Nanjing Normal University, claimed in his article “Technological Innovation and Media Change” that: “Nowadays media reform has two most prominent characteristics, the mutual convergence and penetration of various media and the continuous emergence of various new media, namely the convergence and fission of media”.17 In 1999, Xu Bihua, the editor-in-chief of Introduction to News Photography, pointed out that there was an undercurrent of convergence in the international communication industry at the end of the twentieth century. He noted “the impact of the convergence of communication industry on news photography”. Various media cooperate with each other, form alliances, and strengthen together, which has blurred the boundaries between different media. News agencies, newspapers, radios, and televisions are blending with each other on the information highway which various countries strive to construct, thus forming a new mode of communication. Various means of communication are increasingly integrated. Multimedia communication integrates words, sound and images, which entails the comprehensive use of hearing, vision, and reading.18 In 2002, Li Xiguang, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, addressed the issues of media convergence and crossmedia journalists. In his book, The Core of Journalism, Li Xiguang suggests that “Internet media symbolize the collection of content, newspapers symbolize the distribution of content” and cross-media refer not only to the convergence of media itself, but also the integration or convergence of media functions. He predicts that “the future news editorial department is likely to become a base for

10

Studies on convergence

the convergence of various media” and “successful journalists should be able to work across media”.19 In 2002, Pang Liang also proposed that the network must be integrated with traditional media in his article “Reflections on the Integration and Development of China’s Network Media and Traditional Media”.20 As mentioned earlier, the year 2005 was crucial for media convergence research in China. China’s Internet development entered the era of Web 2.0 in 2005, and Professor Cai began to systematically introduce the concept of Convergent Journalism to China. Cai published the following papers which have had a far-reaching impact: “Cultivating Journalists with Media Convergence Skills: A dialogue with professors of the Missouri School of Journalism” (The Press, 2005, issue eight), “What Is the Convergence of News Communication Changes – On the change of American journalism and communication” (Chinese Journalist, 2005, issue nine), “Expert Journalists and Convergence Editors – On the changes in the training mode of news talents in the United States” (Today’s Media, October 2005). Brian Brooks and Dr Ernest Zhang, of the University of Missouri, gave a lecture on media convergence at the School of Journalism, Renmin University of China, in June 2006. They pointed out that media convergence was a hypothesis of journalism. Gao Gang and Chen Xuan discussed the enlightenment and problems brought by Tampa and how to change the methods of news collection and communication. They held that Tampa was a scientific experiment on media convergence research, and verification of this hypothesis was just beginning.21 Peng Lan discussed the trend of media convergence in July 2006. She said that the development of media convergence mainly included business convergence, market convergence, carrier convergence, and institutional convergence.22 Professor Gao Gang explained the characteristics of the development of media convergence in March 2007. He identified the essence of media convergence and discussed the demands for its change. He held that media convergence is not to suppress and assimilate, but to cultivate and meet, the needs of individuals; it is not to exclude, but to optimize, the functions of traditional media; it is not a steady-state goal, but a dynamic process.23 In March 2019, Professor Wei Lu, Dean of the School of Media and International Culture, Zhejiang University, defined media convergence as a state in which the internal boundaries of various elements involved in human communication activities are blurred, and those elements include technology, economy, subjects, content, norms, etc.24

4 Review of Convergent Journalism studies in China Researchers in the field of Convergent Journalism generally fall into two categories: Professional journalists from various media companies and scholars or teachers from colleges, universities, or scientific research institutes. Experience in journalism plays an important role in promoting the practical value of Convergent

Studies on convergence 11 Journalism research, and experience in journalism education plays an important role in the theorization of research findings. Some researchers, especially those in Western countries, have practical experience in journalism and education. Some of them are working as active journalists and professors of journalism at the same time. For example, Stephen Quinn, an Australian professor of journalism, has worked in the Australian press, the Australian Broadcasting Commission, The Bangkok Post, the British Press Association, BBC Television, Independent Television News Corporation, The Guardian, the Middle East Broadcasting Network, and TVNZ. He spent more than 20 years working in professional journalism. Meanwhile, he has also worked in various universities in Australia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and China. He once served as the Dean of the School of International Communication, University of Nottingham Ningbo China. The following is a brief review of the representative studies on Convergent Journalism in China. 4.1 Papers Some young scholars have published a number of papers on Convergent Journalism and explored the practical cases of Convergent Journalism in the United States. For example, “How to Report Convergent News: Discussion on four American reporting cases”25 by Fang Jie, “Research on the Content and Morphological Characteristics of American Convergent Journalism”26 by Fang Jie, and “Organization and Convergence of Multi-media Reports: A case study on a Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance report”27 by Xu Ying. Zhuang Jie and Deng Xinxin analyzed the Avalanche report of The New York Times, which was an innovative attempt at convergent communication, and discussed vivid cases about the practical operation of convergent news reporting. They pointed out that the majority of the current multi-media news reports were “physical pile-up, with little internal chemical integration”, and the Avalanche project was “transcendental, aiming at the new modes of convergent multimedia news service in the future”.28 They regarded the Avalanche report to be excellent in terms of “chemistry” and “convergence”, using multimedia technologies and methods such as words, pictures, slides, videos, animations, and web page effects as well as novel editing techniques and presentation methods to report and reproduce the scenes before and after the avalanche disaster in a realistic, detailed, multi-angle and in-depth manner.29 The author of this book earlier introduced the concept and technology of search engine optimization (SEO) into the field of journalism research. The use of keywords is a crucial part of the SEO process, which can effectively promote the dissemination of convergent news. In a paper published in 2013, the author explains the value of using keywords in Convergent Journalism, discusses the principles,

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requirements, and methods of establishing keywords in convergent news reports, and explores the distribution, use, and precautions of keywords.30 Since then, the author has published a series of papers on Convergent Journalism, covering the use of hyperlink,31 the principle of news report,32 the change of news value,33 the process of convergent news,34 the integration of culture,35 and the education of Convergent Journalism.36 4.2 Monographs Stephen Quinn published Convergent Journalism an Introduction: Writing and Producing across Media and Convergent Journalism: The Fundamentals of Multimedia Reporting in 2005 in the United States. Quinn and Felak published the Chinese version of Convergent Journalism an Introduction: Writing and Producing across Media in 2009 in China. Quinn and Felak’s book mainly discusses media convergence and its influence, multimedia editors and producers, text writing and expression, radio and television writing and narration, network writing, cross-media picture convergence, digital still photography, camera and video editing, the convergence of multimedia news content, and its future trend, etc.37 It also provides a comprehensive discussion of the reporting skills used in convergent news, multimedia advertising, and multimedia public relations. Although it takes the perspective of media convergence, aside from professional journalism, the book covers a wide range of topics such as multimedia advertising and multimedia public relations. The Chinese version of Convergent Journalism: The Fundamentals of Multimedia Reporting was published by Peking University Press in 2015. The book reviews the historical development, current situation, and causes of media convergence. It discusses the conceptual and operational changes of omnimedia news reporting in the context of media convergence. It also describes the essentials of convergent news reporting and communication as well as the various possibilities of news reporting brought by media convergence. The book pays special attention to cultural issues, and there are many discussions about media convergence culture. Principles of Convergent Journalism, co-authored by Wilkerson and others, mainly discusses the following issues: Convergent Journalism and its future, basic skills and rules of convergent news editing, print media and the Internet, radio and television and the Internet (resetting of content and new types of content), radio and television basics, printing media basics, Internet news, the convergence of network multimedia, and convergence of other new media.38 The Theory and Practice of Cross Media News Communication by Lei Weizhen elaborates on the new forms of convergent media, the integration of self-media and news industry, personal cross-media and team cross-media, user experience, convergent media environment, and news value mining. The discussions have promoted the research on Convergent Journalism in China.39 Professor Cai Wen’s monograph Media Convergence and Convergence News mainly addresses the following issues: Why the media move towards convergence, how media convergence affects news communication, the definition of

Studies on convergence 13 Convergent Journalism, how to transform editorial news departments, whether media convergence should be omnipotent or expert, and how to face citizen reporters. This book highlights Professor Cai’s thinking on media convergence and convergent news in recent years. It systematically elaborates on the causes of media convergence in the new media era, the changes of news communication in the process of convergence, the transformation of news communication mode, the restructuring of media in the process of convergence, the challenges faced by journalists in media convergence, and the challenges and responses of citizen news to the media.40 New Media Editor, written by Zhan Xinhui, divides new media into two types: Network media and mobile media. It discusses the editing of convergent network news, multimedia news, and dynamic news as well as the editing of the network. It emphasizes operability, and the research findings can serve as a reference for the research of Convergent Journalism in China.41 The first edition of Convergent Journalism by Liu Bing was published by Tsinghua University Press in 2017. It focuses on the integration of Convergent Journalism theory and practice. It has been printed five times since, and was most recently reprinted in 2020. It has also passed the anonymous expert evaluation of a British publishing house and an English version is expected to be launched. Professor Li Liangrong from the School of Journalism, Fudan University, commented that “Liu Bing’s Convergent Journalism has great practical significance and has carried out a pioneering and comprehensive research on Convergent Journalism”.

5. Voices against convergence Although media convergence has been widely accepted, there are also voices against it. Zhang Liwei clearly expresses his opposition to media convergence in his book Media Competition Rules and Tools. Zhang Liwei holds that “content production cannot be integrated”, and “it is a different system for new media to meet the minority’s needs”. He suggests that one just needs to think about Baidu’s search, Netease’s game, and Tencent’s QQ to know that it is impossible to integrate new media and old media, because we cannot integrate the different value orientations, given the difference between serving the public and serving the minority. Therefore, “the general rule is that convergent media will not become the mainstream!”42 Zhang Liwei advocates for the Theory of Spring for the Newspaper Industry. He is optimistic about the prospects of traditional media, and he believes that there will be a long-term competition between old and new media. For this reason, traditional media should fight a protracted war. Zhang Liwei is opposed to media convergence and the speculation on the possible extinction of the traditional newspaper. He suggests that traditional media should deal with new media calmly, as new media is for the minority and traditional media is for the masses. In other words, there is competition rather than convergence between the two, and media convergence will not become the trend.

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Zhang Liwei clearly opposes the convergence of media organization structure, but is not completely opposed to the convergence of information collection and the convergence of storytelling presentation. “Other projects of media convergence, such as technology convergence, tactical cooperation, interview skills or narrative form are possible”. However, he added that because the media organization structure is the core of the content production system, “if the core cannot be integrated, one cannot have high expectations for other types of convergence, let alone believe in “major trends” and “great convergences”.43 Zhang Liwei also published an article in Youth Reporter in August 2019 to expound on the painful lessons of “going paperless”. He holds that paper is a material barrier for newspapers, which distinguishes newspaper information from other information and protects the added value of newspapers. He exclaims that, “One cannot cut paper off! Media convergence or new mainstream media need a foundation and main subjects”.44 Although Zhang Liwei opposes media convergence, his views are beneficial for research on media convergence and Convergent Journalism. At least, we can hear different voices, which helps us to maintain a clear mind and keeps us from getting lost. For this reason, the voices opposed to media convergence are also worth studying. Chen Guoquan is another scholar who opposes media convergence. He published an article “Market Mechanism Is More Important than Integration – Taking AOL Time Warner as an Example to Reflect on Media Collectivization” in News Reporter in December 2010. He argued that “profit models cannot be integrated”, “business cannot be integrated”, “integration is at the cost of losing focus”, and “integration misunderstands the value of merger”. Chen Guoquan published the article “Hong Kong Newspaper Industry: Be Careful to be a New Media” in China Reporter in January 2011. It analyzes the reasons why Hong Kong newspapers do not attach importance to new media with reference to Hong Kong’s social population environment, media system, newspaper influence, and so on. It points out that the characteristics of Hong Kong newspapers include big pictures, big headlines, big abstracts, fewer words, and fewer themes. As the information of Hong Kong newspapers is simplified, it is much easier to obtain information from them than from the Internet, and the new media in Hong Kong merely assist newspapers. Chen Guoquan published “The New Media to Save the Newspaper Industry?” in Nanfang Daily Press in January 2012. His opposition to the theory of media convergence is clearly expressed in the chapter and section titles of the book: “failure to learn from each other’s weaknesses”, “split-up is the trend of media development”, “using new media to enhance the influence of newspapers”, “adapting to the trend of newspaper split-up”, “adapting to the trend of new media split-up”, and “new media should keep a distance from newspapers”. What the author advocates for is a media split-up rather than the convergence that has become such a hot topic. Chen Guoquan works at the News Research Institute of Xinhua News Agency, and is the managing editor of China Reporter. Since August 2010, he has planned the column “Newspaper Competition and the Journey of New Media” in Chinese

Studies on convergence 15 Journalist. For his work, he has visited and investigated more than 60 newspapers – in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai, Nanjing, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Xi’an, Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai, Hong Kong, and other cities – and conducted a systematic investigation on the operation of new media there. Chen Guoquan began to study for his master’s degree at the Institute of Journalism and Communication, Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, in 2002 under Zhang Liwei’s supervision. He introduced reverse thinking to research and studies on competition in the newspaper industry. He and his supervisor Zhang Liwei both hold that the trend of media development is separation – rather than integration. Besides Zhang Liwei and Chen Guoquan, there are other scholars who have also disagreed with media convergence. Xu Qin once published an article questioning it. It suggested that convergence destroys the diversity and democracy of news, damages the quality of news collection, and causes the fear of unemployment as those involved in journalism lack convergence skills.45 Wang Handong believes that, in the process of media convergence research, we need to have a critical spirit, as “new media technology system is not a complex of multiple functions, and for many consumers, its multiple functions are often redundant and mandatory”.46 Zhou Jianqing proposes that convergence is similar to a chemical reaction, while polymerization refers to the process of gathering together, similar to a physical reaction. Zhou holds that media convergence does not exist, which is only an ideal while media polymerization is developing rapidly.47 The practice of media convergence is growing vigorously, which can be evidenced by the number of publications. Still, a clear-cut theoretical framework of media convergence remains yet to be established, and the views both for and against it remain yet to be tested by practice. The voices against media convergence are getting weaker, but they are worthy of our respect because they propose something distinct.

Notes 1 WU H M. Media Change: “Who Moved the Cake for the Newspaper Industry? – Some Predictions on the Future of the Press” (in Chinese) [J]. China Newspaper Industry, 2005(11). 2 WU X B. Tencent Biography: 1998–2016: The Evolution of Chinese Internet Companies (in Chinese) [M]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press, 2017. 3 In the initial stage of China’s Internet (1994–1998) and the era of Web 1.0 (1999– 2004), the typical platforms were websites. In the era of Web 2.0 (2005–2009), the typical platforms included blogs and podcasts. In the era of Web 3.0, from 2010 to present, the typical platforms are Micro-blog, WeChat, and other applications. See MIN D H. “From Marginal Media to Mainstream Media: A 20-Year Review of China’s Online Media Development” (in Chinese) [J]. News and Writing”, 2014(3). 4 “Unswervingly Promote the Deep Integration of Media” (in Chinese) [EB/OL] [January 6, 2017] http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0106/c1001-29002378.html. 5 People’s Daily. August 23, 2018 (1). 6 During the Twelfth Collective Study Conference of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping stressed the importance of promoting media convergence to further develop and consolidate the common ideological basis of the whole party and the whole people (in Chinese) [N]. People’s Daily, January 26, 2019 (01).

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7 LI L, WU J. “All Round Media”: Innovative Practices for Mainstream Media in 2019 (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Journalist, 2020(1). 8 XIE F, PENG Y. All Media Thinking and Practice of Integrated Development (in Chinese) [A]. See also: YAO Y. Editor-in-Chief. Let the Thoughts Get Sunshine: Thinking and Practice of Mango Integration and Development (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: China Radio, Film and Television Publishing House, 2019: 127. 9 Xi Jinping chaired the Fourth Meeting of the CPC Central Committee for Deepening Reform (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (June 30, 2020). http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/ leaders/2020-06/30/c_ 1126179095.htm. 10 JENKINS H, DEUZE M. Convergence Culture [J]. 2008. 11 ALVIN T. Power Shift. Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century [J]. New York: Bantam, 1990. 12 NACHISON A. “Good Business or Good Journalism? Lessons from the Bleeding Edge” [C]. A Presentation to the World Editors’ Forum. Hong Kong: June 5, 2001. See also: SHI C S. Introduction to Convergence Journalism (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2013. 13 Gordon, Rich. Convergence defined [EB/OL]. [December 16, 2013http://www.ojr.org/ ojr/business/1068686368.php. 14 CAI W. Media Convergence and Convergence News (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: People’s Press, 2012. 15 Retrieved on June 9, 2020. 16 YANG M. Introduction to Media Convergence (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2013. 17 CUI B G. Technological Innovation and Media Change (in Chinese) [J]. Contemporary Communication, 1999(6). 18 XU B H. Introduction to News Photography (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Xinhua Publishing House, 1999. 19 LI X G. “Core of Journalism” (in Chinese) [M]. Guangzhou: Nanfang Daily Press, 2002. 20 PANG L. “Some Reflections on the Integration and Development of Online Media and Traditional Media in China” (in Chinese) [J]. China Radio & TV Academic Journal, 2002(3). 21 GAO G, CHEN X. “Thoughts on Media Convergence” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, 2006(9). 22 PENG L. “Moving Towards Media Convergence from a New Generation of Electronic Newspapers” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, 2006(7). 23 GAO G. “Media Convergence: A Process in Pursuit of Efficient Communication” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, 2007(3). 24 WEI L. Definitions, Dimensions and Research Issues in Media Convergence (in Chinese) [J]. Shanghai Journalism Review, 2019(3). 25 FANG J. “How to Report Convergence News – Starting with Four Examples of U.S. Reporting” (in Chinese) [J]. News and Writing, 2009(8). 26 FANG J. “Study on Contents and Features of Multimedia Stories in America: (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, 2011(5). 27 XU Y. “The Organization and Integration of Multimedia Reporting: A Case Study of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Incident” (in Chinese) [J]. News and Writing, 2014(5). 28 ZHUANG J, ZHENG X X. “Experiential Feature Spreads Snow Fall” (in Chinese) [J]. The Press, 2013(8). 29 ZHUANG J, ZHENG X X. “Experiential Feature Spreads Snow Fall” (in Chinese) [J]. The Press, 2013(8). 30 LIU B. “Establishment and Application of the Convergence News Keywords” (in Chinese) [J]. China Publishing Journal, 2013(12).

Studies on convergence 17 31 LIU B. “The Value and Use of Hyperlinks in Convergence News Editing” (in Chinese) [J]. Editorial Friend, 2014(4). 32 LIU B. “Persistence and Development: Principles of Convergent Journalism” (in Chinese) [J]. China Publishing Journal, 2014(9). 33 LIU B. “New Thinking of Journalism Values in the Age of Convergent Media” (in Chinese) [J]. Editorial Friend, 2015(1). 34 LIU B. An Analysis of the Convergent News Process (in Chinese) [J]. Published in China, 2017 (4). 35 LIU B. “Cultural Integration: An Investigation of Cultural Factors in the Process of Media Integration” (in Chinese) [J]. Editor’s Friends, 2018 (1). 36 LIU B. The Reform and Practice of Journalism Education in the Age of Financial Media (in Chinese) [J]. Published in China, 2018 (6). 37 FILAK V F (ED). Convergent Journalism: An Introduction: Writing and Producing across Media [M]. Routledge, 2019. 38 WILKINSON J, GRANT A E, FISHER D J. Principles of Convergent Journalism [M]. Oxford University Press, USA, 2009. 39 LEI W Z. Theory and Practice of Cross-Media News Communication (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2012. 40 CAI W. Media Convergence and Convergence News (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: People’s Press, 2012. 41 ZHAN X H. New Media Editor (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2013. 42 ZHANG L W. Laws and Tools of Media Competition (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press, 2011. 43 ZHANG L W. Laws and Tools of Media Competition (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press, 2011. 44 ZHANG L W. “How to Run a Newspaper Well?” (in Chinese) [J]. Young Journalist, 2019 (8). 45 XU Q. “Bottlenecks in International Media Convergence Development” (in Chinese) [J]. China Radio & TV Academic Journal, 2008(7). 46 QIN Y M, SHU Q B. “Construction of Radio and Television Discipline System in the Perspective of Media Convergence” (in Chinese) [J]. Modern Communication, 2009(4). 47 ZHOU J Q. “Query on Media Convergence” (in Chinese) [J]. Journal of South China University of Technology (SOCIAL SCIENCES), 2012 (3).

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1 Convergent news 1.1  Definition    and features The theoretical exploration of Convergent Journalism should start with a proper definition. Researchers have given different definitions and interpretations. Professor Larry Pryor from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the University of Southern California, holds that Convergent Journalism takes place in news editorial departments, where journalists work together to produce diversified news products for multiple media platforms, and the interactive content serves the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.1 The American scholar Jeffrey S. Wilkerson and others believe that true convergence does not only take place on the Internet as an information release platform, as Convergent Journalism is based on the fact that news can be published through a variety of media channels including print, radio and television, online media, mobile phones, and information platforms.2 For Fang Jie, Convergent Journalism in a broad sense refers to the state of convergence for journalism with the development of digital technology and the blurring boundaries between media, and in a narrow sense, Convergent Journalism refers to “multimedia stories”, a new type of news reporting in the context of media convergence.3 If we interpret “multimedia story” as “convergent news”, then the following words of Jane Stevens, a pioneer of American backpack journalists, can be regarded as an effective definition of convergent news: A multimedia story is some combination of text, still photographs, video clips, audio, graphics and interactivity presented on a website in a nonlinear format in which the information in each medium is complementary, not redundant.4 Professor Cai Wen from the Renmin University of China holds that Convergent Journalism “is the study on the development of media convergence from the

Understanding Convergent Journalism 19 perspective of applied journalism”, and compared with media convergence research, “the practical exploration and theoretical research on Convergent Journalism is more clear-cut”.5 Huang Cheng and Hua Kai from the CCTV News Center believe that Convergent Journalism is “a new mode of news dissemination corresponding to the integration of communication platforms”, which has the characteristics of “multimedia collection, unified platform processing, multimedia publishing, and interaction with audiences”.6 Referring to the definitions of other scholars, the author of this book suggests that Convergent Journalism can be defined as a mode of Internet news that uses convergent thinking and methods to collect and present factual information. It is based on the development of media convergence technology and the flexible use of text, pictures, audio, video, and other media elements to report the news. It emphasizes the use of interactive settings, keywords, and hyperlinks, and it pays special attention to news service quality, user experience, and presentation effects. Convergent news does not mean a rigid pursuit of using multimedia. Instead, it emphasizes that appropriate media elements should be selected for reporting. Convergent news in a narrow sense is multimedia news, while convergent news in a broad sense includes the use and dissemination of segmented news, involving division and convergence at the same time. Convergent news has the following characteristics, which are critical to our understanding of the concept. 1.1.1 Multimedia presentation of news information The most obvious characteristic of Convergent Journalism is the use of multimedia. It applies multimedia elements to report the news comprehensively and flexibly. Convergent Journalism encompasses Internet news and more. It is a model of news that attaches great importance to multimedia presentation on the Internet. However, not all Internet news is convergent. News that does not make full use of multimedia elements or convergent thinking and methods is only “Internet news”, not convergent news. Convergent news fully integrates multimedia elements to report news and emphasizes the organic convergence of multimedia elements rather than the random stacking of them. Convergent Journalism maximizes multimedia presentations and makes full use of all media elements in news reports. It pursues perfect multimedia presentation of news, and such multimedia presentation is an important feature of convergent news. A significant value of multimedia presentation lies in that convergent news not only provides users with information, but, more importantly, also provides users with multimedia enjoyment. The convergence of news makes the process of reception easier and more enjoyable, more humane and interesting. Convergent news uses text, pictures, audio, video, and interactive settings to complete news expression, exposing recipients to various media elements in the same report and a multimedia news feast. “The content is rich, diverse, and vivid, which engages

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users’ various senses such as sight and hearing, mobilizing users to browse the news in a three-dimensional manner, thereby reducing users’ efforts to receive information and showing user-friendliness and simplicity”.7 1.1.2 The convergent use of media elements Convergence refers to the organic integration, rather than the simple stacking, of media elements or media technologies to present convergent news. In other words, what happens in Convergent Journalism is the chemical, not physical, change of the media elements or media technologies. Convergent news entails a perfect combination of the profound meaning of text, the vividness of audio and video, and the convenience of interactive settings. New digital media provide a technical advantage for Convergent Journalism. Text, pictures, audio, video, interactive settings, hyperlinks, and other media elements or media technologies are fully integrated into the new digital media platform. Multiple media elements contribute equally to the presentation of news. Convergence entails the use of appropriate media elements in reporting. Convergence does not mean piling up text, pictures, audio, video, interactive settings, hyperlinks, and other media elements in news reports. On the contrary, the media elements used in convergent news depend on the actual situation. Convergence does not aim to incorporate all the dazzling number of media elements at once, but rather focuses on the proper application of media elements for better news presentation. The integrated use of media elements also requires a dialectical perspective on Convergent Journalism, which has both a “combined” aspect and a “divided” one. Information is collected from various sources and gradually merged into a convergent news report, which shows the “combination” aspect. At the same time, convergent news reporting embodies a pragmatic idea, seeking to maximize the effectiveness of communication and emphasizing the polishing of raw materials into multiple forms of news to disperse through various channels, which shows the “division” aspect. However, even the divided reports are different from traditional news reports, and have marks of profound convergence. In this sense, they still belong to the category of convergent news in the broad sense and can maximize the value of news products in cooperation with convergent news in the narrow sense. 1.1.3 Focus on interaction, service, and user experience Convergent media have strong interactive features that traditional media do not have. The applications of Internet media technology such as messages, forums, WeChat, microblogs, blogs, one-click sharing, etc., make it convenient for users to express opinions, create content, and share information. New media attach importance to the value-added information in user interactions and emphasize users’ creation of content. New media technology provides the opportunity for users to change their role from information recipients to content producers.

Understanding Convergent Journalism 21 The “audience” has become the “user” in the new media era, and their status has been improved significantly. Users can enjoy equal status with journalists. They do not only receive information but also create news. It is up to users to decide whether to read the CPC eight-point code or relaxing gossips. The change in the concept of “audience” has prompted us to regard journalism as a service. Convergent Journalism must focus on improving the quality of service and making users more satisfied. Journalists in traditional media are prone to the illusion of being an elite, and they do not have a strong awareness of serving users. In new media communication, service awareness needs to be enhanced, and everything should be centred on users’ needs and experience. The slogan of “serving the people” was often mentioned in the past. It is also highly applicable to the production of new media content. Convergent journalists should often ask themselves: Is it convenient for users to receive information in this way? Emphasizing user experience means giving priority to serving users rather than competing with opponents. One should consider users at all times, fully understand their feelings, and strive to make media services exceed users’ expectations instead of just focusing on short-term interests. Zhou Hongyi developed the Internet product 3721 in 1998 when he started his business. Its mission was to help Chinese people browse online in Chinese and free them from the trouble of memorizing and entering English domain names. The product used plug-ins to package the software download, installation, and operation so that users could do it all with one click. This installation method saved a lot of trouble and simplified the operation process. It was an advanced move at the time, which was conducive to improving users’ experience. Internet product 3721 made a serious mistake later when it started to focus on competitors instead of user experience. It adopted two measures to ensure immediate benefits and compete with Baidu, namely, using frequent pop-ups to force users to install software and making it difficult to uninstall. The two practices had typical characteristics of rogue security software, completely disregarding users’ experience and feelings, which ultimately led to the loss of users and the failure of 3721. Zhou Hongyi reflected afterwards: This failure, which cost me tens of billions of dollars, has made me realize that ignoring the interests and experience of users will eventually cause users to leave and has serious consequences.8 Convergent Journalism must focus on improving the quality of news services and attach great importance to user experience. The quality of service is reflected in all details, and the physical and mental characteristics of different users should be taken into consideration in order to optimize the presentation of news. For example, both new media and old media should consider the physical conditions of elderly users. Tencent has launched a desktop version of QQ video with a simpler interface and a large side-by-side window that meets elderly users’ needs.

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Understanding Convergent Journalism

Sogou has developed an input method for the elderly. The font size has been increased and the handwriting function is available for elderly users. In January 2012, Fengxing Film and Television launched the “family version” which, with clearer and more concise layout and larger font size, is especially convenient for elderly users. It also recommends movies that may be of interest to the elderly on the homepage and adds the “film search” function to help the elderly find movies faster. Media workers should pay attention to this approach of focusing on users. When we care about users, we care about ourselves. Only when user experience is optimized can media business really develop. 1.2 Contrasts to the old media journalism Convergent Journalism is based on new media, and it is technically different from old media outlets like newspapers, radio, and television. The new media mentioned here refer to Internet media. Newspapers, radio, and television used to be “new media”, but they are not digital and hence fundamentally different from the new Internet media. Internet media technology is the prerequisite for Convergent Journalism to develop. The Internet has brought about new elements and forms of expression. The new elements are mainly concerned with the online interactive setting, and the new expression forms refer to the convergence of various media elements. They are not available in old media journalism, and they are the key distinction between Convergent Journalism and traditional media journalism. The elements of expression include text, pictures, audio, video, and interactive settings among others. Old media cannot apply all those media elements to news reporting, but Convergent Journalism can do it flexibly. Among the old media, newspapers mainly rely on texts and pictures to report news, radio broadcast mainly relies on audio, and TV uses words, pictures, audio, video, etc. to convey information but lacks in online interactive settings. It can be seen that television has shown strong convergent characteristics in the use of multiple media elements. It is easy for TV news reports to combine images, sounds, texts, and pictures, as TV has access to multiple media elements. Even so, TV news in the traditional sense does not fall under the category of convergent news reporting. It is because television does not have the key media element of interactive settings, although it can use multiple media elements such as audio, video, texts, and pictures to present information. The interactive setting here refers to online interaction, which is the key difference between the new digital media and the old media. Online interaction allows users to participate in content production and dissemination and share their views anytime anywhere. It links UGC (User Generated Content) with PGC (Professionally Generated Content). It has completely transformed the relationship between news dissemination and reception, elevated the status of users to be creators, and provided unlimited possibilities for equal dialogue between producers and recipients.

Understanding Convergent Journalism 23 Online interaction is different from the interaction of old media. Luo Zhenyu said in his lecture All Industries are Media that: What runs on the Internet is still text, pictures, audio, and video; interaction is created by the phone and has nothing to do with the Internet, which only does one thing, namely taking information on traditional media to a new platform, breaking through the temporal and spatial barriers, and engaging in unlimited interaction. Internet technology brings about a new form of expression, namely convergent news, which incorporates interactive settings with the text, pictures, audio, video and other media elements to optimize the presentation of news. It is in this sense that we classify convergent news as Internet new media reports. Old media, like newspapers and radio, are far from convergent news. Even though television as a traditional media has convergence characteristics, it still differs from convergent news in the Internet era. The essential difference between convergent news and old media news lies in media technology. Convergent news is made possible by the development of Internet technology, without which there would be no convergent news. As emphasized in McLuhan’s famous statement, “The medium is the message”, and the medium itself is truly a meaningful message. Human beings can engage in communication only when they have possessed a certain medium. Convergent news is rooted in Internet technology, and it is only after having mastered Internet technology that people can start to create, use, and develop convergent news. In one word, the key difference between convergent news and traditional news is concerned with media technology and platform. Convergent news can only be realized by relying on Internet media technology and platform. Traditional media cannot realize convergent news reporting due to the limitations of technology. The media platform is important. Chai Jing’s Under the Dome, which addresses the issue of air pollution and has been very popular among the Chinese audience, is a useful example. If Under the Dome was presented via TV in the traditional media era, we would at most regard it as a novel investigative report. The concern and controversy it has aroused might have been far less than it is now. However, Under the Dome was produced in the era of convergent media and officially released on the Internet, with interactive settings, which are convenient for commenting, sharing, disseminating, and saving. It is no longer a TV product. It is a typical work of new media and can even be regarded as a type of convergent news. 1.3 Why should there be Convergent Journalism Why do we need Convergent Journalism? On the surface, it is to optimize the effect of news dissemination and make news reports more efficient, vivid, profound, and comprehensive. The use of media technology is intended to achieve better communication. Specifically, when it comes to the optimization of Internet

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Understanding Convergent Journalism

news dissemination, Convergent Journalism aims to present the whole process of news development in an all-round way. The two keywords here are all-round and whole process. All-round means that convergent news pays attention to both the description of external facts and the interpretation of internal truth. It involves a comprehensive report of news, from presenting the phenomenon to revealing the essence. The so-called whole process means that convergent news emphasizes describing and interpreting important nodes and key details in the development of news. Convergent news is not to report every detail, but to highlight important nodes and key details to present a complete picture of the developmental process. Convergent Journalism is not for show in the era of new media. It has set higher standards for professional journalists. To present the whole process of news development in an all-round way requires journalists to have multiple skills in interviews and investigations as well as the integration of other journalistic skills. The presentation of news can only be profound and complete when interviews and investigations are in-depth and comprehensive. The experience people have accumulated throughout history is still useful nowadays, and reporters need to have a solid foundation in interviews and investigations. What’s more, convergent news requires new skills from journalists. On the one hand, in the media era, journalists need to pay attention to the inheritance and mastery of traditional interview and investigation skills. On the other hand, journalists also need to study new media technologies and use convergent thinking and methods to complete news reports. Presenting the whole process of news development in an all-round way entails optimizing the configuration of various media elements such as text, pictures, audio, video, hyperlinks, keywords, interactive settings, etc. on the new digital media platform so that the advantages of each media element are brought into play. The convergence of news will be perfected when every media element has been fully utilized. Convergent Journalism uses multimedia elements to report news and improve dissemination effects. Table 2.1 shows the major research findings, which can help us to understand the use of multimedia elements to present news. The use of multiple media elements to present news leads to more effective communication than relying on a single media element. The research findings of multi-channel transmission have been widely adopted in the field of pedagogy. The educational mode that combines text with visual and auditory information has proven to be effective. These research findings are also applicable to mass communication. Modern media use multiple channels, such as television and computers. Therefore, the transition from single text communication to multimedia communication for more effective presentation of information has become a trend.10 Convergent news uses a variety of media elements to present news, optimizes the effect of news dissemination, and presents the whole process of news development in an all-round way, which shows the true value of Convergent Journalism.

Understanding Convergent Journalism 25 Table 2.1 Selected research findings9 Hoban (1949) Miller (1957)

The power of the media is determined by the richness of the signal. Messages from different channels may complement or interfere with each other, which depends on whether these messages lead to the same response. Severin (1967) (1) The sum of information from different channels makes multichannel teaching superior to single-channel teaching. (2) Multi-channel learning that combines text and visual media is more effective than single-channel learning. (3) If the multi-channel presentation contains irrelevant information, it will inevitably interfere with learning. Hsia (1969) (1) The combination of video and audio has a deeper and wider influence than the application of video or audio alone. (2) The processing of multi-channel information is prone to overload. (3) Considering the different characteristics of learners, hearing is more helpful for young children and people with limited learning ability, and for people who can read and write, visual presentation is better. Nugent (1982) The mode of presenting the same content on different channels is most conducive to learning. Rolandelli (1989) The visual mode is more important than the auditory mode when the visual is easy to understand and relevant to the learning topic; otherwise, it will be detrimental to the memory of the auditory information. Lunishaine and The presentation of pictures or a combination of pictures and texts Galdstone (1958) is more effective than presenting texts alone. Reynolds and Baker Interactive and vivid presentation can attract attention. (1987)

1.4 Appropriate media elements Convergent Journalism makes use of text, pictures, audio, video, interactive settings and other media elements to report the news, but it does not mean that all media elements must be applied together to report the news. When studying Convergent Journalism, we should pay attention to the selection of media elements, which is supposed to be appropriate, and neither insufficient nor excessive. We should try not to fall into the trap of media technology or pursue convergence for convergence’s sake, which merely goes from one extreme to the other. Excessive use of media elements will damage the effect of news dissemination. Convergent news covers multiple levels. The full use of all media elements in reports is naturally in line with the concept of convergence. Meanwhile, appropriate reporting that uses fewer media elements can also be convergent. The operation of Convergent Journalism should take into account the suitability of media elements to the themes of news, namely using appropriate media elements to report relevant topics as shown in Table 2.2. Otherwise, it would violate the aim of convergent news.

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Table 2.2 Suitability of media elements Media element

Information category

Text

Various event and non-event information, concepts, current affairs, education, social issues, scenes or situations that are not suitable for direct display People, events, nature Economic and social development, complex data News simulation (disasters, accidents, police work, technologies, aviation), violent or bloody scenes, current affairs, international affairs, sports, etc. Speeches, direct quotations, distinctive voices, information from sources unwilling to show themselves Conflicts, disasters, accidents, people, scenes, animals, sports events, theatrical performances User reviews, surveys, user-created content News background, related news

Photo Chart Comics Audio Video Interaction Link

Using video is usually more straightforward than using text when it comes to reporting theatrical performance, but text is more effective than video in terms of in-depth reporting; cruel and bloody scenes should not be directly displayed via video, and text can be used for a general explanation; graphs can summarize complex statistical data, and photos can directly show people’s faces; hyperlinks can guide users’ attention to background information, and animation can simulate scenes that cannot be filmed. The operation of convergent news requires the consideration of various issues such as effects and ethics. More media elements do not necessarily mean better effects, and only the proper use of media elements can achieve the best result. The School of Environment, Renmin University of China, released the report China Urban Air Quality Management Evaluation on March 29, 2013. Based on data from 2005 to 2010, this report studied 281 cities. It found that cities with poor air quality accounted for 75.80% and cities with extremely poor air quality accounted for 13.52%. Many news outlets emphasize textual descriptions when reporting news, but they rarely list cities in a table to give readers a clearer explanation. Some reports pile up statistics in the main text, which is boring and barely readable to readers. For similar reports on urban air quality, in addition to general textual reports, the most important thing for reporters is to use lists to present the air quality of major cities, which will be clear at a glance for readers. It is not enough to provide readers with some general news, and we should also consider their needs for more specific information and make it easy for them to check the situation in their own city. Only in this way can we provide news services that satisfy users. If we continue to use the old model of the traditional media era and use the limited space as an excuse when preparing new digital media reports, we can only produce defective reports that are bound to disappoint readers.

Understanding Convergent Journalism 27 Table 2.3 List of cities in Guangming Daily [This table lists the top and bottom ten cities in 2010 according to the following criteria, respectively: Number of days with grade-2 air quality, PM 10, SO2, and NO2] 2010年排名前十

2010年排名后十

二级天数

PM10 SO2

NO2

二级天数

PM10

SO2

NO2

阳江 茂名 郴州 黄山 池州 梧州 六盘水 河源 贺州 梅州

三亚 河源 梧州 梅州 阳江 海口 丽江 池州 汕尾 伊春

临沧 梅州 安顺 赣州 定西 朔州 白城 阜阳 三亚 湛江

安阳 北京 延安 武汉 盐城 乌鲁木齐 七台河 兰州 陇南 辽源

济南 延安 北京 陇南 盐城 乌海 西宁 西安 乌鲁木齐 兰州

焦作 包头 太原 石嘴山 柳州 金昌 攀枝花 昭通 乌鲁木齐 淄博

成都 佛山 广州 宁波 苏州 杭州 北京 武汉 温州 乌鲁木齐

丽江 海口 拉萨 汕尾 福州 黄冈 大庆 梅州 三亚 深圳

Hexun News listed the top ten and bottom ten cities when reprinting the report of Guangming Daily, as shown in Table 2.3,11 which was an improvement. Newspapers would often provide a list of cities, but many online media have failed to do it, which is a pity. For online media, space is obviously not an issue. For readers’ convenience, we might as well use the list or even a database when reporting. Another example is when Sina Weibo released the news that Tangshan farmer dancers rehearsed “rural style” dancing and were invited to participate in the CCTV “2012 Memory of Three Rural Issues” evening party.12 The simplicity and plainness of farmers were in contrast to the fashionable “Gangnam Style” dance. The “rural style” of farmers in Tangshan naturally attracts many netizens’ attention, as shown in Figure 2.1. When seeing this Micro-blog, netizens usually click on the link, hoping to see the “Gangnam Style” performance by those farmers. However, netizens would be disappointed, because it was linked to a full-text newspaper article report by Sina.com, which was reproduced from the report of Tangshan Evening News, as shown in Figure 2.2. Possibly, CCTV could not provide a video when the news was released. However, the news is supposed to be convergent in the new digital media. According to the report, when more than a dozen farmers in the village rehearsed the “Gangnam Style” dance online in November, they were “filmed by Qian’an photographers and posted on the Internet, which soon received support from nearly 10,000 netizens”.13 It means that there are videos on the Internet, and it is not difficult to find the links. To present this report on the Internet, one cannot simply copy and paste the newspaper report – they are supposed to find the video or at least add a link to the report. Journalists in the convergent media era are not

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Figure 2.1 Tangshan Qian’an version of “rural style” singing on CCTV’s Micro-blog [12 dancers from Hongmiaozi Village, the Town of Shaheyi, Qian’an City combined the local dancing elements such as shadow play and donkey dance with the fashionable style popular around the world.]

merely producing texts, and they also need to master photography and video skills as well as recording equipment. In the case of a theatrical performance report such as this one, no matter how good the text is, it is not as straightforward and enjoyable as audio and video. The reporter of such news should have been at the scene and to film a video for the report, which would not take that long. Even if the reporter could not go to the scene, they could have contacted these farmers afterwards and filmed them then. They could also find the videos posted online and process them for the news report. With both text and pictures as well as video, the news would have been better received. Convergent news requires the appropriate use of multiple media elements to their advantage. In this case, video elements are indispensable. In the era of media convergence, journalists must have convergent thinking and show professionalism. Journalists should enhance their professional qualities, be familiar with the characteristics and advantages of different media elements, and know how to make use of the key media elements. They should never miss out on the most suitable media elements. 1.5 Future-oriented Convergent Journalism Convergent Journalism is a product of the Internet. Without digital technology and the Internet platform, there would be no convergent news. The media elements of convergent news can be divided into two major categories: Original media elements and Internet media elements. Traditional media including newspapers, radio, and television also use text, pictures, audio, and video. Convergent Journalism is integrated and flexible when using these elements, which can be referred to as the original media elements. In addition to such media elements as

Understanding Convergent Journalism 29

Figure 2.2 No video at the “rural style” singing report [The text describes a dancer who is a barber. She organized a team to perform “Gangnam Style” dancing and uploaded their video online. The video went viral, and the director of “2012 Memory of Three Rural Issues” invited them to the evening party.]

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texts, pictures, audio, and video, the expression of convergent news also highlights the characteristics of the Internet. It uses interactive settings, hyperlinks, keyword technology, etc., which can be called Internet media elements. The collection and presentation of news involve a process of technological inheritance and development. Convergent Journalism is not to abandon the symbolic methods humans have created in the past, or to re-create a different expression system. On the contrary, Convergent Journalism adopts an open attitude towards traditional media elements and integrates all media elements to present news. The use of original media elements and Internet media elements in convergent news is a flexible and inclusive process. The elements suitable for a certain media in the past can be absorbed into convergent news. At the same time, convergent news will make full use of new Internet technologies to complete the collection and presentation of information. The development of Convergent Journalism is open-ended, and new technologies and achievements will continue to be applied to convergent news reports. At present, texts, pictures, audio, video, interactive settings, hyperlinks, keyword technology, etc., applied in convergent news are mainly used to convey some visual and auditory information. Perhaps, with the development of technology, some new elements will be used in convergent news reports in the future, which will bring tactile and olfactory information to users. The Tactile Media Group of the MIT Media Lab explained haptic technology as follows: “With touchable objects and magnified interfaces, the objects, interfaces and spaces are seen as the interaction of digital information, which is perceptible via humans’ touch and kinesthesia”.14 Some scientific research institutions have begun to study tactile and olfactory technology and made a number of achievements. Louisiana State University has developed a set of “wiki software” using tactile technology; Digi Scents has developed a product called “I Sniff”, and once it is connected to the computer, users can get a variety of smells.15 With the continuous development and improvement of tactile and olfactory technology, a variety of media elements will be used in future convergent news reports. Media technology will further extend the human tactile and olfactory senses, which provides more possibilities for the collection and presentation of convergent news. Now virtual reality technology, wearable equipment, and interactive games have become integrated with news, and new methods of producing news stories have begun to emerge. The Interactive Media Laboratory of the University of Southern California launched the “Syria Project”, which is an immersive news work that brings users a realistic experience, and can be used as an example to support the previous prediction. As shown in Figure 2.3, the work uses virtual reality technology to reproduce Syria in the civil war. The audience can see smoke, smell sulfur, and hear a loud bang of explosions. The temporary tinnitus and fainting experience make them feel as if they were actually at the explosion site. The audience can see adults and children running in panic, and they can even smell the blood of the injured, which is mixed with the stench of scorched earth.16

Understanding Convergent Journalism 31

Figure 2.3 “Project Syria” using virtual reality technology

However, no matter how science and technology develops, the spirit of news will not change. Truth, objectivity, and fairness are important principles of news reporting, which cannot be trampled or desecrated. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges that some news media authorities face are not because of technical issues but the lack of journalistic professionalism. The deficiencies of news reports include the following: Excessive catering to netizens, which touches the bottom line of the public’s emotions; weak control of professional issues; over-emphasis on extreme cases and negligence over the social value of news; and improper propaganda which has exacerbated public sentiments.17 In terms of the spread of information on the pandemic, self-media preceded professional news media, and comments preceded facts. The party newspapers tried to promote “gratitude” on the part of the public but received a negative response. There were even provincial TV stations that announced, without verifying the facts, that certain leaders of the Wuhan Red Cross Society were punished. The performance of some official media could hardly give people a sense of trust. China established media convergence as a national strategy in 2014. Since then, the transformation and development of traditional news media have been very fast. The development of county-level convergent media has moved to the 2.0 stage. From the perspective of hardware construction, China’s media convergence has already taken the lead in the world, but China’s media integration still has a long way to go in terms of content construction. The ineffective performance of the news media during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that media convergence needs to be improved in terms of content production, observing the rules of journalism, adopting a more open and inclusive news policy, and providing proper observation over public sentiments. Although

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technology is important for the development of journalism, one cannot rely on technology alone and ignore the professionalism of journalism as it is key to news media. It is the most valuable asset and essential value of news media that distinguishes it from self-media. As Henry Jenkins says, convergent culture belongs to the future, but it is taking shape now.18 The development of convergent news is oriented towards the future, and it will present an unimaginable picture with the progress of media technology. However, no matter how convergent news develops, it must focus on serving users. Journalists face a lot of confusion in this era, and sometimes we may doubt the study we are engaged in. The Internet has changed media ecology, and there are endless scientific and technological achievements in online media. Those valuable creations are rarely made by journalism and communication scholars, which makes us feel embarrassed and passive. The research of media technology has never been the expertise of journalists, and we should treat this issue rationally. We should not compete in fields that we are not good at and which do not even belong to our research area. Our efforts should not be directed to developing Internet technology, but to studying how to apply Internet technology to journalism. The boundaries of the current journalism industry are being reset. Technology companies are invading the traditional journalism industry. News and media technology cannot be insulated. News organizations are also actively expanding their boundaries and incorporating technology into news production, but the integration of technology into production is an issue of application rather than technological development. From the perspective of media development and news history, no one is in the position to ask newspaper reporters to develop printers, or ask broadcast reporters to develop radio technology, or ask television reporters to build cameras and televisions. In the Internet age, the reporter’s mission has not changed, which is to use scientific and technological achievements to collect and present news, rather than becoming a technician or computer software developer. Indeed, more and more positions require practitioners to master knowledge in the computer field, but what matters is the application of technology. While Internet applications and Internet technology are connected, we cannot misjudge the position of journalists, who are the beneficiary of the Internet, not developers of technology. Of course, journalists must pay attention to media technology. However, the responsibility of media technology research and development should not be placed on journalists. They would not be able to bear the heavy burden, and it would also deviate from their professional mission and social expectations. The Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence technologies are the strategic technologies that determine the development of news media. The news industry must be good at using these technologies and integrate them. Only in this way can it achieve overall victory. The development of Convergent Journalism entails the construction of new media and the application of new media technology. The core of new media is a powerful content delivery engine. The main technologies include algorithmic language, big data processing, automatic classification of

Understanding Convergent Journalism 33 content, deep learning, intelligent delivery, etc.19 The main task of journalists is not to develop these technologies, but to apply these technologies to convergent news promptly, thus transforming those technologies into news productivity. Convergent Journalism is in itself an Internet application. We should integrate journalism with the Internet, focusing on how to provide users with better news services in the context of the Internet, and establishing the concept of building an Internet news service brand. We should uphold a pragmatic attitude and strive to apply the research findings to journalistic practices.

2 Process of Convergent Journalism Process covers the operation and connection of various stages in news production and delivery. The news process in the traditional media era mainly included the following four stages, as shown in Figure 2.4. (1) Journalists interview and collect information; (2) Journalists produce primary news products, i.e. newspaper reporters write and submit news releases; (3) Reprocessing – the editor selects, revises, and edits the manuscripts submitted by the journalists to produce final news products; (4) Deliver news to the recipients. For the convenience of comparison, I also divide the Convergent Journalism process into four stages, as shown in Figure 2.5. (1) Journalists and users collect multimedia materials;

Figure 2.4 Flow chart of traditional media news

Figure 2.5 Flow chart of convergent news

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Understanding Convergent Journalism

(2) Journalists save the collected materials into a multimedia library and make primary multimedia news products; (3) Journalists further process the primary news into convergent news and segmented news; (4) Users receive news and participate in the interaction. The process of convergent news is a cyclical one in which the status of users has been substantially improved, the collection of materials has typical multimedia characteristics, and the integration and differentiation of news are dialectically unified. Compared with the traditional media news process, convergent news has undergone great changes, which are key to the reconstruction of a convergent news process and are worthy of in-depth explorations. 2.1 A cyclical process The convergent news process is cyclical, and includes both production and dissemination. The organic combination results in continuous production and dissemination, and there is no clear end to it. 2.1.1 Continuous cycle The traditional media news process is one-way. The production and dissemination of news start with the reporter, before going through the editing and production process, and ending with the audience. Convergent news is based on the Internet platform. Users participate in the production and dissemination of news from beginning to end. After the finished news is released, users will express their opinions and continue to participate in news production. Convergent news exists on the Internet and remains available for a long time. It is easy to search and spread. Traditional media news does not have such advantages in terms of long-term preservation and convenient search. The convergent news process will not end after the finished news product is received by users. User interaction will prolong the life of news, making the production and dissemination of news a continuous cycle. 2.1.2 The victory of the Internet The one-way mode of traditional media news obviously does not suit the requirements of the Internet era. Traditional media will be integrated into the ocean of the Internet. Actually, all traditional media will be injected with Internet genes and transformed into Internet media. This does not mean that newspapers, radio, and television will disappear, but that these traditional media should be transformed into Internet news media and break the original boundaries. The advantages of newspapers, radio, and television can be retained, but these advantages are to be used on the Internet platform. For example, newspaper journalists are better at graphic narration, radio journalists are better at audio broadcasting, and TV journalists are better at video communication.

Understanding Convergent Journalism 35 The transformation of traditional media into Internet news media requires us to change our mode of thinking, improve the operation of news services on the Internet media, and optimize user experience. In the traditional media era, TV sets did not have a playback function, and users had to passively watch TV programmes. The programmes were often presented repeatedly so that those who switched to the programme halfway could keep up with the pace of the report. In the Internet age, the need for repetition is greatly reduced. We have Internet TVs or smart TVs. Users can control the playing process conveniently. It would be inappropriate to follow the rules of the television era to make programmes and broadcast a programme repeatedly. The repetitive method wastes users’ time and gives them an unpleasant experience. A question often raised in the research on convergent news is about its foothold, whether to serve traditional media such as newspapers, radio, and television, or the Internet media. This question can sometimes be confusing, because people tend to regard traditional media as authentic news organizations. For a long time, online media did not even have the right to interview, and they are still far from being regarded as news media in a true sense. However, we should be clear that depriving online media of the right to interview does not conform to the trend of news media development, and it cannot be thoroughly implemented in practice. All traditional media will be transformed into Internet news media in the long run, and the right to interview should also be gradually granted to online media. In addition, convergent news itself is Internet news, and research on convergent news should be based on serving the Internet news media. 2.1.3 The general trend of process reform News media should be transformed into or directly positioned as Internet news media. The top-level design of news media must be closely focused on Internet media, reconstructing and integrating news processes, turning news production and dissemination into a cyclical process to maximize the power of news. If news is not produced and disseminated according to the convergent process, the news will not be truly convergent. At the same time, when news business is operated in an online context and traditional media utilize their original advantages, the transformation of the news process will also be promoted by the general trend of the Internet. No organization or individual can contend with the trend of social development. The Internet is a major trend in current social development, and is unstoppable. The one-way process of the traditional media era will gradually decline or even die out. The circular model of convergent news will occupy a dominant position in news production and dissemination. 2.2 Integration of subjects The transformation of traditional media journalists is the foundation of convergent news. The main subjects of communication are composed of reporters and

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users, and the convergent news process starts here. The term reporter is used here in the broad sense to cover professional journalists, photographers or videographers, news editors, and anchorpeople engaged in news production. The integration of subjects means that users and reporters are the main force of convergent news production, and the status of users is substantially improved. 2.2.1 Transformation of personnel As mentioned earlier, traditional media will be completely integrated into the ocean of the Internet, injected with Internet genes, and transformed into Internet media. This trend will inevitably require personnel transformation. Traditional media journalists should all transform themselves into Internet media journalists. The transformation of personnel addresses the problem of human resources. Only when this problem is solved can the reform of convergent news be successful. Without the transformation of personnel, the reform of convergent news is only partially finished, and it is difficult to achieve complete success. The Paper is a convergent media project officially launched by the Shanghai Poster Industry Group on July 22, 2014. It was born out of the Oriental Morning Post via a full transformation of personnel. The original 300 reporters and editors of the Oriental Morning Post became new media staff to provide services for both the Oriental Morning Post and The Paper.20 The practice conforms to the general trend of Internet development, meets the requirements of convergent news, and lays a solid foundation for its later operation. 2.2.2 Equal subjects The subjects involved in convergent news production are diverse, while those of traditional media news production are singular. The main subjects of traditional media news are professional journalists. The audience are not regarded as their equals and are still passive recipients of news. The main subjects of convergent news production are composed of professional journalists and users. The concept of users replaces that of an audience. Users become news producers, sellers, and consumers, and they are equal to professional journalists. This change is a critical one in which users become active participants and create fresh content for news. “The reader’s active participation in the reading process is not a dissolution of meaning, but a creation of meaning”.21 Similarly, in the process of receiving convergent news, there is also the issue of users’ active participation. In the era of convergent media, users’ active participation is more intense and prominent. It is precisely because of users’ active participation that news truly has a new meaning. Since news reports need to follow the principle of objectivity, theoretically speaking, the meaning of news narratives should also be completed by users. 2.2.3 Interaction as creation The integration of news subjects has become the priority of news convergence. Users have become important members of convergent news production, and

Understanding Convergent Journalism 37 user-created content has become an important mechanism for convergent news. The integration of subjects also means the unity and collaboration of users. News crowdfunding and crowdsourcing can be a possible method of production. As users have infinite wisdom and talent, crowdfunding and crowdsourcing can even surpass the work of professional journalists. Interaction is creation. Users create content through interaction. The improvement of users’ status has also made interaction key to the operation of convergent news. The emphasis on interaction in convergent news has far surpassed traditional media news. User interaction has become an instant, constant, and largescale operation. In the era of traditional media, newspapers, radio, and television also pay attention to the feedback of readers, listeners, and viewers. However, without the support of the Internet, most traditional media news is a one-way process, which ends when news reaches the audience. Even if the traditional media news can get feedback from the audience, it is far from the interaction required by the convergent news.

2.2.4   Configuration of new roles New professional roles are born in the process of subject integration, and the personnel of the editorial department also need to be reconfigured. New professional roles include all-round journalists, news stream editors, convergent news editors, news directors, technical directors, and engineers. All-round journalists can be regarded as a combination of newspaper, radio, and TV reporters. All-round journalists are proficient in interviewing and news writing, photography, video recording, recording and editing, and other reporting skills. They are typical representatives of convergent news. The news stream editor is responsible for assigning multimedia news reporting tasks, mobilizing staff to devote themselves to news reporting and editing, arranging the production of convergent news and the production and dissemination of segmented news such as graphic news, audio news, and video news. The convergent news editor is responsible for selecting multimedia news materials, using multimedia means to achieve the convergence of topics or reports, and presenting the convergent news. The news director is responsible for the development and operation of convergent news and segmented news. The technical director and the engineer are in charge of the network and media engineering technology. Network engineers are important members of the convergent news editorial department. Unlike traditional newsrooms, which are mostly composed of news staff with liberal arts backgrounds, the demand for network engineers in convergent news editorial departments will increase significantly. It will become a norm for reporters, editors, and engineers to cooperate to complete convergent news. The convergent news editorial department needs to reconfigure professional roles, integrate the roles of newspapers, radio, and television in the traditional media era, and eliminate the boundaries among media.

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In a convergent news editorial department, aside from versatile reporters, news stream editors, convergent news editors, news directors, technical directors and network engineers, there are also writers, news anchors/outbound reporters, photographers/video reporters, video editors, web editors, web designers, product managers, etc. These roles should be set according to the specific conditions of the media. If the platform is relatively small, one person could hold multiple roles. The development of media ultimately depends on talent, and recruiting journalists with superb professional skills is still the top priority for managers. 2.3 Collection of convergent news The materials collected by traditional media are usually singular, which are mainly used to meet the needs of specific media without considering the needs of other media. Traditional media do not collect multimedia materials. Newspaper reporters collect graphic materials, radio reporters collect audio materials, and TV reporters collect video materials. 2.3.1 Multimedia material collection Convergent news entails the collection of multimedia materials such as texts, pictures, audio, and video. If there are not sufficient multimedia materials collected in the early stage, there will be no convergent presentation. Convergent news collection requires journalists to make flexible use of equipment. As a Chinese idiom goes, “If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools”. However, merely having advanced equipment is not enough, and journalists must be good at using them. Journalists can only collect multimedia news materials by using different equipment flexibly. If they cannot use the recording, photography, video, and other equipment well, they will not be able to collect good multimedia news materials, and there will be no convergent news. 2.3.2 Interview as a basic skill Convergent news collection relies on two methods, namely, reporters’ interviews and the screening of user-created content. Reporters’ interviews involve direct contact with people, and the basic concepts, methods, and techniques of interviews can largely be inherited from tradition. No matter how media convergence progresses, interviewing is still a basic skill for journalists, and its importance will not be reduced with the development of media convergence. Convergent news attaches great importance to user-created content, but such content is not meant to weaken, but to improve, reporters’ interviews. Journalists’ ideals, sense of justice, curiosity, investigative ability, insight, and judgment of human nature and society are still the most precious assets of journalism. Professional journalism plays an irreplaceable role in promoting the healthy development of society.

Understanding Convergent Journalism 39 Although journalism is facing challenges, journalists should not stigmatize the practice. On the contrary, they should regain their confidence, make use of the opportunities brought by new media technology, practice basic skills, and move on to the next stage. Interviewing is the basic skill of journalists and an important method of convergent news collection. Journalists should collect good stories to provide fresh and vivid materials for convergent news. 2.3.3 Collection of Internet information The screening of user-created content is to collect Internet information. Compared with traditional media interviews, it has news characteristics and requires continuous explorations in practice. Users enjoy equal status with professional journalists and have unlimited creativity. Sometimes the identities of users and professional journalists can be exchanged. For example, some reporters quit their job in media journalism and switch to other jobs or become users when they are at home. As such users have professional skills, they can create high-quality content and even create perfect convergent news. The collection of convergent news should attach great importance to the screening of user-created content. One can find high-quality work by monitoring the network keyword index and social media. Internet information can also be seen as the trajectory of users’ network behaviour. Such data are not sampled, but generated by all netizens, and represent the online behaviour of all netizens. Data are also news or the raw material of accurate news. The collection and mining of data should also become an important part of journalism. 2.4 The unity of integration and division Convergent news shows the unity of integration and division, which is seen in the processing and dissemination of convergent news and segmented news. Convergent news is both integrated and divided, which can only be achieved via convergence. Convergent Journalism needs to combine multimedia materials in the processing stage to produce convergent news. Meanwhile, we should not ignore the value of segmented news when studying convergent news. Segmented news such as graphic news, audio news, and video news is an indispensable part of news dissemination. Together with convergent news, in the narrow sense, they form the landscape of news production and dissemination in the new media era. 2.4.1 Integration of segmented products The integration of segmented products is critical. Dragonfly FM specializes in audio products and services. It integrates live broadcasts from radio stations across the country and other audio-on-demand programmes. Magic Video is committed to video products and services. It also integrates live programmes from TV

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stations across the country and other video-on-demand programmes. Dragonfly FM and Magic Video both reintegrate segmented products. On the surface, they only provide audio or video services, but the segmented products and services after integration have obvious value, because they are convenient to listen to or watch. In this way, the efficiency of segmented news reception is improved, and the needs of users with different media preferences are met. In this sense, they are irreplaceable. Each media element has its own emotional value, and users also demonstrate different preferences. As a result, segmented news products presented via texts, pictures, audio, and video all have their own huge user groups. Therefore, we cannot ignore the importance of convergent news because of personal preferences, or devalue segmented news because of the importance of convergent news. On the Internet, there are divisions in integration, and integration in divisions, as forms the complete concept of convergence. 2.4.2 Internet branding of segmented news The media elements used in segmented news seem to be similar to those found in traditional media, but segmented news is essentially different from traditional media news. Graphic news is not equivalent to newspaper news, audio news is not the same as radio news, and video news differs from television news. Segmented news exists on the Internet. Even if it was also spread through traditional media, it has now been branded with Internet characteristics. The communication effect will be very different, depending on whether the news is branded with Internet characteristics. A paper book can be made into a digital book, the Internet can give it wings, and the marketing effect will far exceed the traditional marketing model. It is the same with news products. Segmented news refers to Internet news products, which can also take a wider flight when they make use of the relevant Internet characteristics. 2.4.3 Co-existence and co-prosperity Convergent news production includes segmented news. Traditional news reporting technology provides a reference for the production of segmented news, but there are issues worth discussing. We cannot ignore the role of segmented news in the production and dissemination of convergent news, and we need to encourage research about texts, pictures, audio, and video. We must pay attention to the issue of integration when reforming convergent news, as information is presented to the world via convergent topics or reports. Meanwhile, we also need to emphasize the divided aspect, as news appears in a variety of media to achieve comprehensive coverage and maximize the benefits of news production and communication. Integration and division seem to be contradictory, but they are actually two aspects of the same thing. There is no integration without division, and there is no division without integration. Convergent news and segmented news will not

Understanding Convergent Journalism 41 replace each other, and they are symbiotic with each other. Integration and division are unified in the convergent news process in order to provide users with high-quality and efficient news services. 2.4.4  Benefits    of integration and segmentation An important link in convergent news is the deep processing of multimedia materials or primary news products into convergent news and segmented news. This link is critical, as it connects the production and dissemination process. Convergent news and segmented news are complementary, and they can obtain useful information from each other. Convergent news production must take into account the requirements of multimedia in order to create news products that suit different media channels. Convergent Journalism processes the news materials multiple times to produce multiple versions of news. It makes full use of news materials, expands news coverage, and improves news dissemination efficiency. Convergent news pursues multiple dissemination or sales, which differs from the one-time dissemination or sale of traditional media news.

3 Backpack journalists and teamwork Professional subjects in convergent news include backpack reporters and super teams. Backpack reporters play a leading role in convergent news reporting. Backpack reporters can be assigned as foreign correspondents, war correspondents, and small media correspondents. The size of a super team is a question that should be considered. The main requirement for team members is to complement each other’s technical skills, as well as having a good sense of teamwork and impartiality. 3.1 Backpack reporters 3.1.1 What is a backpack reporter? Backpack reporters are also known as super reporters or all-round reporters. They have a comprehensive mastery of text, picture, audio, and video collection, and presentation skills. During the interview and reporting process, a reporter can act as a text reporter, photo reporter, video reporter, broadcast reporter, etc. They are familiar with various media-editing equipment and software, and they are competent in text editing, graphic editing, and audio and video editing. They are able to process the materials fast and promptly produce convergent news reports and related materials. Backpack reporters often pack their laptop, digital camera, digital video camera, voice recorder, and other equipment that are easily connected to the Internet in a backpack. The reporter can bring their backpack to the news site and collect multimedia information. Yantai Daily Media Group provides such equipment for omnimedia centre reporters.

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Understanding Convergent Journalism Each person has a laptop, China Mobile and China Unicom wireless network cards, a camera, a video camera, and a smartphone, which can provide access to mobile phone newspapers, their official website (shm.com.cn), e-paper mobile newspapers, paper-media text and image, and website and outdoor video.22

The main task of backpack reporters is to collect and publish multimedia news and convergent news, which are related to but also different from each other. Convergent news is an advanced concept, while multimedia news is a primary concept. Convergent news is an upgraded version of multimedia news, and multimedia news is not necessarily convergent news. Multimedia news emphasizes the use of multiple media elements to present news, but does not emphasize the integration of media elements or interaction with users. Convergent news focuses on the interconnection of different media elements, the overall integration, and interaction with users. The birth of backpack reporters can be attributed to the need for multimedia news reporting as well as convergent news reporting. On August 5, 2015, the doctors from Tianjin TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital performed surgery on Yu Wenhao, a child with P-type blood and congenital heart disease in Liaoning Province. He Xin from Tianjin Tonight News covered the report as a “full-time omnimedia reporter”. We can experience the intensity of a backpack reporter’s work through He Xin’s narration and see how he uses multimedia reporting skills. I drove to Tianjin South Railway Station at 11:00 am, and waited for the train carrying type P blood from Nanjing. Dozens of journalists from Tianjin, Liaoning, Jiangsu and other places had gathered on the platform. At 12:06 pm, the train arrived at Tianjin South Railway Station on time. 5 minutes later, I “grabbed” the first-hand video and picture materials, and found a relatively quiet corner on the platform to start work at an “on-site office”: Video editing, subtitling, photo retouching, sorting out a 500-word message according to the video and interview notes, and sending it back to Tonight’s network. A video news piece titled “300ml Rare Type P Blood Arriving in Tianjin” was released immediately. I didn’t have time for lunch and continued to drive more than 60 kilometreres non-stop from Tianjin South Railway Station to TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital in Binhai New Area. At 13:00 pm, Yu Wenhao entered the operating room and waited for the operation. I contacted the dean and related staff responsible for publicity. After nearly half an hour of intense “coordination”, I put on the “special clothing” for the operating room, and went through strict disinfection twice. My video equipment was also disinfected, and was finally allowed to enter the operating room to film for 3 minutes. During the precious 3 minutes, I took video first and then took pictures. I took advantage of the doctor’s break to “chat” for a while, and then I was “invited” out of the operating room.

Understanding Convergent Journalism 43 Next, after interviewing the parents of the child and the person in charge of the hospital, I started to edit videos, organize pictures, and write messages. There was WiFi in the hospital, and all the contents were packaged and sent back to Tonight’s network. At 15:10 pm, at the same time that TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital announced the success of the operation, the special report “Successful Operation of Yu Wenhao, a Child with Congenital Heart Disease with Rare P-type Blood” was simultaneously released on Tonight’s network, Microblog, and WeChat. The next morning, the follow-up report of the Tonight News presented the video QR code of the special news.23 3.1.2 Outstanding work value Backpack reporters occupy a core position in reporter-led convergent news reporting. The value of their work is seen in the following ways: (1) Reducing coordination costs and improving communication efficiency; (2) Providing multimedia materials quickly; (3) Reducing human resource costs and improving operational efficiency. The work experience of Jackie Barron, a female reporter of the Media Consolidation Group, can well illustrate that super reporters demonstrate amazing efficiency and work value. Jackie Barron once reported an important case in four weeks, and her schedule was very tight: (1) Preparing a manuscript to introduce the case for the website at 6am; (2) Going to the court to learn about the latest development of the case, and calling at 10 am to send the latest report back to the TV station; (3) From 2.30 pm to 3 pm, planning an evening TV programme on the progress of the case and transmitting it to the TV station; (4) After that, going to the court to continue collecting information on the progress of the case until 7pm; (5) Finally, writing a news report for the newspaper to publish the next day.24 Jackie Barron’s work schedule shows that she was an all-round journalist and a super reporter with remarkable performance. Jackie Barron worked for websites, TV stations, and newspapers at the same time, and published four articles in one day, including one on the website, two for the TV station, and one for the newspaper. Jackie Barron’s work covered information gathering, TV programme preparation and reporting, TV programme oral reporting, and manuscript writing. Jackie Barron played several roles, with low labour cost but high output. At the speed of four reports a day, a super reporter like Jackie Barron can publish 120 reports in a month. When I was a reporter for the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily, my monthly task was to publish 12 articles that could meet the relevant

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requirements. Some agency newspaper reporters are usually required to write fewer articles. It can be seen that the number of manuscripts produced by super reporters is ten times that of traditional media reporters, which shows how efficient their work is. Obviously, backpack reporters have improved the efficiency and saved the cost of journalism. In May 2001, Microsoft National Broadcasting Corporation sent Preston Mendenhall to Afghanistan to report on fundamentalists. Mendenhall carried tape recorders, digital cameras, film cameras, laptops, and mobile satellite phones to make a series of omnimedia coverage. Mendenhall spent two weeks reporting alone, and the cost was only about $7,100. Sending a group of professional reporters with equipment to cover the series might have cost more than ten times that amount.25 3.1.3 Task and report category In the new media era, more and more overseas tasks and field interviews can be assigned to backpack reporters. The media are usually unwilling to send text reporters, photo and video reporters, and broadcast reporters abroad to conduct interviews or field interviews at the same time. Under such circumstances, backpack reporters can save the cost of human resources, play a more important role, and improve the efficiency of collecting multimedia information. Backpack reporters can also do a great job in small media companies. Small media reporters have limited resources. It is common for one person to take on several tasks at the same time. In such media, backpack reporters can show their talents, and will be more popular with media organization managers. In addition, journalists from small media have more opportunities to learn and practice multimedia skills. In big media companies, a professional journalist often sticks to one position, and interference from others is usually not welcome. In contrast, small media are more open and inclusive, and journalists can try and develop multimedia skills more freely. Convergent news produced by backpack reporters are common in such categories as breaking news, feature articles, and investigative reports. Breaking news is hard news. It has high requirements on reporting time and requires quick responses to emergencies from reporters. Once breaking news occurs, the media can make full use of backpack reporters, who are flexible, efficient, and fast, to collect and report convergent news. As far as interviews and reports of breaking news are concerned, backpack reporters can quickly rush to the news site, collect multimedia materials, and send convergent news reports and related materials to their colleagues in a timely manner. Feature articles are story-based news reports, which use storytelling methods and techniques to report news, focusing on the presentation of plots, vivid and detailed narration, and literary quality and enjoyability. Investigative reports are news reports that reveal the truth through in-depth investigations. The content of investigative reports is usually negative information that the respondent tries to cover up and does not want to be known. The investigation of related information is relatively difficult and can be dangerous.

Understanding Convergent Journalism 45 Backpack reporters can play an important role in convergent news categories such as features and investigative reports. Backpack reporters are familiar with multimedia newsgathering and presentation technology as well as the content of the report. Generally, such reporters will draw up plans to produce convergent news at the beginning of the report, and they will collect various information that is convenient for presentation during the reporting process.26 After collecting information for features and investigative reports, backpack reporters can make convergence reports in accordance with the original plan to produce and present convergent news with appropriate media elements to enhance the effects. In February 2012, an avalanche occurred in the Turner Creek area of the United States, killing several skiers. The New York Times reporter John Blanche went to the Turner Creek area to investigate, collect materials, and send back information and reports. Through the later efforts of multiple departments, The New York Times finally launched the convergent news masterpiece “Avalanche” on December 20. In April 2013, “Avalanche” won the Pulitzer Prize for features. “Avalanche” is an experiential feature that attracted 2.9 million visitors within a few days after its release.27 In the “Avalanche” news collection and earlier reports, John Blanche played the role of a backpack reporter. He completed the collection of the convergent news materials alone. His bravery and professional ability are admirable. Without the early efforts of this super reporter, and without the information, high-quality multimedia materials, and reports he conveyed to the news team, no matter how hard the various departments of The New York Times worked, they would not have been able to put together the influential convergent news report. 3.2 Backpack reporters stepping down Backpack reporters have skills in information collection and writing, image collection and production, audio and video collection, and editing, etc. They are important members of convergent news reporting. They set excellent models for traditional media reporters who have to be transformed in the era of media convergence. Importance should be given to the role and value of backpack reporters in convergent news acquisition. Convergent journalists should be trained as backpack reporters, but this does not mean that the professional subjects of convergent news only include backpack reporters. Aside from backpack reporters who work alone, there are also teams in the acquisition of convergent news. In the convergent news practice, the importance of teamwork is becoming increasingly evident. The Hangzhou Daily established an omnimedia news centre in August 2013. The centre has established an omnimedia acquisition and editing team, and the publishing system integrates three media channels: Newspapers, the Internet, and mobile apps. “In the omnimedia

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centre, team operations have shown unprecedented importance”.28 The omnimedia reporting work model has received much attention. Despite the efficiency of backpack reporters, convergent news reporting cannot rely entirely on backpack reporters alone. On the one hand, the collection and editing of some news cannot rely only on teamwork, and more convergent news requires the joint efforts of super teams. On the other hand, not all reporters can transform into backpack reporters, even if they make the effort, as they may be better at using certain media elements but not others. Daryl Moen, a professor at the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, says that many people cannot become backpack reporters but they will be useful in other ways.29 Stephen Quinn, an Australian journalism scholar and Vincent F. Filak, an American journalism scholar also hold that the idea of all journalists evolving into the same type of role is absurd, because one person cannot produce top-level programmes across platforms.30 Peng Lan, a professor at the School of Journalism at the Renmin University of China, believes that backpack reporters are just one type of journalist in the era of media convergence, which is neither the only one nor the most ideal one.31 Convergent news collection entails combining reporters with different strengths in various fields via careful deployment and cooperation. They are supposed to learn from each other’s strengths, make use of the advantages of teamwork, and achieve greater success in convergence gathering. 3.3 The size of the super team 3.3.1 Small team and big team There are big teams and small ones. The number of members in a super team is also worth considering in Convergent Journalism. A small team has no more than five people, and a big one has more than five or even dozens of people. The smallest team has two people. It is small and compact, yet it is easy for members to collaborate, and it can complete the collection of audio, video, and text information as well as the production and dissemination of reports quickly. The two members must be complementary to each other and manage the information acquisition of different media elements. One of them acts as an on-camera correspondent to report on the scene and is responsible for the subsequent video production; the other responsible for filming and writing manuscripts, observing the scene while shooting.32 A small team saves costs and shows a clear division of labour. It is flexible and efficient, and is more suitable for daily reports. Dan Manson, a special consultant for digital news and social media at the Thomson Fund, believes that a core team should be made up of four to five people.33 Such a small team can easily achieve close collaboration. If a large team is required to report important news, multiple small teams can come together. The large team consists of more than five people, and the super team, or the “symphony team mode”, has seven or more34. In order to complete the convergent

Understanding Convergent Journalism 47 news project Avalanche, The New York Times had a super reporter for early information collection and 16 journalists from multiple departments for the subsequent production. As the large team has more members, internal collaboration becomes complicated. Attention should be paid to the tacit cooperation among members, the authority and effectiveness of leadership, and early planning. 3.3.2 Control of team size The number of members affects the effectiveness of teamwork. Management studies have shown that a medium-sized team is more cooperative.35 Therefore, it is necessary to control the size of the convergent news super team. An appropriate number of journalists should be assigned to a team according to the specific news topics. Most convergent news reports rely on small teams, which can be composed of two or three people. Large teams are suitable for reports of particularly important events, and the number of personnel can be appropriately increased depending on the circumstances. It is essential to control the number of people in large-team operations. On the one hand, we should avoid a shortage of personnel due to excessive saving of costs, which will affect the normal news acquisition. On the other hand, we should also avoid excessive staffing, which will waste resources and weaken teamwork and efficiency. Referring to the experience of Internet companies, news work is suitable for “flattening” organization and the teams are better when “small and nice”. From this perspective, the operation of convergent news should rely on more small teams, adopt product-oriented teams or project-based operations, and fully tap the creative potential of small teams. 3.3.3 A case of small team operation New media projects are usually operated by small teams. The WeChat public account “Tangshan Big Events I Know First” (WeChat ID: tsbignews) is a successful case of small team operation. The official account is operated by a team of four members, who are all professional journalists at Tangshan Radio and TV Station. They have been running the official account since March 15, 2015, in their spare time. They usually launch four to five messages daily. Fans grew rapidly, and within half a year they became a key public account in Tangshan. Many clients work with this official account. In addition to local businesses, they also have businesses from Qinhuangdao, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou that release advertisements via their account. A representative from a local real estate promotion company says that many businesses no longer use traditional media such as newspapers and TV when advertising, and they do not even place advertisements on real estate websites. Instead, they prefer the public account “Tangshan Big Events I Know First”, which shows tits local influence.

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The originality of new media far exceeds people’s imagination. In the past, the content of media was largely circulated by traditional outlets. Such content was then copied and pasted on the Internet. Now, it has begun to reverse. New media have increased their investment in originality, and with their rapid release, some traditional media even have to refer to and copy the content from the new media instead. Shu Hong, the founder of the public account “Tangshan Big Events I Know First”, tells me that her team advocates true, objective, and useful local original news, and only advertises for those who suit their requirements. They will not engage in activities merely to attract fans; instead, they focus on maintaining their own brand and style. Shu Hong emphasizes that her team pays great attention to original content. Even if other media have ready-made manuscripts, they will not use such manuscripts to save efforts. The team is fully aware of copyright protection. They deliberately evade existing reports and mobilize team members to re-collect information, find new perspectives, and produce original products. The members of this team are all professional journalists. They are responsible for collecting clues, writing interviews, editing news, and assisting in new media technology, etc. With a clear division of labour, mutual support, and close cooperation, “Tangshan Big Events I Know First” makes full use of the small team advantages of easy communication and coordination, and flexible and efficient operation, and has made great achievements. The monitoring data of Newrank show that the official account of “Tangshan Events My Prophet” ranked between 200th and 500th from September 23 to 29, 2015, and its best daily ranking was 93 on September 5, 2015. The average readings per article were 10,440, and the average readings per headline were 18,470.36 To take the five pieces of news launched on September 30, 2015, as an example, the number of readings at noon the next day were 23,174, 14,908, 6,967, 12,320, and 2,847 (this piece was advertising). These data can show the effectiveness of the official account. It is also worth mentioning that two of the five news pieces released on July 1, 2015, got more than 100,000 readings, and the number of likes was 3234 and 532 respectively. For a small team of only four members in their spare time, it was amazing to achieve such results in half a year. The “Tangshan Big Events I Know First” public account project is an example of a successful small team operation. It also illustrates the importance of professional skills in journalism or work experience. Compared with a team whose members are not professionals, Shu Hong’s team members are superior in that they are all professional journalists. They have demonstrated their advantages in following the principles of news dissemination, selecting news topics, and operating news. It has been injected with a success gene of content competition from the very beginning. To summarize, on the one hand, traditional media are challenged by new media, and on the other hand, the experience and skills of traditional media can easily be transferred to the operation of new media projects.

Understanding Convergent Journalism 49 Although traditional media reporters have conservative ways of understanding and thinking about news, they have professional experience, the ability to grasp news, and professionalism. Therefore, with a little ‘reform’, training, and ‘recharge’, traditional media reporters will be more reliable in the omnimedia era.37 Professional skills and work experience are still the most precious assets and energy in the operation of new media teams. We should regain professional confidence, form a professional team, and provide users with high-quality services. 3.4 Selection of team members From the perspective of professional journalism, the main requirement for team members is to complement each other’s technical skills. In other words, team members are supposed to be capable of collecting and presenting news in different media. Members should have outstanding performances in broad relevant areas while also having their own unique professional expertise. As a whole, we should ensure that text collection, photography, graphics editing, audio and video editing, and convergent presentation are managed by the most competent, relevant team members. The differences among members in media expertise must be symbiotic and add to the effectiveness of teamwork, highlight the advantages of team operations, and release greater energy. In addition to professional skills, attention should also be paid to the personality of team members. Journalists with strong professional skills but a weak sense of cooperation in a convergent news team can easily cause obstacles to teamwork. Instead, it is better to let such individuals work alone. The members of a super team must have a good sense of teamwork. As the personalities of journalists are quite different, not everyone is suitable for joining a super team. Measuring the teamwork awareness of journalists, using employee risk aversion as an indicator, is a method worth trying. Research by management scholars shows that the higher the employees’ risk aversion, the stronger their teamwork spirit.38 Personality tests can be used to understand and confirm the degree of risk aversion. Journalists with higher risk aversion should be guided to join the super team to coordinate the collection and presentation of convergent news, and reporters with low-risk aversion should be encouraged to become backpack reporters or engage in other work that requires little cooperation. Attention should also be paid to the examination of journalists’ sense of fairness. Reporters with a strong sense of fairness should be selected as members of the convergent news team. Fairness and justice are the basic principles of news dissemination, and every journalist should have such professional qualities. However, there are individual differences in fairness. This point should be taken into account in the organization of a convergent team. “We can use such methods as personality assessment, supplemented by multi-level and multi-directional interviews, to select employees with strong sense of fairness,

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Understanding Convergent Journalism

because such employees will cause greater peer pressure and are more likely to be cooperative”.39

Notes 1 CAI W. From “super reporter” to “super team”-the Practice and Theory of Western Media “Convergence Journalism” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Reporter, 2007 (1). 2 WILKINSON J, GRANT A E, FISHER D J. Principles of Convergent Journalism [M]. Oxford University Press, USA, 2009. 3 FANG J. “Study on Contents and Features of Multimedia Stories in America” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, 2011(5). 4 JANE S. Tutorial: Multimedia Storytelling: Learn the Secrets from Experts [EB/OL]. [April 6, 2015]. http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/starttofinish 5 CAI W. Media Convergence and Convergence News (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: People’s Press, 2012. 6 HUANG C, HUA K. “On the Influence of Media Convergence on TV News Acquisition and Editing Business” (in Chinese) [J]. Television Research, 2010 (3). 7 ZHAN X H. New Media Editor (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2013. 8 ZHOU H Y. Zhou Hongyi: My Internet Methodology (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: CITIC Publishing House, 2014. 9 Multi-Channel Communication: The Theory and Research Foundation of Multimedia // REN Y. Introduction to Visual Communication (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2008. 10 REN Y. Introduction to Visual Communication (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2008. 11 Implement “day” Management to Improve Air Quality (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. [April 4, 2013]. http://news.hexun.com/2013-04-01/152693357.html. 12 Tangshan Qian’an Version of “Rural Style” Sings on CCTV (Photo) (in Chinese) [EB/ OL]. [December 26, 2012]. http://hebei.sina.com.cn/news/yz/2012-12-26/152324807 .html. 13 Tangshan Qian’an Version of “Rural Style” Sings on CCTV (Photo) (in Chinese) [EB/ OL]. [December 26, 2012]. http://hebei.sina.com.cn/news/yz/2012-12-26/152324807 .html. 14 LOGAN R K. Understanding New Media: Extending Marshall McLuhan [M]. Peter Lang, 2010. 15 LOGAN R K. Understanding New Media: Extending Marshall McLuhan [M]. Peter Lang, 2010. 16 All media faction. Virtual Reality Reports Are Coming, Not Just as Simple as Technological Changes (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. [July 20, 2015]. http://news.qq.com/ original/dujiabianyi/ xunixianshi.html. 17 JIAO Z H. The Hidden Dangers Reported by the News Media during the Epidemic and Their Response (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. [March 9, 2020]. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ TqfROUHz1OWbpg8XQfkoXQ. 18 JENSEN K B. Media Convergence: The Three Degrees of Network, Mass and Interpersonal Communication [M]. Routledge, 2010. 19 XIE F, PENG Y. “All Media Thinking and Practice of Integrated Development” (in Chinese) [A] // YAO Y. Editor-in-Chief. Let the Thoughts Get Sunshine: Thinking and Practice of Mango Integration and Development (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: China Radio, Film and Television Publishing House, 2019: 127. 20 CHEN C F. “Total Transformation and Production Process Reengineering in Media Convergence, News and Writing” (in Chinese) [J]. News and Writing, 2015(9).

Understanding Convergent Journalism 51 21 HONG J. Literary Embellishments (in Chinese) [M]. Hefei: Anhui Literature and Arts Publishing House, 2015. 22 ZHENG Q. “Exploring the Path from Traditional Newspapers to All Media” (in Chinese) [J]. Media, 2008(10). 23 HE X. “Journalist Transformation, ‘Transformation Makes It More Credible’” (in Chinese) [J]. Youth Journalist, 2015(11). 24 CAI W. “From ‘super reporter’ to ‘super team’ – the Practice and Theory of Western Media ‘Convergence Journalism’” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Reporter, 2007 (1). 25 PASCUAL M. The Path Towards Convergence Becoming More Clear, in Newspaper Techniques [M]// QUINN S. Convergent Journalism: The Fundamentals of Multimedia Reporting [M]. Peter Lang, 2006. 26 FANG J. “Study on Contents and Features of Multimedia Stories in America” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, 2011(5). 27 ZHUANG J, ZHENG X X. “Experiential Feature Spreads Snow Fall” (in Chinese) [J]. The Press, 2013(8). 28 WANG X. “Metropolis News Eye ‘Hangzhou Daily’ Full Media Coverage Display” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Reporter, 2014 (8). 29 CAI W. Media Convergence and Convergence News (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: People’s Press, 2012. 30 STEPHEN Q, VINCENT F F. Convergent Journalism: An Introduction [M]. Singapore: Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd, 2009. 31 PENG L. “From Full Media to Media Convergence – Reflections on Four Key Issues in Full Media Operations” (in Chinese) [J]. News and Writing, 2009(7). 32 MAI S W. Research on the Model of Media Convergence: Theoretical Logic and Practical Choices for the Transformation of the Chinese Newspaper Industry (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2012. 33 QIAN J. “Transforming the Newsroom in the Age of Social Media - A Conversation with Dan Manson, Special Advisor for Digital Journalism and Social Media at the Thomson Foundation UK” (in Chinese) [J]. Shanghai Journalism Review, 2014(5). 34 MAI S W. Research on the Model of Media Convergence: Theoretical Logic and Practical Choices for the Transformation of the Chinese Newspaper Industry (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2012. 35 WEI G X, YU L A, WANG S Y, LI J Q. “A Study on Incentive Factors of Team Cooperation based on Synergy Effect” (in Chinese) [J]. Systems Engineering-Theory & Practice, 2007(1). 36 http://www.newrank.cn/public/info/detail.html? account=tsbignews, October 1, 2015. 37 HE X. “Journalist Transformation, ‘Transformation Makes It More Credible’” (in Chinese) [J]. Youth Journalist, 2015(11). 38 WEI G X, YU L A, WANG S Y, LI J Q. “A Study on Incentive Factors of Team Cooperation Based on Synergy Effect” (in Chinese) [J]. Systems Engineering-Theory & Practice, 2007(1). 39 WEI G X, ZHANG Q. “Intrinsic Psychological Preferences, Extrinsic Cultural Norms and Teamwork” (in Chinese) [J]. Enterprise Economy, 2013(7).

3

News value and the principles of convergent reporting

1 The value of news revisited Reporters mainly make professional judgements on news according to its value. There are different definitions of news value. The original meaning of value is function or usefulness, referring to the function and influence of objects on subjects. Accordingly, news value refers to the effect of the news on the subject of news, that is, the effect of facts or the attributes of factual information on recipients (readers, audiences, listeners, and users). More specifically, news value refers to that information satisfying readers’ desires for news. If information can satisfy readers’ desires, it has news value and is worth reporting; otherwise, it has no news value and is not worth reporting. Whether facts can satisfy readers’ desires for news and become a news piece depends on whether the facts have these value attributes: Newness, proximity, significance, importance, and interest. The more news value attributes that facts possess, the more they can satisfy readers’ desires for news, the greater their news value, the more they can attract people’s attention, and the easier it is to report. In the convergent media era, traditional media have been impacted by digital media in particular the Internet. This impact is changing news value which is the foundation of journalism. News value attributes or news value orientation have undergone great changes, which is worth our concern. “The World Wide Web does not introduce new competitors into the old ecosystem, but creates a new ecosystem”.1 We should understand the changes in news values in this new ecosystem, which is a prerequisite for convergent news reporting. 1.1 “Newness” calls for new thinking in reporting The issue of “newness” relates to timing. The shorter the time difference between the occurrence of an event and the release of a report, the stronger the newness of news and the greater its news value. Newness is placed at a higher level than other news value attributes. It is the prerequisite for news to be news. An event can only become news when it is new. An event that is new can be called news and reported if it also has one of the following attributes: Importance, proximity, distinctiveness, and interest.

Principles of convergent reporting 53 Since the birth of news reports, newness has always been the primary value pursued by journalists. They have made every effort to report the news as quickly as possible to maximize its value. Newness has been developed to the extreme in the convergent media era. The meaning of newness is shifting towards real-time and immediacy. The news cycle of a magazine is one week, half a month or even a month, and the news cycle of a newspaper is 24 hours. Although broadcast and television can also achieve live broadcast, it is not a routine practice. In most cases, the news cycle of broadcast and television is several hours. Internet news reports can shorten the news broadcast cycle greatly. News can be disseminated in real time and instantly. Digital technology has made real-time dissemination of Internet news and convergent news possible. In this sense, the value of newness has been developed to the extreme. Convergent news obviously pays more attention to newness than traditional news. In the context of media convergence, newness is of great significance in search engine optimization. There is no need to consider news search in traditional media, but news search in the Internet media environment is an issue that we must face. The earlier a piece of news is released, the more likely it is to occupy a favourable position in news search. Internet communication brings different connotations and requirements to newness. The requirements of newness in convergent news have different implications for independent backpack reporters and the collaboration of super teams. Independent operation means that a backpack reporter completes the collection and compilation of texts, pictures, audio, video, and other elements independently. This requires the backpack reporter to be well equipped and master the skills of journalists and editors in such traditional media like newspapers, radio, and television. The integration of different media skills is the only way to ensure rapid and efficient reporting and the newness of convergent news. As for the super team, the collection of convergent news does not only rely on one reporter but also on teamwork. The super team must strengthen collaboration. The newness of convergent news reporting can only be realized when members cooperate with each other, learn from each other’s strengths, have no friction or constraints, and work efficiently. It should also be noted that it is not only traditional media such as newspapers, radio, television, etc., that cannot boast of broadcasting news at the fastest speed, even news websites have lost their advantage. The power of social media in providing up-to-date information cannot be underestimated. In the convergent media era, a professional journalist may be as efficient as an ordinary netizen. A lot of news is first published by netizens instead of journalists, which sometimes embarrasses professional journalists. News is uncertain. It can happen anytime and anywhere. It is equally difficult for traditional media reporters and Internet media reporters to appear on the news site right away. The era of convergent media requires journalists to have convergent thinking, focus on integration and cooperation, value the role of social media, and actively use social media to complete news reports.

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Relying on social media is to make use of the power of all users. It means to attach importance to citizen reporters to complete news dissemination. Users in the era of convergent media have become news disseminators. They are not just passive audiences. Only in this way can we maximize the newness value and provide more competitive news. 1.2 Expanded connotation of importance and users’ micro needs Importance is concerned with the events that have great influence or significance and cause major consequences. Traditional journalism pays more attention to the influence of facts on a large scale, which usually concerns the national economy and people’s livelihood. The greater the impact of an event, the more important it is. In other words, a piece of news is important because it has an impact on the vital interests of more audiences. In the era of traditional media, such impact comes more from changes in national policies. In this way, importance is understood in a macroscopic sense. Important facts can be abstract, and such news is often not interesting enough, as it should appeal more to readers’ rational thinking to attract their attention. The meaning of importance has become broader in the Internet environment. First, what used to be considered unimportant is now important. In the traditional media era, due to the limitation of space and time, news reports paid more attention to events than the related historical information, background information, and old news. But the Internet has a massive amount of storage space, and the limitation of space is no longer an issue. The information and old news that were considered unimportant in the past are now regarded as important materials. Second, the Internet has given prominence to the importance of personal matters. In the traditional media era, personal matters were not usually valued, but these have become important in the new digital media. Users of non-professional media such as Micro-blog, blogs, and forums are constantly producing a large amount of information. When some personal matters show conflicts of interest, they may attract online crowds and become public or group events. Personal matters that were originally limited to those involved can now release greater meaning and become a symbol that affects the public interests on a larger scale. In this way, their importance becomes obvious. Third, importance tends to be subdivided in the new media. “In the Internet environment, news recipients are individualized or grouped, so their grasp of importance is inconsistent”.2 The grasp of importance cannot be generalized. Importance in the convergent media era is placed on users’ micro needs. Traditional journalism judges importance based on comprehensive considerations. It cannot accommodate different audiences’ circumstances or their specific feelings. In fact, importance is concerned both with the public as a whole and the need to care for individual differences. What one thinks is important may not be regarded as the same by another person. For users, what they need is important. Digital media technology can make accurate judgements of importance by

Principles of convergent reporting 55 assessing users’ media behaviour. In this way, it can bring the relevant news to the relevant users. In addition, the connotation of importance has a complicated aspect, and its status is unique. Although news value attributes have their own implications, they are related to, not isolated from, each other. Importance is not as simple as other attributes such as newness and interest. It can be seen as the inclusion of other value attributes. Among them, importance is more closely related to proximity and saliency, and events are usually important because they are close to users and have distinctive features. The events that are close to more people’s interest and have significant meaning for specific users will become important. 1.3 Surpassing traditional proximity and being close to users It is believed that the closer the site of an event to the reader, the greater its news value. However, in a strict sense, defining proximity geographically has obvious shortcomings. For example, there is also proximity in psychology, interest, experience, age, and hobbies. In other words, a lack of geographic proximity does not necessarily mean that there is no proximity. Proximity in other aspects may be more valuable and meaningful than geographic proximity for news recipients. However, even if the rich connotation of proximity is recognized, traditional media can hardly pursue proximity due to their limitations, and they can only turn to the next best thing – i.e. local news. Localizing news or reporting news from a local perspective narrows the distance between news and users to a large extent, which is an effective method. Generally speaking, traditional media mostly define proximity in the geographical sense. For Chinese media, such proximity often has certain rules in terms of geographic scope. It usually refers to the scope of communication or operation set by the news media in advance. The media’s pursuit of proximity is regionally restricted. It is difficult to change the scope according to the recipients’ situations, for it will break the existing order of news reports and cause chaos. On the whole, the proximity of traditional media is mostly based on the general situation of news recipients and cannot cater to their personalized needs. The proximity of convergent news is different. It can meet the specific needs of news recipients to a greater extent. It breaks through the constraints of mechanical geographic proximity and can approach users and touch their hearts. Proximity in the convergence era can be understood in the following way. 1.3.1 Proximity despite distance For people far away from home, things that happen in their remote hometowns are often still of interest, and online media can meet such users’ proximity needs. In this sense, the connotation of proximity has changed. Therefore, the geographical distance cannot define proximity and there may still be proximity despite distance.

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In the Internet environment, “people far apart from each are close”, as a Chinese poem goes. Of course, it may be the other way, “people close to each other are far apart”. Proximity far exceeds the limit of geographical distance. Traditional media cannot attend to such proximity, but convergent media must pay attention to it. There is no fixed scope of dissemination in the convergent media era. The communicator should have a global mindset, as users are no longer limited to the area where the media is located. 1.3.2 More precise geographical proximity Convergent media breaks through geographical limitations, making proximity a concept that can be changed. However, convergent media are not intended to completely subvert geographic proximity, but to provide more precise geographic proximity. LBS (Location-Based Service) obtains the location information of mobile terminal users through the telecommunications operators’ radio communication network or external positioning methods. It provides users with corresponding value-added services via the geographic information system platform.3 LBS technology provides technical support for convergent news to achieve precise geographic proximity. This technology can lock the user’s location and provide information services within a specific geographic range. “LBS is the internal driving force for the geographic proximity of convergent reporting in the new media environment. It has provided a new mode for the geographical proximity of new media reports”.4    of proximity in news searches 1.3.3  Significance Geographical proximity still has value for convergent news, but the form of realizing such value has undergone some major changes. After an event occurs, news websites in various places will report or reprint on it within a short period of time. Even if these websites are included in the news source by search engines, local news websites still have an advantage in search rankings, which shows the search engine’s judgement of geographical proximity. In terms of the presentation of convergent news, the headers indicating the time and location will help search engines to judge the newness and geographical proximity, which has a positive effect on improving the search ranking and increasing clicks. This is one way of re-interpreting and using “proximity” in the Internet environment. 1.3.4 Touching users’ inner world to achieve seamless connection Users tend to pay more attention to what is happening around them as well as the changes that involve their personal living conditions. One of the principles of convergent news is to focus on the content created by users. Much of the news released by users is based on their own life and concern the changes in their

Principles of convergent reporting 57 personal matters. Social media that care about interpersonal relationships and provide more intimate and personal content can achieve proximity that is completely beyond traditional journalism. New digital media have convenient interactive functions, such as posting, leaving messages, and forwarding news with one click. Users can easily express their opinions and feelings. Such interaction shortens the emotional distance between news and users and thus enhances news proximity. The Internet can forward news that is closer to users according to their specific situations. Such proximity breaks through the geographical restrictions and touches the user’s inner world. Digital technology allows users to customize news products, integrate media to provide news delivery services, enhance the pertinence of news dissemination, and help users obtain the news they care about most. 1.4 A breakthrough in salience: Attention as a measure Salience means being “obvious or famous”. Famous things can easily attract attention. People are interested in celebrities, big companies, and big countries. The attribute of salience is important in the new media environment. The celebrity effect plays a positive role, and things that happen to famous people or institutions are easily noticed. However, unlike the traditional media era, the probability for ordinary people to be noticed in the new media environment has also increased drastically. More and more ordinary people, who would not be reported according to traditional standards, are reported on in the era of convergent media. This is because the convergent media era has lower standards for the distinctiveness of characters, and the slightly unusual things ordinary people do can become news. Some trivial things that could only be talked about among family members and neighbours in the past can now be reported. Salience has completely cut across the restrictions of celebrities, and many things ordinary people do are newsworthy. The media’s requirements for the visibility of news subjects have been reduced, and more attention is paid to the news value of facts. A 12-year-old boy in Germany took the key to his great-grandmother’s car, drove a few kilometres to bring his brother to school, and then returned home safely. The news was reported on the international channel of China Radio. Such reports have low requirements for the distinctiveness of characters. It is worth mentioning that there is a post from a netizen at the bottom of the news website. The post extends the news report and is user-created content. This netizen used short and standardized sentences like a professional journalist. The original text is presented in Figure 3.1. It is not surprising that children can drive cars in Germany. After all, it is the birthplace of automobiles. Many automobile companies have free car driving ranges for children at their headquarters so that children can experience the fun of driving from an early age and master basic driving skills and

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Figure 3.1 Content created by users of China Radio Network

traffic rules. Children who pass the “exam” in the range can get a “driver’s license” similar to a real one. For example, Volkswagen has opened a children’s car driving range in its headquarters in Wolfsburg, with full-time coaches.5 In traditional media, the assessment of salience mainly relies on the reporter’s personal judgement. Although such judgement is based on the professional standards of journalism, reporters’ knowledge and life experience are different, which leads to the subjective judgement of salience. In an online context, the quantitative judgement of salience has become as easy as a breeze, and user attention has become a very effective indicator of salience, and there is a scientific basis for this. Specifically speaking, user attention is shown via such indicators as page clicks, post comments, likes, shares, etc. We can judge salience by looking at those indicators. On digital media, the recording of user behaviour is accurate, reliable, and effective. Surveys of user behaviour no longer rely on sampling statistics, and no additional post-inference is required. These indicators cover all users, which are produced with the data of users’ media behaviour. The judgement of the salience of news in the convergent media era has a quantitative basis and is more precise. The quantitative indicators such as the number of page clicks, post comments, likes, and shares reveal users’ attention. If a piece of information has not been reported but has received much attention from users, the reporter can make a judgement based on those data. In this sense, the judgement of news value attributes has indeed undergone great changes in the Internet era, and user attention provides an accurate quantitative basis. In the face of the massive amount of information on the Internet, it will be relatively easy for reporters to examine the salience of facts through the search rankings and quantitative indicators. User attention is a powerful tool for journalists to judge the value of news in the integration of reports.

Principles of convergent reporting 59 1.5 Pleasant user experiences Although the news value of interest is also considered in traditional media, it is generally placed in a relatively minor position, which is especially true for traditional Chinese journalism. In terms of value orientation, traditional media tend to emphasize importance and salience. “Traditional media still follow traditional news values and pay attention to grand themes, national or international events, etc.”,6 and focus on hard news, but tend to neglect the attribute of interest. The value of interest is mainly found in soft news that does not much focus on newness and importance but pays more attention to interesting factors. New digital media represented by the Internet have undergone major changes in news value. They attach great importance to interest and are accustomed to using soft news techniques to report it. Internet news has a different focus from traditional media in terms of value orientation, which may be a more fundamental change in our country. The emphasis on soft news by online media actually reflects the change in the orientation of news value. The emphasis on soft news is the emphasis on interest. All kinds of social and entertainment news are naturally news with interest value.7 Digital media have undergone great changes in the orientation of news value, as is attributable to the changes in user needs. The emphasis on interest shows the media’s accurate grasp of and timely adjustment to the changes in user needs. In the era of convergent media, users’ demand for interest has increased significantly, and convergent media must respond to this change. In fact, users’ demand for interest is endless, and they are also creating endless interest value, which is far beyond the imagination of professional journalists. “When citizen news combines their storytelling, fun and folk wisdom together with a variety of publishing and interactive forms, they overshadow traditional news media. People’s wisdom and imagination are infinite, while the news media are limited”.8 Journalists should understand the significance of interesting elements, be good at discovering those elements, improve expression skills, and enhance the vividness of news reports. The pace of life in modern society is accelerating and the pressure people feel is increasing. Accordingly, pleasant experiences are becoming more and more precious. Interest means to provide users with a relaxing and happy experience, make life easier, and relieve people’s mental pressure. Therefore, we should attach importance to the value of interest. Convergent media attaches importance to the attribute of interest. It is easier for convergent media to display interesting elements of news reports and enhance users’ pleasant experience of receiving news. Interest and entertainment are related. Interesting media gives people pleasure and makes them think. Entertainment provides people with joy. Both concepts are concerned with happiness, though journalism tends to focus on interest over entertainment. Convergent media should make full use of its advantages by

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enhancing the audience’s perception of the interest or entertainment value of convergent media. Users’ attitudes towards using convergent media will be more positive if they can feel the value of interest or entertainment. “The pleasure users feel directly affects their attitudes towards the media, so entertainment is an important factor to affect their attitudes”.9 Enhancing the interest or entertainment value of news reports will help to increase their magnetism and realize the value of news. Convergent news has inherent advantages in terms of interest or entertainment thanks to the advanced technology of convergent media. Convergent news can use texts, sound, video, animation, photos, charts, hyperlinks, and other means to display news facts, and is highly convenient in user interaction and spread of information. Users can comment in real time and share news reports on social media with one click, which expands the coverage of news rapidly and enhances the impact and interest of news dissemination effectively.

2 The principles of convergent reporting “The most prominent characteristic of Internet is that it has never been a subversive process but a gradual one, which, without overthrowing the original things, creates new things on the original basis to enrich Internet services”.10As an Internet news business, Convergent Journalism shares this characteristic. Convergent news inherits the essence of journalism accumulated in the traditional media era. Convergent reporting is a gorgeous development on the foundation of traditional journalism. It is a professional evolution, not a complete overturn. Convergent reporting also needs to follow professional standards. The ideology of these professional standards is deeply rooted, but the specific rules have undergone changes and improvements. In the new media era, news reporting principles are not outdated but more precious. Professional journalists need to re-examine those news principles, and the public also needs to learn those concepts. “The principles of journalism are not only for journalists, but also for citizens”, as the source of those principles is not a professional spirit but the function of news in people’s lives.11 News is closely related to every member of society. Citizens also participate in news production and become reporters. Therefore, they need to learn about those principles or concepts even more than professionally trained journalists need to. For convergent news reporting, truthfulness, objectivity, fairness, and vividness are the guiding principles. Both professional journalists and citizens engaged in news production should understand and follow those principles in their practice. 2.1 Truthfulness: New technology and realistic reproduction The Internet provides advanced technical support for convergent news, but it also provides a convenient path for the dissemination of false news. Rumours and lies can be spread more quickly on the Internet. While we are concerned about the development of new media technology and convergent news reporting skills, we

Principles of convergent reporting 61 must keep in mind the importance of truthfulness. Media technology and presentation forms serve content, and skills have positive value and significance only when the news is true. The importance of truthfulness cannot be overstated for convergent news. 2.1.1 Old topic and new technology Truthfulness is the bottom line for news. It is an old topic in a new technology environment. Convergent news reporters should pay attention to the changes and new situations brought about by digital media technology, learn to use new technologies, and make technologies play a positive role in reproducing news facts truthfully. We should be alert to the issue of “reasonable imagination” that may appear in convergent news. It violates the truthfulness principle. The so-called “reasonable imagination” is actually not reasonable, and it should be avoided in news including convergent news. Convergent news uses digital technology to simulate and reproduce the development of facts in order to enhance the vividness of news presentation, but reporters should be cautious of “reasonable imagination”. News simulation must be based on sufficient and reliable information and data, and it must be indicated if the news report is using simulation technology. The more realistic the simulated pictures or scenes are, the more one needs to beware of the harm caused by false information to truthfulness. The inadequacy of professional skills is worth our attention. Convergent journalists should have no motivation to create false news. However, the limitations of the convergent news skills in terms of information gathering and presentation can cause inaccuracy. Convergent news has a higher requirement for journalists’ professional skills than traditional news. Generally speaking, newspaper journalists only need to master text and picture skills, broadcast reporters only need to master audio production and editing skills, and TV journalists mainly rely on video skills to work. Convergent journalists need to integrate newspapers, radio, television skills. If these media technologies are not fully mastered, the news presentation may be faulty. Convergent journalists either fail to use multimedia technology correctly to collect and present news information, or fail to conduct in-depth investigations and multiparty verification, or lack relevant knowledge, which will cause a serious disparity between news reports and facts. False reports affect not only the reputation and credibility of journalists and media, but more importantly, they blind and hinder people’s understanding of the real changes in their life and interfere with and mislead people’s choices about their own social behavior and decision-making.12 For convergent news reporting, truthfulness is an old topic in the new technological environment which is worth reporters’ attention.

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2.1.2 Fraud in media convergence In the new media era, fake news shows characteristics of media convergence. Research shows that fake news “embodies distinctive characteristics of media convergence”, and “a lot of fake news is not presented via traditional media but via social media which are an important or even the only platform for it”, as “pictures and videos cause a lot of false news”.13 User-produced content has triggered more false news due to the lack of a necessary check-up mechanism. Nowadays, news fraud shows the characteristics of media convergence. Information manipulators use new media technologies to create false news, interfere with media elements, mix false content into news products, and combine the false and the true. Any media element, such as text, picture, audio, and video, may become an accomplice of false news. In the process of revising this book, I often used TikTok and on it I found a strange video. This video was about the sound of a dragon crying from the deep mountains of Weining, Guizhou Province, and many people went there to watch. The sound was really weird. On July 3, 2020, Weining Party Committee’s Propaganda Department clarified that the sound was actually from a yellow-footed three-toed quail. The Public Security Department stated that the video entitled Sound of Dragon was made by someone with the surname Liu and other netizens. They replaced the original sound with the roar of a tiger in order to gain attention. Liu and another person, with the surname Hu, were sent to detention for ten and six days, respectively, for starting the rumour.14 The short video platform unleashes the productivity of netizens, but at the same time, it has become a hotbed of false news. Audio and video fraud have become easy. Short video platforms have strong entertainment attributes. Various performances are mixed, and information manipulation is severe. Many contents are clearly the products of netizens, but are presented as real documentaries, which can easily be taken as news. 2.1.3 From information manipulation to deep forgery Digital media technology is a double-edged sword. Using such technology in accordance with the professional standards of journalism will facilitate the collection and presentation of convergent news. If the technology is used by people with ulterior motives, it may become an accomplice in spreading false news. Those people have lost their professional spirit in journalism. They use digital technology to transform images and spread fake news in a faster and more realistic way, which is harmful. Technology can be an accomplice of information manipulation. On September 4, 2018, a report issued by the French Ministry of Defense pointed out that the increase in information manipulation would cause chaos. This report reminds people of the threats posed by picture, audio, and video editing software, which allows anyone to say anything and is not easy to be seen through. The enhanced version of fake video, where the characters’ faces are modified via digital software and are made to speak or act, is highly credible. There will be more and more

Principles of convergent reporting 63 information manipulation behaviour due to low production costs and low risks of being caught.15 The development of artificial intelligence in information manipulation is fast. Information manipulation via artificial intelligence technology is also called deep fake. This uses deep learning technology to obtain videos and images of a given target from the Internet such as search engines and social media to form “source data” for artificial intelligence training. With the help of “generation” in the “antagonistic generation network” algorithm, the “discriminator” generates fake videos and images through neural network training. “The video is decomposed into hundreds or even thousands of frames, and fake facial images (including the position and actions of eyebrows, mouth, nose and head) are mapped to the faces of the original characters frame by frame” to generate a “face-changing video”,16 which is difficult for the audience to see through. Artificial intelligence can also generate an analogue voice. The information manipulator collects a person’s data and forges a voice with the person’s timbre through a speech generation algorithm. Supported by artificial intelligence technology, the “face-changing video” plus an analogue voice make deep fake seamless. As a product of the advancement of artificial intelligence, deep fake seriously challenges the principle of truthfulness. It can easily become a tool for spreading false information, undermining social trust, pornographic revenge, and cybercrime. 2.1.4 Advantages of realistic reproduction via new technologies Truthfulness aims to make others believe the news and endow it with a trustworthy quality. It is difficult to realize truthfulness for a piece of news that is even doubtful in the form of presentation. “Technology itself is a framework, which frames the presentation of news”.17 New digital media technology can present news more realistically, provide users with a full range of perception, and make news reports more real, vivid, and credible. According to Graeme Burton’s research, an essential change in new media technology is materialization, that is, using technical means to enhance the visual experience where the objects presented by media are instant, present and real.18 The visual display of events in convergent news enhances the realness of news. There is both a critical perspective and a constructive one on new media technology. On the one hand, we should have a comprehensive, clear and accurate understanding of new media technology. We should not be complacent with the realness of news presentation brought about by new media technology, because such materialization is not equal to truthfulness. The vivid picture perceived by various senses may not necessarily be the real news world. In this sense, the principle of truthfulness requires both journalists and the public in the new media environment to improve their cultural knowledge of new media and enhance their abilities to distinguish the authenticity of information.

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On the other hand, new media technology provides professional journalists with support for reproducing news vividly. We should make full use of such technology and strive to construct a true and credible news world. It is not enough to judge new media technology. We need to make further suggestions and tell people what to do. Non-stop criticism is tiresome, which adds to others’ troubles without any constructive opinions. New media technology has the advantage of real-time dissemination of news. With this advantage, convergent news reports can easily realize real-time and global dissemination. The timeliness and influence of news dissemination have undoubtedly reached an extreme. In the context of new media technology, no news media is willing to give up in the competition for timeliness. Meanwhile, we cannot give up our strive for truthfulness, which should always take precedence over timeliness. If there is no guarantee of truthfulness, the pursuit of timeliness will become a tree without roots, and the news media may become institutions that spread rumours and false information. In addition, we must enhance the error correction capabilities of new media. Convergent news reporting should adopt an open strategy, co-creating content with users, and users should be made welcome to supervise and report. Once false information appears in news reports, the Internet error correction mechanism should be activated, which is conducive to the truthfulness of convergent news. 2.2  Objectivity:    Human efforts and technical advantages In an online environment, the principle of objectivity should be given top priority, and participants in news communication should be objective. It is a requirement for both professional journalists and users. “Objectivity” is a professional philosophy and method that enhances the neutrality of news reports. We should give full play to the technical advantages of multimedia elements to improve the objectivity of convergent news. 2.2.1 The objectivity principle of convergent media The neutrality and inclusiveness of the Internet are obvious, as different voices and opinions have the opportunity to be easily presented on the Internet. In this sense, compared with traditional media, the Internet creates an objective atmosphere of information dissemination. However, the subjective tendencies of individuals on the Internet are obvious, and the violation of the objectivity principle is serious. In the convergent media era, everyone can become a reporter. Most citizen reporters have not received professional training in journalism, and their understanding of the objectivity principle varies. The content they create is more likely to be subjective. “Many political and economic groups are using media convergence technology to infiltrate the platforms of new media and traditional media, which causes subjective news to become the mainstream”.19 Without the guarantee of objectivity, convergent news will encounter such problems as preconceptions that undermine its professionalism. Information that looks like news but is

Principles of convergent reporting 65 full of subjective prejudice floods the Internet, it covers up the truth, keeps people from understanding the world around them, confuses the audience, and harms the innocent. The Internet gives users the freedom to create content, allowing ordinary people to easily publish information. But the convenience and advantages of the Internet also bring new problems: The proliferation of subjective tendencies. Because of this, objectivity has become more precious in this era. We need to be aware that netizens’ news literacy varies, and the requirement for professional journalists in terms of objectivity is naturally higher than it is for ordinary netizens. This does not mean that ordinary netizens are not obliged to follow the objectivity principle. On the contrary, a citizen with a sense of social responsibility and anyone who speaks on the Internet should follow the objectivity principle. The Internet emphasizes equality. Citizens who have the right to create content must bear corresponding obligations. News literacy is a quality that every qualified citizen in the media convergence era should possess. Objectivity is not only a principle of journalism, but also a communication tool. It requires journalism education and relevant practical training for people to use. In this sense, it is necessary to promote news literacy education in the media convergence era and to teach the basic principles and skills of journalism to ordinary users so that ordinary netizens can be news literate and follow the objectivity principle. 2.2.2 The prosperity and normative rebirth of self-media Self-media has evolved with ebbs and flows, and has developed into the current network ecology. It forms a positive force to deconstruct the authority of official media. What is scary is that many self-media outlets are essentially eating “human blood buns” or taking advantage of people for profit. They may not admit it, but they have concocted a number of inflammatory articles. Some self-media articles are works of conscience, but the opposite practice also abounds. After the public account of Mi Meng, a writer in China, was shut down for fabricating stories, many people applauded, but the self-media ecology has not improved. Plagiarism is still very common in some self-media, and prioritizes comments over facts. Many of the self-media articles we see are commentaries. Commentaries are valuable, but they are not based on the investigation of facts. They are dangerous because they are full of arbitrary judgements and this may harm readers’ understanding of a subject. Some people often have an opinion first, and then play a copy-and-paste game, spreading wrong opinions. The bad influence of this should not be underestimated. Self-media provides a channel for users to speak up and release the huge potential to create content. With the development of self-media, users’ voices have evolved from vocalizing for relief to yelling for cash. We should be aware that self-media has created a scene of noisy voices. In the data-oriented era, we should not expect too much justice from self-media. In the midst of the 2020 COVID-19

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disaster, people profited from the pandemic. Some self-media played up the news to make a profit. Some people appeared to be just and patriotic, but were in fact profiteers trying to make wealth in the chaos. Under such circumstances, every reader needs to be discerning. It should be noted that allowing controversy and the “consumption” of selfmedia shows progress and self-confidence. Meanwhile, we also see that as selfmedia chaos grows, governance has become a necessity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many local cybersecurity and informatization offices tried to unite and guide these self-media in various ways such as seminars, but it is difficult to say how effective they were. Self-media has its own logic for survival and relies on users’ attention rather than official authority to achieve their goals. In other words, the investor in self-media is concerned only with the volume of reading and their followers. It means that they will not really listen to the government. If they do not “hype” the epidemic, it is out of security considerations rather than trying not to hinder the guidance of government leaders. At the same time, most of the selfmedia interviewed by local cyberspace affairs offices are waist self-media (the number of fans between 100,000 and one million) or even leg self-media. Some self-media face a survival crisis. They want to be obedient, but it is really hard to be. Under such circumstances, it is urgent to establish laws and regulations for self-media management. After the legislation is established, some self-media will fall, and some large-scale players will be gradually standardized. Self-media content production should also respect the objectivity principle and be reborn in standardized operations. 2.2.3 Objectivity: From philosophy to methods Objectivity refers to the need to separate news facts from reporters’ opinions. Reporters should report without bias and refrain from expressing their own opinions. The principle of objectivity requires reporters to maintain a neutral attitude towards facts and the interests of all parties and refrain from making biased reports for their own benefits. Objectivity is, first of all, a journalistic philosophy, which is a requirement not only for professional journalists but also for citizens participating in the creation of news products. The objectivity principle sets the following requirements for us. First of all, we should have a full understanding of individual subjectivity and be sufficiently vigilant about our own prejudices. Furthermore, we should treat the surrounding world with humility, continuously broaden our horizons, and widen the scope of our knowledge. Finally, we should be open-minded and tolerant of different opinions and diverse values. The principle of objectivity is not the same as the objective world. It is the principle by which the subject perceives the object, and it is the result of the individual reporter’s subjective efforts. Objectivity does not mean the abolition of values or the “objectivity” of the external world, and one cannot use human subjectivity to refute the objectivity of news. A journalist is first of all an individual person. They

Principles of convergent reporting 67 certainly have subjective characteristics, but the reporter’s subjectivity must serve the objectivity principle. The objectivity of news reporting can only be achieved with the subjective initiative of the reporter. Objectivity also involves the application of methods, that is, to apply the objectivity principle or philosophy to practice. There is a set of standardized methods compatible with this principle. Such methods are summarized on the basis of journalists’ professional practice. They are effective in expressing the reporter’s objectivity and enhancing the effect of news dissemination. For example, the following methods or principles are worth mentioning. The third person is generally used in reports. Narrative style rather than argumentation is used, and reporters should refrain from expressing their own comments. Direct quotes are used and the source is indicated. News reporting should be comprehensive to give all parties a fair chance to speak. Attention should be paid to the choice of angle and distance control to enhance their neutrality. More horizontal angles and half-length to full-length images should be adopted. When the subject of reports has personal contact with the reporter or the interests of the reporter are involved, the reporter should not participate in the news reporting. The reporter should refuse and cash, benefits, and bribes provided by a subject, refuse the subject’s suggestions about how to write the news report, and complete news reports independently. 2.2.4 The objectivity of convergent news presentation News has practical significance only when it is presented objectively. The objective presentation of news is the objective transport of information, where reporters move factual information from the objective world to news recipients. During the transport process, the original facts should be maintained to the greatest extent and damages should be minimized. Media convergence provides material support for the objective presentation of news. We should make full use of convergent media technology to present news objectively. The selection of media technology is up to specific forms of news presentation, and different media elements construct different news and bring about different objective effects. Compared with media elements like photos, audios, and videos, text expression is more abstract. As a result, using text to present information objectively is more challenging for authors. Almost all written information relies on human brain processing, and the objectivity of written expressions depends on the author’s professionalism and mastery of news writing technologies. If authors do not pay enough attention to the principle of objectivity, their bias can gain the upper hand, making it hard to achieve the objectivity of news. At the same time, achieving objectivity depends on authors’ writing skills, without which authors can hardly convey information accurately or express their meaning properly and the objectivity of news will be greatly undermined. Media elements such as photos, videos, and audio have inherent technical advantages in achieving objectivity. The collection of information by photography,

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video, and audio recording is realized via a copy mode, and the presentation of information by such media elements will also appear more real, detailed, and vivid, which will enhance the objectivity of news presentation and make news reports more trustworthy. Apart from the aforementioned media elements, hyperlinks and interactive settings also play important roles. Hyperlinks connect information from different times and places, and the interactive settings incorporate different users into the system. Hyperlinks and interactive settings provide annotations, verification, and extensions to current news, providing more comprehensive news to recipients. Compared with traditional media reports, the hyperlinks and interactive technologies used in convergent news can undoubtedly improve users’ experience in terms of the objectivity of news presentation. The media technology used in convergent news is currently the most diversified and advanced. Different media elements have their own strengths in terms of presenting news objectively, and their advantages can be combined. Convergent journalists should make full use of various media elements to present news objectively. In addition, it should be noted that although modern media technology has advantages in objective presentation, it does not mean that media technology can determine everything, for the effect of technology depends on the user. Take photography as an example. “Some people think that the camera is just a tool in people’s hands, but the photos it takes are inevitably subjective and sometimes biased”.20 The objective effect of news presentation is ultimately dependent on human efforts. The effect of photos, videos, audios, hyperlinks, and interactive settings in convergent news objectivity is fundamentally determined by people. We should stay sensible when applying advanced technologies. 2.3 Fairness: From professional ethics to civilized interaction The fairness of news is a principle that is observed and pursued by Chinese and Western journalists alike. The fairness principle requires reporters to adopt professional methods, hold a responsible attitude, and treat people fairly without prejudice. The essence of fairness is impartiality and justice. It requires information disseminators to abide by ethical norms, treat their reports impartially, and not to distort their reports out of personal interests or prejudice. News reporting should maintain social fairness and justice and promote social development. Journalists should take the protection of the public interest as their own responsibility. They should not become the spokesperson for an interest group, institution, or individual opinion. 2.3.1 Ethics of journalism Convergent news should abide by the ethical norms of journalism. As far as media technology is concerned, it is easy to publish a piece of information on

Principles of convergent reporting 69 the Internet. However, considering ethical constraints, not all information is suitable for dissemination on the Internet. We must take into account the widespread influence. Everyone should ask their conscience before spreading a message: Will it harm the innocent, violate the ethics of journalism, and endanger the healthy operation of society? Some media are keen to report on murder, pornography, and violence, and some media are keen to report on celebrity affairs. The media report on these issues with excessive length and enthusiasm, but they discard the more important social responsibilities and the key issues in the development of social civilization. This practice is unfair to the public. News about crime, gender, and celebrities can be reported, but there should be no overly straightforward descriptions of crime details and cruel scenes. One should not blindly pursue sensory stimulation or succumb to bad taste. Television and online media should pay attention to the images used so as not to offend the public. The media should publish images and information that are suitable for publicity and keep an eye on social influence and professional ethics. Society needs responsible media. News media should focus on professional pursuits and contribute to the development of social civilization. Journalism is related to all aspects of society, so special attention should be paid to social influence and responsibility. If the media are only keen to report on vulgar content and do not treat social development seriously, they have failed to assume their social responsibilities and may eventually be abandoned by the public. The working environment of journalists in the new media era has undergone great changes. New media technologies such as the Internet, social media, convergent media, big data, and omnimedia are constantly emerging. New things are coming out thick and fast. News collection and presentation technology is constantly improving and changing. Under such circumstances, journalists should make more effort to improve their professional skills, update their professional knowledge, study new issues in professional ethics, and improve their professional skills, moral standards, and sense of responsibility. We should pay attention to ethical regulations and not make vulgar reports. We should not publish horror, pornographic, obscene photos, and footage. It is usually not necessary to spread nude photos and footage unless it is an artistic expression. We should not highlight photos that may be disgusting and scary, and we should avoid bloody, cruel pictures and shots. We should not publish close-up photos and shots of corpses or body defects, and consider using symbolic object photos instead. For example, if a retired professor dies and becomes a mummy, the media should not directly publish photos of the mummy. It is more appropriate to publish photos of the courtyard where the mummy is found. We can also use words to describe the crime, but it should not be exaggerated and cruel details should not be the focus of the report.

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2.3.2 Ethical norms in information collection Journalists must be familiar with professional ethics and norms of information collection. The following points are worth journalists’ attention. (1) Reporters should not look up to or look down on interviewees, who should be treated equally. (2) Reporters should not accept any hospitality or gifts from any organization or individual during an interview. They should not accept other benefits either, such as travel expense reimbursements, bank cards, shopping cards, cash, banquets, or part-time remuneration. (3) If reporters cannot reject valuable gifts on the spot, they should report them to their superior at the editing department in time and return the gifts afterwards, giving a polite explanation to the other party. Valuable gifts or cash that cannot be returned should be handed over to the authorities. (4) The transportation, catering, accommodation, communication, and other expenses for the interview process should be borne by the media. Even if the interviewees offer financial support, reporters should politely decline and explain the ethics of journalism. (5) The books, equipment, and documents of the parties that are borrowed for the interview must be returned in time, even if the items are not expensive. (6) When the interviewee is in extreme grief or panic, such as when they have lost a loved one or encountered a crime, the reporter should be mindful of their feelings and make sure the questions and the way the questions are asked do not cause secondary harm. (7) Interviews should be conducted in an open and honest manner. Open visits are advocated rather than unannounced visits, and explicit interviews are encouraged rather than implicit interviews. Undercover interviews are also called covert interviews. The identity of the reporter and the purpose of the interview are covered up. Reporters use hidden cameras to obtain information, which is an unconventional interview method. The use of undercover investigation must meet at least the following two conditions: (1) The news is closely relevant to public interests (for information that has little or nothing to do with public interests, this should not be used); and (2) there is no other way, as regular interviews are unable to obtain the information. (8) During unannounced visits, reporters do not enjoy any legal privileges, and they are not allowed to participate in criminal activities. (9) Reporters interviewing in public (buses, streets, parks, markets, stations, etc.) may not have to reveal their identity. (10) Reporters entering a private house for an interview should first obtain the consent of the owner, and when entering a hospital clinic should obtain the consent of the hospital or medical staff, patients, and their families.

Principles of convergent reporting 71 2.3.3 Rules for civilized interaction Convergent news should not use political authority to suppress public opinions or indulge in malicious slander. Communication of media should be open and transparent, and communication that is concrete and relevant to the public should be encouraged. Rules of civilized interaction should be set to encourage civilized and responsible comments and prohibit deceitful messages, malicious slander, infringement of privacy, harm to the vulnerable, and empty propaganda. The Internet has expanded the circulation of personal information and increased the opportunities for news media to contact and report private information. Convergent news should avoid unnecessary interference and infringement of privacy, especially to protect the vulnerable from harm. When the party involved questions a report, the media should respond positively. When a party who has been publicly accused raises a reasonable question, the media should give him an opportunity to explain as soon as possible. The issue of time should be taken into account in convergent news, and the updates of reports should be marked with the latest date. Attention should be paid to the links of news reports and related archival materials. The date of archival materials should be marked in a prominent position to avoid misunderstanding of outdated information. 2.4 Vividness in the presentation of convergent news The principles of truthfulness, objectivity, and fairness are very important. However, it is not enough to report news truthfully, objectively, and impartially –reports also need to be fascinating. The Internet has eliminated the space and time constraints that news reports faced. Users’ attention has become the main precious resource, and presenting news vividly to attract users’ attention has become an important issue in convergent news. Bad reports make users irritated, but fascinating reports can offer a pleasant experience. Convergent journalists are obliged to report news vividly, deliver the information in a way that people like, and make the report attractive to users. 2.4.1 The integration of information mode and story mode There are two modes of news reporting – information mode and story mode. Information mode means that reporters report news directly. Reporters do not rely on storytelling skills but on the provision of concrete information. Reporters do not talk in a roundabout way with readers, but provide them with the key facts. When providing information is the top priority, information mode should be used. Story mode refers to the use of storytelling techniques to report news. Storytelling is very effective and even necessary, particularly when news is

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presented via features. To some extent, news reporting is indeed an art of storytelling. While information mode may be more suitable for shorter news, story mode is likely to be more suitable for longer news. However, information mode and story mode are not diametrically opposed to each other. It does not mean that storytelling is absolutely forbidden when information mode is adopted, or that story mode must reduce the amount of information in news reports. Reporters should make flexible use of the two modes. It is necessary to ensure the efficiency of news reporting, and it is also important to pay attention to the interest issue of reporting. For example, providing a detail or a direct quote in an information-style report can enhance its vividness. Convergent news should integrate information mode and story mode into news reports. In addition to enriching the content of news, reporters should make the presentation of convergent news more interesting. 2.4.2 The use of advanced digital media technology Compared with traditional media, new digital media can make full use of advanced media technology to present news and enhance the vividness of reports. Convergent news integrates multiple media forms, using text, photos, graphics, audio, videos, and interactive settings flexibly to report news. These media elements have their own strengths and unique values. Convergent news can make comprehensive use of those media elements and give full play to their strengths to optimize news presentation. Traditional media have some common weaknesses, such as poor timeliness, interaction, and flexibility when using multimedia elements. Such weaknesses are hard to be eradicated in traditional media, which restricts the vividness of reports to a certain extent. New digital media have surpassed these weaknesses and shown unparalleled superiority. New digital media are advanced in terms of technology, and convergent news should make full use of this to make news reports interesting. However, the new bottles of digital media cannot be used to store the old wine of traditional reports. The unique and advanced digital media technology should be fully utilized to reproduce news vividly and make sure that users can receive the news in a relaxing manner. In the Internet world, we often see practices that make news reports more vivid and exciting. Convergent news should actively use those methods to enhance the vividness of reports and strengthen the mining and application of digital media technologies: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Attach photos and charts to news reports; Highlight the video; Attach interview recordings to news reports; Make news photos into slides for users to watch or appreciate; Install a one-click forward button so that users can share news easily;

Principles of convergent reporting 73 (6) Provide a convenient channel for users to post comments; (7) Provide online surveys immediately after news reports so that users can express their opinions, and they can see the statistical results when the survey is over; (8) Use keywords and hyperlink technology in news reports; (9) Diversify search forms and provide voice searches in addition to text search so that users can get a list of relevant news after saying a keyword into the microphone.

Notes 1 SHIRKY C. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations [M]. Penguin, 2008. 2 DU H P. “The Erasure and Extension of Newsworthiness by Online News” (in Chinese) [J]. News and Writing, 2011(5). 3 LBS[EB/OL]. (July 16, 2014). http://baike.baidu.com/view/152851.htm 4 LEI W Z. Theory and Practice of Cross-Media News Communication (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2012. 5 “A 12-Year-Old Boy in Germany Stole His Great-Grandmother’s Car to Send His Brother to School and Returned Safely” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (March 26, 2013). http://world.cnr.cn/qw/201303/t20130326_512227859.shtml. 6 QIN L. How to Govern and be an Official in the Internet Age (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Party Building Books Publishing House, 2012. 7 DONG T C. Problems and Doctrine: Journalism and Communication Manuscripts (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Communication University of China Press, 2012. 8 HU Y Q. “Imagining the Power of the We-Media: A Questioning Based on Journalistic Professionalism” [J]. Shanghai Journalism Review, 2013(3). 9 LIU Q. Research on Audience Adoption Behavior of Converged Media (in Chinese) [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, 2012. 10 YU Y, ZHANG T Y. “Fellow Hu Qiheng Inducted into the ‘Internet Hall of Fame’, interviewed by our newspaper Internet Development Calls for Open Integrity Integration” (in Chinese) [N]. People’s Daily, (July 4, 2013)(14). 11 KOVACH B, ROSENSTIEL T. The Elements of Journalism: What News People Should Know and the Public Should Expect [M]. Three Rivers Press (CA), 2014. 12 GAO G. News Interview Writing (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2012. 13 “Annual Fake News Research Group. Top Ten Fake News in 2013” (in Chinese) [J]. News Reporter, 2014 (1). 14 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/jzFylNdNptpi0kAIpBzE9Q, (July 5, 2020). 15 LIU W. Asking for Artificial Intelligence: from Cambridge to Beijing (in Chinese) [M]. Science Press, 2019. 16 WANG L S. “On the Integrated Regulation of ‘Deep Forgery’ Intelligent Technology” (in Chinese) [J]. Eastern Methodology, 2019 (6). 17 YANG B J. News Ontology (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2008. 18 BURTON G. Media and Society: Critical Perspectives [M]. McGraw-Hill Education (UK), 2010. 19 LI X G. Ten Challenges Faced by Traditional Journalism and Analysis of Countermeasures // HUANG C X. News Reports in the Context of Media Integration (in Chinese) [M]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press, 2010. 20 LANGFORD M J. The Step-By-Step Guide to Photography [M]. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1982.

4

Text, pictures, audio, and video

1 Text In this age of journalism, text is far more primitive and ancient than other elements such as audio and video. Text was born long before the age of journalism, an age when printing, broadcasting, and television technology have entered human lives. Engraved printing, the world’s earliest technology for large-scale copying of text, was born in China early in the 6th century. In Qingli (Celebrated Calendar) (1041–1048) of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, the civilian inventor Bi Sheng invented the clay movable type printing technique. Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg invented the metal movable type printing technology, which formed the technical conditions for large-scale news dissemination. From then on, printing news technology gradually spread from Europe to the rest of the world. The first printed newsprint was born in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1457, and the first “real newspaper” was born in Frankfurt (Frankfurt News) in 1615. Audio and video dissemination technologies were born much later. Audio technology wasn’t integrated into journalism and communication until the first radio station (KDKA, Pittsburgh, USA) was established in 1920. The first TV station (BBC, London, UK) was established in 1936, after which video technology was used for communication in the modern sense. 1.1 The birth and evolution of text “Text first appeared in the Phoenician area on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea around 3500 BC”.1 Ancient text originated from hieroglyphs and developed in two directions around 1500 BC: One developmental direction parted ways with hieroglyphs and was transformed into a phonetic character system; the other continued to improve and form the only modern hieroglyphic system in the world today. Interestingly, the initial motive for writing was accounting, not narration. The earliest writing system began in the Neolithic Age. The original writing form was not yet flexible enough to record people’s conversations and was only used for bookkeeping.2 The Phoenicians created a vibrant marine civilization and invented the phonetic alphabet that became the most important contribution to human civilization.

Text, pictures, audio, and video 75 Alphabetic writing facilitates the fast-paced cultivation of cultural talents, and the faster writing speed has produced a wide and profound impact on the development of human civilization. the alphabet – the phonetic alphabet – which nearly bears its name. That device would go on to revolutionize all subsequent culture via its impact on Greek philosophy, political theory, and science, as we will see below, as well as via its influence on religion. the Phoenician invention – the phonetic alphabet, the voices of absent people, the papyrus products of Byblos that we call books – would return in twice that time in a form that defied the local pyre and brought us the modern world.3 Alphabetic writing is an efficient tool to record sounds, while Chinese characters are symbols that stimulate the imagination of the inner human world. Chinese characters are our culture, reflecting our way of thinking and cultural concepts. They contain the idea of heaven and Earth and the principle of Yin (negative) and Yang (positive) and have image characteristics that can stimulate endless imagination. The combination of Chinese characters possesses extraordinary powers and Chinese characters can be combined to produce sentences and chapters. Chinese characters, with their own stories, philosophies, and meanings, are our tools in telling stories. The essence Chinese characters show is the unification of intentionality and formalization. The growth of Chinese characters from hieroglyphs to abstract conception is a brief part of history in the development of human natural intelligence – of which Chinese characters are an expression. The birth of Chinese characters started with observation, before developing into concrete images, aloof images, detached images, and non-images, and gradually moving towards abstraction in the longer course of evolution.4 Human beings first acquired language ability, before inventing text. In ancient times, human beings piled rocks and tied ropes to remember things. In about 10,000 BC, our ancestors invented symbolic text, which was the earliest text in China. At first, there were only three symbols, “○”, “△”, and “米”, while dozens of symbols were added later. Symbolic text was similar to a highly randomized password and not easy to spread, lasting for about 5,000 years. After that, pictographs began to be used on the stage of history. In pictographs, a mountain and a sun were drawn to represent the word “山” and “日” respectively, which were highly recognizable and easy to spread. Then, most of the pictographs were later transformed into hieroglyphs that were the beginning of real Chinese characters. However, the change of Chinese characters had not stopped its pace, with the carriers and fonts continuing to evolve. In the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC), there were oracle bone inscriptions engraved on tortoise shells and animal bones. Oracle bone inscriptions displayed calligraphy elements such as brushwork, diction, and the art of composition, but the traces of the original pictures were still more obvious. The 12 zodiacs in oracle bone inscriptions were clearly drawn with

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twelve animals to represent the corresponding Chinese characters. Even in contemporary times, they show similarities to those of ancient times, allowing us to admire the visual thinking of the ancients. “冰” (ice) was written as two bulging horizontal bars in oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions, as if crossing two greater than signs. This character described the state of water after freezing, and its shape was like an icicle formed by condensation of water vapour outside a window in severe winter. In the Western Zhou Dynasty (1045–771 BC), what began to be cast on a soaring number of bronze wares were called gold inscriptions, as bronze was also called gold at that time. This type of bronze ware was represented by Zhongding (bell tripods); thus gold inscriptions were also called Zhongding inscriptions. In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of Qin Dynasty, unified China from six separate kingdoms. The inconsistency of text in the different kingdoms brought inconvenience to national governance, so much so that no one could understand the imperial edict issued by Qin Shi Huang to Guilin, Guangxi Province. This resulted in Qin Shi Huang ordering Prime Minister Li Si and Zhao Gao to streamline the text used throughout Chine. This text was later called Xiao Zhuan (small seal script), also known as Qin Zhuan. Before that, the text was called Da Zhuan (great seal script), and broadly included bronze inscriptions, multiplexed bronze inscriptions, and oracle bone inscriptions and also, more specifically, referred to multiple bronze inscriptions and the inscriptions on drumshaped stone blocks. Generally speaking, compared with great seal script, small seal script had been simplified and the number of characters had increased a lot. At that time, the earliest official script – Qin clerical script – had also appeared. Qin clerical script was a milestone in the transformation of Chinese characters from ancient to modern, making writing easier and faster. By this period, the writing method of each Chinese character was basically determined. 1.2 Text as a new media technology The text that we are familiar with – or may even think of as old – was a new media technology at that time. Before text appeared, human beings were in an age of oral communication, and information exchange needed to be conducted faceto-face at a close range. The appearance of text shifted human interaction from communicating with established objects to broadcasting to uncertain objects. Changes would bring discomfort. As a new media technology, text also caused panic among early cultural elites. Peters analyzed and summarized a commonality between Socrates, Jesus, and Confucius. He noted that these three philosophers – who had a profound influence on human civilization – had the ability to read and write but all refused to apply their doctrines to text. They spread their ideas by oral means, giving up the possession of content and achieving success through generous dissemination.5 Confucius once said in The Book of Changes “The written characters are not the full exponent of speech, and speech is not the full expression of ideas”. Confucius believed it was difficult to fully express one’s idea solely through

Text, pictures, audio, and video 77 written expression, and pointed out the limitation of “language” in conveying meaning. Nan Huaijin, a leading spiritual scholar of contemporary China, commented more directly on the problems of text. Therefore, there is no language in the world which can fully express one’s will or thought. If we turn our language into written expression and further, into books, then its power will be undermined in expressing our thoughts.6 Any instance of oral communication was limited to the present moment, to close range in space, and to the participants, but text completely broke through these restrictions, emerging as a new media technology and releasing the great power to change the mode of human communication. Text allows communication to break through the limitations of time and space, and allows a new expansion of the subjects participating in the communication. The changes in the new media technology have also brought worries. “Facing the new media of writing, Plato was haunted by multiplication”, Whereas oral speech almost invariably occurs as a singular event was shared uniquely by the parties privy to the discussion, writing allows all manner of strange couplings: the distant influence the near, the dead speak to the living, and the many read what was intended for the few.7 The power of text as a new media technology at that time is no less than the impact that artificial intelligence brings to us today. Plato described Socrates’ criticism of text in Phaedrus. Socrates heard that there was a god named Theut who invented Egyptian texts. In addition, Theut also invented numbers, calculations, geometry, astronomy, checkers, and dice. Socrates believed that what was written was rigid and incapable of communicating with different objects in different ways and with appropriate content. Therefore, he believed text was harmful to memory and wisdom.8 Interestingly, Plato used text to record and write Socrates’ criticism of text, making Socrates’ criticism immortal. Socrates initiated a tradition of discussing new and the old media. The tradition has continued to many works today, such as Peters’s Speaking into the Air and Levinson’s The Soft Edge. Levinson expressed his ambition more directly, In that sense, this very volume is a continuation of a discussion initiated by Socrates. That we at the end of the twentieth century would be so keenly interested in communication environments, along lines similar to the ancient Greeks, is not surprising.9 Socrates and Plato were at a crossroads of old and new media. As the new media technology of the time, text had not yet overwhelmed the old media of oral communication. Perhaps they were in a beautiful age, one which was more conducive to the innovation of ideas.

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1.3 Text in Convergent Journalism presentation In the age of traditional media, text was the main expression tool for paper news media such as newspapers and magazines. Paper media has been hit hard when human enter the age of new media, while the prevailing viewpoints of “Age of Ice” and “Age of Extinction” have shocked the traditional media profession. In relation to the demise of paper media, the earliest statement I have identified is from Xia Mianzun, an educationist in modern China. On December 10, 24th Year of the Republic of China, Xia Mianzun gave a speech on What to Read on China Central Radio. Before speaking about text, he made some comments on the demise of paper media, specifically, the demise of books. Xia Mianzun said, “I think books will be wiped out one day”, and “You do not have to rely solely on books to acquire knowledge”. Imagine one day, wireless phones and movies are spreading fast into every single part of the world, and the materials to be broadcast are well prepared to meet the needs of all kinds of people, then books will be replaced and disappear eventually.10 In my humble opinion, Xia Mianzun’s remarks are based mainly on his imagination. It was hard for him to imagine such media tools as computers, mobile phones, and the Internet, though there were already electronic media like radios and films at that time. However, such a conclusion from Xia showed his foresight into the evolution of media. Judging from digital media’s current impact on paper media, some newspapers are indeed facing the critical point of “to be or not to be”. Therefore, the discussion by Xia Mianzun back then is still worth pondering. Perhaps we can understand that paper media and even paper books may not necessarily die out, but new media forms will continue to emerge. Provided there are better “media tools”, then outdated media tools may be replaced. Text is the main expression symbol of paper media. If paper media dies out, will text fade out of the media? Of course not. Text can work in all media, new media is no exception. What we need to understand clearly is that new digital media technologies challenge the old media forms and operating concepts rather than specific media elements or symbols. Newspapers are shocked by new media, while the text on newspapers is not. Although newspapers cannot survive without text, text would have a broader world without newspapers. Electronic writing has transformed printed writing, endowing written expression with new functions. “The conversion, re-creation and re-dissemination of text and its context have been extremely convenient”.11 Text is a typical documentary media element, and is strong enough to last a long period of time. Although it is an ancient media symbol, it is still full of youthful vitality in new digital media, with favour and attention being given to it instead of discrimination. Therefore, text is still the mode of expression that new media reports rely most heavily on. In the presentation of Convergent Journalism, text exhibits the following outstanding characteristics and advantages.

Text, pictures, audio, and video 79 1.3.1  Text    improves the efficacy of communication Compared with audio and video, text is more efficient in communicating news information. Even in the age of new media, with highly developed media technologies, text is still irreplaceable. Text is an abstract symbol, not as intimate as audio or as vivid as video. However, text is absolutely clear, maximizing the efficiency of text communication of news information. Users take the shortest duration when obtaining information by text: Users only need to take a few glances to catch the point. But if we use audio or video, then users have to listen to or watch it from the very beginning to the end. WeChat Moments adopts the form of “text + picture”, where text is the main form. Text improves communication efficiency and reduces time consumption. “If it is voice, it will take five times or above the time to read text”.12 Also, text is the basis for the communication of audio and video information, and audio and videos cannot be completely separated from the support of written expression. “Language is far more abstract than pictures. Its complexity, directivity, and order are unmatched by pictures”. “Text symbols ensure the speed and amount of information communication”. “Text makes TV pictures individual”.13 There are possibly multiple interpretations of TV pictures, where any given recipient will comprehend in many different ways. The addition of text will make the TV pictures clearly point to the designated meaning, so as to facilitate the formation of consensus. 1.3.2 Text gives users more initiative Users will be more active in textual communication. They will have a stronger sense of control in the process of news reception. This experience is difficult to be achieved with audio and video. The reception of audio and video news is mainly controlled by the disseminator, not by the recipient. Even though users can use a playback option in the current era, this behaviour will give a fractured reception, and is far less natural and comfortable than text scanning. Not as passive as audio and video reception, text reception is mainly controlled by users, giving them more freedom of reading control and is conducive to improving the efficiency and the experience of news reception. 1.3.3 Text is independent Compared with the acquisition and communication of audio and videos, text has the least dependence on media technology and media tools. In other words, it can be more independent. Recording audio and video files requires tools like recorders and cameras, as well as software editing and synthesis processes. Audio and videos are naturally more vivid and perceptual media elements, but they also have the strongest reliance on equipment and technology. Even the best sounds or scenes can never be collected and spread without the support of equipment.

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However, text is different. Text is an older expression symbol that requires no complicated external equipment or media technology. It relies more on the power of people rather than that of tools. The technology of text collection and presentation is more internalized in human subjectivity, which relies more on human brain processing than computer processing. From this perspective, text is the most independent media element, as well as the safest and most convenient form of media expression. Even if the most primitive tools are used without the support of electricity and electrical equipment, it is possible to use text symbols to collect and produce news products to complete communication tasks. For Convergent Journalism reports, the low dependence of text on external resources makes them perfect for the freedom of expression. 1.3.4 Text has an advantage Multiple media elements have been comprehensively adopted in Convergent Journalism, but the contents presented by different media elements do not have a natural convergence. Therefore, the question that convergent journalists have to think about is which media element has the biggest advantage and can connect the originally separate media elements to make them an organic whole. Compared with other media elements, text is the most useful for connecting diverse content. An obvious advantage is that it can flexibly connect the content presented by various media elements. Other media elements such as audio, videos, or pictures are hardly capable to complete such tasks with ease. Especially when facing diversified media elements in reporting, if there is no text linking the complex content, convergent journalism reports will be presented in a state of disunity. For Convergent Journalism reports, we must pay attention to the leading role of text, enabling the text to link the information presented by different media elements into an organic whole and guide users to receive. 1.4 The requirements of screen reading for texts There are various advantages of new digital media, but their damage to human health is indisputable. The convergence of media can easily mobilize various sensory stimulations, but it also depletes people’s health resources. Among all media invented and created by human beings, the most advanced new digital media might be the most harmful to human health. Southern Weekly, a popular Chinese weekly newspaper, has reported that blue light emitted by mobile phones and computer screens may cause damage and death of retinal photoreceptor cells, which may accelerate the ageing process. On October 17, 2019, researchers from the Department of Integrative Biology at Oregon State University published their latest research result in the journal Ageing and Mechanisms of Disease. Using fruit flies as research subjects, researchers revealed the adverse effects of blue light at the molecular level. They believed that blue light may cause brain nerve degeneration, damage

Text, pictures, audio, and video 81 retinal cells, affect exercise capacity, accelerate ageing, and reduce life span.14 Life is important! After I wrote here, I turned off my computer and took a rest. New digital media bring all kinds of media damage to human health. Once we are indulged in new digital media, it will inevitably cause damage to our eyes, cervical vertebrae, finger joints, brain nerves, and even the blood circulatory system. Reading text is likely to cause eye fatigue and even vision damage. The longer users’ eyes are fixed on text, the greater damage to users’ vision will be. “The electronic text that appears on the computer screen is fundamentally unstable”. “The restlessness is inherent to the technology of storing information”.15 When text migrates from paper to electronic screens, the combination of screens and text will aggravate the harm to eyesight, posing a greater threat to the health of users. It is much more laborious for users to read large pieces of text-based news on the screen than in newspapers. Therefore, simply copying the larger pieces of texts from newspapers to computer screens or handheld mobile terminals will bring only unpleasant feelings of users. E-screen reading refers to reading on mobile devices and computers, and is usually not suitable for word-by-word study. In contrast, paper-based reading is more profound and far less harmful than screen reading. When the text climbs on the electronic screen, new adjustments should be made to the processing of the text. Screen browsing means that it is extremely important to make online news easy to be scanned. There is a word game on the Internet that readers find interesting when they take a quick scan: The  shows  research  that  sequences  the  of  characters  not  may  affect  necessarily the reading. After you have reread this sentence, you will find that its sequence is in a mess. When quickly browsing the text, readers may be surprised that the disordered text can be read smoothly without miscomprehension. Of course, even so, we will never advocate for such a manner of disorderly expression. We use this extreme example to illustrate the scanning characteristics of online reading. The following tips are beneficial to aid user scanning: ·· ·· ·· ·· ··

Flexible use of subheadings, which is convenient for users in accessing information and fatigue reduction; Use one theme per paragraph, making it concise, comprehensive, and unconventional; Add blank lines to separate paragraphs, unsparing the interspace; Include abstracts for long reports, making readers understand the general content at the first glance; Sans-serif fonts like Arial – Helvetica for mobile communication – are more accessible. Avoid italics as it is difficult to recognize on display. Use underlined or bold text when highlighting the keynotes;

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··

Hyperlink preparation is important for long articles, so that users can click and read the parts of interest with ease.

One notable requirement of screen reading for text is conciseness, which means that less text is required. Conciseness is the essential component in news writing, while tedious lengthy sentences should be prohibited. Shorter sentences and paragraphs are required in news reporting, making it less intimidating to readers. The amount of text should be properly controlled in Convergent Journalism reports, where a single audio file or a piece of audio news should be broadcast at around 50 words, and at around 130 words in video, as much as possible. As for online news display, it should likely be kept at about 250 words. If the report exceeds one full screen, then it will be necessary to add pictures, audio and videos, and interactive settings, etc. Also, the length of text can be shortened to improve the user’s sense of achievement in reading. Table 4.1 shows the research results of American scholars,16 which can be used for reference when controlling the amount of text. Screen reading requires editors to increase the use of spaces, specifically to increase the line spacing and paragraph spacing. In this way, the white space between text blocks on the screen can be significantly increased, providing relaxation for the eyes. Readers may feel like speed reading, thus acquiring a larger degree of psychological satisfaction. The blank spaces on the screen reduce the pressure brought by text, give users a chance to rest, and increase the comfort of reading. The layout of paper media should also pay attention to the use of blank space. However, this kind of white space is mostly useful in the separation of articles, and is rarely used to expand paragraph spacing and text line spacing. With limited newspaper layout resources, a blank page represents an increase in production costs, which means relinquishing economic gains. However, there are no such concerns for online media, where the cost of page space is almost negligible. As long as it is beneficial to users and the communication is effective, there is no need to restrict the use of white space. In order to overcome the inherent shortcomings of reading text on screen, the use of blank space will become an inevitable choice. While we raise bold utilization, we should also adhere to the specifications. The smaller the screen is, the more pressured readers will feel. Therefore, the use of space is becoming more urgent and necessary.

Table 4.1 Control of text volume Broadcast (Audio) Units of second measurement Typical length 20 seconds Typical word count 50 words

TV (Videos)

Newspapers

The Internet

second

Column size

Full screen

90 seconds 130 words

12 column inches 400 words

1 full screen 250 words

Text, pictures, audio, and video 83 The screen display mode is also worth considering. Unlike computer or mobile phone displays, e-book readers generally adopt E-ink Pearl displays, for example, in Kindle e-readers. The E-ink display visually simulates paper, minimizing the extent of damage. Users will not feel uncomfortable even when reading a long report, thus it is best for text news reading. However, this kind of screen is not suitable for the presentation of multi-media elements due to an inherent flaw. If readers are able to switch between the E-ink display and the LED display, choosing E-ink when reading large blocks of text, then this display mode will undoubtedly benefit users’ health, and bring solutions for text reading difficulties on screen. 1.5 Convergence with other visual elements With the help of text, users can achieve a clear, accurate, and unified understanding of other visual elements, which need to be converged with text. Pictures and videos are good at displaying visuals, rather than clear and profound information transmission, because it can be ambiguous which makes the information dissemination less specific. In contrast, text has a very logical expressive power, helping to eliminate the ambiguity of pictures. Therefore, some basic information of pictures or videos, even other profound and abstract information, cannot be separated from the text to be clearly defined and expressed. As a media element focusing on vision, the combination of other visual elements should be taken into consideration in Convergent Journalism. Specifically, we should focus on the organic combination of text with visual elements such as pictures, videos, and animations to form a natural extended reading effect. Convergent Journalism is not the bags-of-words of multiple media elements. Simple stacking is quite superficial, which lacks the soul of Convergent Journalism and the spiritual guidance. It only has certain physical changes which are scattered in disorder, and deviates from the essence of convergence. Convergent Journalism is a chemical reaction of the use of multiple media elements, which emphasizes the convergence of multiple media elements into an organic whole. Traditional news writing knowledge cannot be simply used to guide the use of text, and text writing cannot be separated from other media elements, especially visual elements. Combining text with other visual elements will form an overall reporting advantage. In this way, it can form news reports into a more rounded experience, bringing pleasing effects to the user, and strengthening news communication effects for multiple news resources. 1.5.1 The convergence of text and pictures Illustrated news from authoritative sources includes people’s photos and identity text descriptions. If it is linked to a detailed description page with hyperlinks, when the user clicks on the link, a related page will pop up. After reading, the page will return to the original window without blocking the original reading. Source pictures and identity text descriptions are displayed next to the report theme, forming a pattern of “text reports-source pictures and descriptions”. News

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facts will be described through text reports in detail, while pictures and text descriptions of relevant news sources are put next to the corresponding text. If interested, users can click it for further reading. In such an arrangement, pictures and text can become an organic whole, and the picture link extends the text reports, which is naturally appropriate. 1.5.2 The convergence of text and videos The relevant text reports and videos are processed closely, making them entirely convergent. When the video is not yet playing, the video window presents a visually powerful picture with a text caption. The static text title on the video window screen comes from the text report section next to the video. The text title connects the video with the text report, converging the visual aspect and the contextual aspect. The text report section performs as a link on the key sentences of the video content. You can adjust the background colour to echo the static video content, without making it excessively prominent, so as to coordinate the visual elements. 1.5.3  The    convergence of text and special effect images Instead of visual elements obtained through photography and videos, special effect images refer to pictures or video works produced by a computer post-production, such as news simulation maps, animations, and road maps. The application of special effect images is conducive to vividly analyzing the process and reasons behind the news; thus, users can intuitively see the changes and progress of news, and understand overviews and details accurately. However, presenting images alone is not enough. Without text descriptions, special effect images will become incomprehensible and key points will be hindered. Text makes the incomprehensible points clear at a glance, which improves the efficiency and accuracy of visual communication. Therefore, users can receive news information more clearly and accurately. Being part of the special effect images, text is also converged: The text on the images merges them with the textual report section. 1.6 The most extensive material collection The collection of audio and video materials relies mainly on recording and photography equipment. Compared with the single collection approach of audio and video materials, ways of text materials collection are much more extensive. They can mobilize almost all the collection equipment, and they have the most extensive collection methods and channels. Direct text material collection includes the following seven methods. The first is memory. Reporters memorize relevant information in their heads, and then organize it into text materials. The second is notetaking, which is a traditional way of written material collection relying on manual recording and copying. Although

Text, pictures, audio, and video 85 it seems old fashioned, notes and transcripts are still valuable and are basic skills for reporters. The third is document scanning. Text symbols on a document are scanned through a scanner or a scanning pen to generate electronic information, which can be stored on a computer or device. The fourth is voice input. This refers to reading the text aloud, converting it into text input and storing it in the corresponding software. The fifth is keyboard logging. People use the keyboard to input text materials and store them in a computer. The sixth is using the stylus instead of the key when logging into the computer. The seventh is photographing or recording via camera so as to visually collect materials. Indirect methods of text material collection include audio and video recording, that is, recording audio and videos during news interviews, and describing relevant information in text at later stages. What is collected by audio and video recording is usually not direct text material, but it can be converted into text form through later writing processing. In actual news interviews, even if for a text-only report it is necessary to record interview materials with the help of audio and video technology. Audio and videos have the advantage of accurate recording. As far as capturing direct speech, there is no recording method more accurate than audio and videos. It seems authentic if newspaper reports were restated based on memory or notes, quoting direct speech. However, these transcriptions may shame many journalists if checked with audio recordings. Both direct and indirect collections of text materials cannot allow the processing of writing to move away from human intelligence. Only through the processing of writing technology can the text material become truly organized, and only when reporters begin writing can the text material have actual value. 1.7   Artificial intelligence replaces human production Text writing was originally an activity of human intelligence, but the emergence of news robots has subverted this common sense. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human thinking and information process by computer technology. With the development of artificial intelligence, robot writing has become a powerful content production force. Starting with text writing, and the application of artificial intelligence in the field of news, a variety of news robots have been developed and upgraded, which has had a profound impact on the wider range of news industry. 1.7.1 The energy of news writing robots Computer technology has bright prospects in automatically generating news reports, which is worth exploring. The automatic news generation system, also known as the news writing robot, can receive structured information such as crime data, sports event data, and disaster data, and quickly generate news manuscripts in correspondence. The automatic news generation system is essentially a computer programme specially developed for news reports, which sets a news report template in advance. When it receives structured information data, the relevant

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data will be automatically assigned to the corresponding position of the news report template, thereby automatically generating news manuscripts. A news report automatically generated by the computer is stylized, whose internal structure is pre-set, where received information data consists of its main changes. The Los Angeles Times is a pioneer in the development of automatic news generation technology. The reporter and programmer Ken Schwencke programmed an automatic news generation system, which was connected to the US Geological Survey’s computer system. The system can receive seismic data into the pre-prepared news template in advance to generate a manuscript, and the report can be published on the web in only three minutes.17 The following earthquake report is a manuscript generated by an automatic news generation system, signed by Ken Schwencke. Checking the news reports about the earthquake on The Los Angeles Times website, you can see more articles by Ken Schwencke. The presentation structure of these reports is almost always identical, except that the earthquake-specific information is replaced, such as magnitude, place name, and time: Earthquake: 4.7 quake strikes near Lone Pine A shallow magnitude 4.7 earthquake was reported Monday morning 31 miles from Lone Pine, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 5:39 a.m. PST near the surface. According to the USGS, the epicenter was 41 miles from Ridgecrest, 53 miles from Porterville and 57 miles from Lindsay. In the past 10 days, there have been no earthquakes magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby. This information comes from the USGS Earthquake Notification Service, and this post was created by an algorithm written by the author.18 The Associated Press announced it would work with technology company Automated Insight from July 2014, using automatic writing software to complete financial report news writing tasks. Positioned as an enterprise that provides personalized narrative services based on big data, Automated Insight’s algorithms can convert raw financial data into news reports and enhance their readability. As predicted by the Associated Press, 4,400 financial report news could be produced every quarter using Automated Insight’s automatic writing software by the end of 2014. The manuscripts usually have words count from 150 to 300.19 On September 10, 2015, Tencent Finance released a piece called “August CPI Rose by 2.0% Year-on-year, setting a New 12-month Peak” presented by the automatic news generation system. The end of the article stated, Article source: Dreamwriter, the automatic news writing robot developed by Tencent Finance. Dreamwriter is able to generate manuscripts automatically in the first time through its algorithm, perform output analysis and judgment instantaneously, and deliver important information and interpretation to users within one minute.20

Text, pictures, audio, and video 87 One month later, on October 14, Dreamwriter launched multiple reports including the “Essentials version”, “people’s livelihood version”, and “research version” when reporting the CPI alteration in September. The writing technique is further optimized and readability is enhanced.21 “Essentials version” has only 276 words, which is convenient for readers to scan. The “livelihood version” adds Micro-blog information capture”. “Micro-blog netizen Aiyinjie said, ‘The statistics department is strongly requested to count 38 CNY (5.55 USD) per shrimp into the CPI index’”.22 The writing robot did not forget to ridicule the “Pricey Prawn” incident that occurred in Qingdao on October 4, intending to bring a human touch to the robot news. The “research version” believed, “CPI growth fell in September, and the monetary policy may remain loose”, which showed the analysis ability of the artificial intelligence. 1.7.2 From information screening to live broadcasting In addition to writing, computer technologies (robots) also perform well in screening information, automatic editing and even live programmes. A ten-person team led by a 17-year-old British teenager Nick D’Aloisio successfully developed the mobile news reader Summly, launched in December 2011. Summly provides users with the most basic and critical news information in its simplest form to save time. In the age of content overflow, the value of Summly is obvious for saving users’ valuable time. What is even more worthy of our attention is the concept and trend that grew from Summly. That is, technology replaces the manual expression or processing of news content. When an editor doesn’t work well in the future, we may kindly remind him that he might be replaced by computer technology, which can perform better in processing content. Summly uses semantic analysis algorithms to streamline news content. The streamlined manuscript contains news headlines and content with no more than 400 words. Users can read a news article in one or two minutes and understand the core information. Without editors for word processing, news enrichment technology can extract news content to a fairly accurate level, which is surprising. After quickly browsing the news, users can click the link to read the full text, or share the content with friends. Wouldn’t you be shocked if you were a writer? If a writer does master writing skills, then he is still likely defeated by software. Think about it, where will the value of humanity be seen? The news app Circa is also worthy of note. It can break news into several parts, each part presenting a key point. The presentation of the core content basically exceeds two screens. If users want to know the source, they can simply click the original link. Also, if users are interested in the latest update of a certain piece of news, they can add this news to the “follow list”. When the latest update of this news appears, Circa will promptly remind users. The news ecosystem is evolving, from traditional media, news websites, blogs to Micro-blog, and even more flexible news presentation methods represented by BuzzFeed and Reddit. Articles are no longer the only elements of

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Text, pictures, audio, and video news. The collection, decomposition, reorganization, and update of information are exploring the value of news in another dimension.23

Robot Linda has shown some “aggressive behaviour”. Linda, a robot developed by the Automatic Control System Research Center of Lincoln University, could talk freely with humans to a certain extent. On September 14, 2015, the BBC morning live programme, The Breakfast Show, invited Linda to discuss the topic of artificial intelligence. However, at the end of the programme, the robot suddenly mispronounced “thank you” as an indecent vocabulary. The host had to compensate with a joke, “At this moment, what I want to say to you is, go back to your box!”24 1.7.3 The continuous evolution of news robots Artificial intelligence is a human creation. If there was no humanity, there would be no artificial intelligence. With the continuous development of artificial intelligence, news robots are further evolving and improving. The application of artificial intelligence in news communication is conducive to liberating journalists from heavy workloads. News robots have important value in many aspects such as news collection, editing, processing, presentation, and distribution. They can replace manual labour and greatly reduce the workload of journalists. Adding subtitles to a video is a quite heavy task, which can now be done by subtitle generation robots. It can save the trouble of making subtitle generation robots listen to the actual sound and add subtitles. Live editing robots can automatically encapsulate the titles and credits, making livestreaming editing fast and convenient. News anchor robots are online 24/7, waiting to broadcast news at any time. Professional skills are required to make data into animation videos, while data news robots can generate data animation videos from Excel sheets uploaded by users, simplifying the production of data animation videos. From the perspective of improving the efficiency of news work and reducing the burden, we should be open to the development of artificial intelligence technology and news robots. The evolution of news robots keeps going. In June 2017, Xinhua News Agency and Alibaba Group invested and established Xinhua Zhiyun Technology Co., Ltd. Xinhua Zhiyun is a big-data-driven artificial intelligence in the process of continuous development. Artificial intelligence in the news media technology company is committed to the research and development and application of media intelligence. Xinhua Zhiyun released China’s first media artificial intelligence platform “Media Brain” on December 26, 2017, and launched Media Brain: MAGIC Short Video Intelligent Production Platform on December 27, 2018. The year 2019 was the first year for the large-scale implementation of artificial intelligence. On August 26 of this year, Xinhua Zhiyun launched the “First Echelon of Intelligent News Robots” and released 25 self-developed media robots.25 Among the 25 media robots, there are eight robots that help journalists “collect” news resources, namely emergency recognition robots, face tracking robots, safety verification robots, text recognition robots, data indexing robots, content handling robots, multi-channel publishing robots, and hotspot robots. There are 17 media robots that help newsmen

Text, pictures, audio, and video 89 “process” news resources, namely intelligent conversation robots, subtitle generation robots, intelligent dubbing robots, video packaging robots, video anti-shake robots, virtual anchors robots, data news robots, live-editing robots, data financial robots, film and television quick-cutting robots, sports reporting robots, conference reporting robots, extremely fast rendering robots, user portrait robots, virtual advertising robots, one-click to video robots, and video-to-GIF robots.26 The emergence of news robots may bring anxiety to journalists. This anxiety mainly comes from the worry of job loss. However, it is ineffective and unnecessary to suffer from imaginary fears. The trend in developing artificial intelligence technology is unstoppable. The news robots still need to be improved, which obviously boosts the development of news work. At the same time, text writing is still the core professional skill for human journalists. In terms of highlighting humanity and in-depth investigation and interpretation, human writing still has irreplaceable values. Artificial intelligence is designed to serve the people; therefore, journalists should shift their focus from worrying to human–machine collaboration. Neither artificial intelligence nor human intelligence will make intelligent communication play its most effective role. The combination of artificial intelligence and human intelligence – the integration of human–machine intelligence – is the main direction of the development of intelligent communication.27 We still need to consolidate our professional knowledge in journalism and improve our news reporting and writing skills. Otherwise, we will waste our skills, falling behind the computer. At the same time, we need to use the power of news robots to maximize the release of integrated news productivity and provide users with high-quality news products more efficiently.

2 Pictures Although pictures are static images, their impact is sometimes stronger than that of motion graphics. The picture elements in the Convergent Journalism reports mainly include news photos, news charts and news cartoons. “News pictures are no longer a vassal of text. On the contrary, they begin to play an equally important role as text”.28 Pictures can visually display news information and enhance the reality and credibility of news, making news comprehensible and interesting. In addition, pictures naturally come with the social function of evoking memories and eliciting topics, which are very “shareable”. “Visual information is born for sharing”.29 With such powerful functions, pictures are naturally important in Convergent Journalism reports. 2.1 News photos In the new media environment, news photos are still the important media elements to effectively present information and attract users. At around 11.30 pm on August 12, 2015, a huge explosion occurred in the hazards warehouse of Ruihai Company in Binhai New Area, Tianjin. On August 14,

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He Guanxin, a young photographer from Beijing Evening, published a Chinese graphic report “How Far Can I Go? And How Much Can I Do?” on the WeChat official account X-ceanido. The graphic report was widely circulated and reprinted in WeChat Moments, which was estimated to have been read more than ten million times. Later, this graphic report on the WeChat official account was forcibly deleted. On August 18, the official account had to reissue the English version of the report, hoping it would not be deleted. However, the original Chinese version had been already widely reprinted in other official accounts and blogs on the Internet. After the deletion of a graphic report, there emerged more graphic reports elsewhere on the Internet. Eventually, Tianjin’s blockade failed, resulting in a suspicion of free speech suppression. This action didn’t result in beautifying its own image, but in vilifying the image of the government. The management of Beijing Daily quickly decided to commend He Guanxin. Also, the grade-1978 journalist of Renmin University of China raised 100,000 RMB (1,465 USD) to reward and pay tribute to him. One of the key reasons for such a big impact from “How Far Can I Go? And How Much Can I Do?” is that the reporters took a large number of live pictures. These first-hand photos were finally presented to the world only after that the reporters risked their lives and broke through police blockades, interrogations, and searches. These photos are very precious and shocking to meet people’s demand for situational information of the explosion accident. It is not difficult to see the important role of news photos in new media communication. 2.1.1 Simpler photography In the age of film cameras, photography was regarded as a luxury and professional activity with technical barriers and many challenges. It was often enviable to have an SLR camera and acquire photography technology. The main skills of photography are nothing more than holding the camera steady, controlling the shutter speed, and adjusting the aperture size for proper exposure, accurate focus, reasonable composition, and pressing the shutter while holding your breath. These technologies are enough for photography students to study during the whole college days. However, the basics of photography can be mastered within one single day through the teaching and learning of amateurs. In the age of film cameras, most people kept away from photography because of the expensive shooting costs and cumbersome operations such as installing the film, exposing, focusing, pressing the shutter, taking out the film, printing, etc. The advent and popularization of digital photographic technology had completely changed the situation. In 1981, Sony Corporation took the lead in launching a digital camera. In the early 1990s, digital cameras entered the Chinese news industry. In 1993, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily took the lead in using digital cameras in domestic news media. In 1995, Xinhua News Agency began trials of digital cameras. Before Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, Xinhua News Agency spent two million RMB (146.483 USD) to purchase ten digital cameras,30 which were very costly.

Text, pictures, audio, and video 91 With the popularization of digital cameras, photography has truly entered the homes of citizens. At the same time, a large number of citizen photographers emerged. Digital photographic equipment makes everything simpler; it is no longer a wall for ordinary people. It is common for amateurs to use professionalgrade digital SLR cameras. But compared with SLR cameras, pocket cameras are more popular among citizens. Pocket cameras have their own advantages like compactness, portability, and the good image quality. In addition to SLR cameras and pocket cameras, mobile phones with camera functions have also become powerful photographic equipment. The trend of digital photography indicates that more and more products will be equipped with photography functions, such as Google Project Glass, smartwatches, etc. UAVs have provided superior support to digital photography, providing a new perspective that could never be seen before. They can be used for both high-altitude aerial photography and on-ground shooting. They can take static photos and dynamic videos, helping to generate impactful visual materials. They have also become social media tools. The news gathered by UAVs may benefit the timely social sharing of information. 2.1.2 Powerful development of mobile photography Digital cameras are facing the impact of mobile phones with photography and video functions. Mobile phones may even replace digital cameras, which is by no means alarmist. The integration of function of mobile phones has gone far beyond previous imagination. The image quality of mobile photography is amazing, no longer inferior to a digital camera. Xiaomi, a Chinese brand mobile phone, can reach 13 megapixels with its camera lens, which enables users to take clear pictures and meet daily needs in most cases. More importantly, mobile phones are now almost a part of the human body, and are unlikely to be overtaken by any other media at present and for a long time in the future. The mobile phone itself is often connected to the Internet, which makes it the best converged online medium. Users can quickly publish pictures online after taking them, which makes mobile phones more convenient than many digital cameras. If ordinary mobile phones cannot meet the users’ requirements for higher quality photography, there are professional camera phones to be chosen from. In 2013, Samsung launched the Galaxy S4 Zoom, where a camera lens was integrated perfectly into a mobile phone. It looked like a mobile phone from the back and a camera from the front. The Galaxy S4 Zoom was equipped with a 10× optical zoom lens and a 1/2.3-inch digital camera with a photo-sensitive element, which made it the best camera phone among users. Also, it could meet the requirements for highquality photography and device portability at the same time, as shown in Figure 4.1. Media presses used to equip photographers with SLR digital cameras which had advantages in image quality and shooting specific scenes, but they now lag behind mobile phones in terms of wireless sharing. “Wireless sharing applications

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Figure 4.1 The integration of mobile phone and camera: Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom

will eventually be inseparable from images”.31 Digital cameras, including SLRs and EVFs,32 must catch up on smart sharing in time, which is especially important for journalists. After pictures are taken on an SLR camera, a data cable is required to connect to a computer to download pictures, which brings obstacles to the timely sharing and release of news pictures. Such SLR cameras are no longer capable of meeting the current requirements of journalism. The integration of digital camera functions into mobile phones is valuable for camera evolution, and such digital cameras have adapted to the requirements of convenient news release. The Galaxy NX launched by Samsung was an excellent case of camera integration with mobile phone functions. Galaxy NX could be truly online at any time with APS-C photosensitive element, 20.3 effective megapixels, touch screen, Android operation system in the fuselage, the support of 4G LTE network, and the SIM card. A photographer can share and publish the captured pictures wirelessly at any time, as shown in Figure 4.2. Mobile photography is attracting more and more attention and application in news production practice, which even affects the jobs of full-time photojournalists. As early as 2005, Parker Polidor established Cell Journalist, a newsfeed service agency for mobile journalists in Tennessee, USA.33 On February 7, 2011, the POYi Award was given to mobile phone photography work for the first time, which was A Grunt’s Life taken by Damon Winter with iPhone and Hipstamatic software from The New York Times. There were

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Figure 4.2 Wireless EVF camera Galaxy NX

Figure 4.3 The award-winning mobile photography A Grunt’s Life told daily life stories of the US military in Afghanistan

12 pictures that described the daily life of the US military in Afghanistan, ranking third place in the POYi feature picture story newspaper, as shown in Figure 4.3. POYi is one of the most authoritative and important photojournalism competitions in the world, well known for its rigorous selection and professionalism. This award for mobile photography work has shocked the photojournalism industry.34 In the spring of 2012, many reporters used mobile photography for reporting the Syrian war.35 On May 30, 2013, Chicago Sun-Times disbanded the entire photography department. At the same time, 28 full-time photographers, including Pulitzer

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Prize winner John H. White, were dismissed.36 Chicago Sun-Times planned to train journalists to use the iPhone to take photos and videos rather than hiring full-time photojournalists.37 Therefore, the versatility of photojournalists became an inevitable requirement. 2.1.3 Universal photography After entering the age of convergence media, digital cameras have changed from luxuries to ordinary toys for ordinary people, while the popularization of mobile phones, especially the promotion and popularization of mobile camera technology, has dramatically expanded the source of news photos. The production of news photos has become a collective activity of national carnival. In addition to photojournalists, journalists and ordinary citizens have also become news photos providers. Through the observation of new media, we can find that the subject matter of ordinary citizen photography is mainly concentrated in the following areas. (1) Love (such as a picture of a dinner prepared by a lover for himself); (2) Children; (3) Emergencies; (4) Rescue stories; (5) Foreign population and local residents; (6) Cities, villages and their sights; (7) Tourism and scenery; (8) Food and health; (9) Flowers, animals, and beautiful pictures; (10) Personal interests and works (such as calligraphy or cross-stitch pictures). Ordinary citizen photography possesses the following five typical characteristics: (1) Right of speech: Using social media as their own microphones, citizens enjoy having the right to speak. They use photography as a discourse tool, and complete the story in the process of sharing photos. (2) Record: Personal experience and data are recorded and saved through photography. Through the sharing function of new media, the collection of photo materials from other sources is completed. (3) Non-professional: Citizen photography is obviously non-professional. Most of the photographic works are based on citizens’ personal understanding of photography technology and art, and shot through personal preferences and emotions. (4) Sharing: Pictures are naturally shareable, and usually used to share or show off. However, it is important to be mindful of excessive use of photo sharing because “showing-off is terrible”. (5) Colour: Most of the photos taken with digital technology are in colour. It is becoming rarer for citizen photography to use black and white or another monochrome.

Text, pictures, audio, and video 95 2.1.4 The integration of photographic picture Pictures with sharp focus, proper exposure, perfect composition, and visual impact are welcome, of course. However, news photos may have defects if there are some imperfect elements such as mediocre equipment, instantaneous jittery shutter, and improper exposure control. In this circumstance, we need to accept the second best, which is better than no photos. This is an embodiment of the pursuit of journalistic style, which is a pursuit of practical value rather than that of artistic value. Although often in low quality, pictures taken by mobile phones from some netizens can record the news scene. It is sometimes difficult for professional reporters to appear at the scene of the incident on time. As time goes by, the photos provided by these amateurs will be more valuable. Of course, if we can, we still hope to provide photographic works with good news and imagery. News tells stories about people, so there should be people in good news photos feature “people” photos. Good news photos should be natural and impactful. In addition, text descriptions should be written for the photos so that they and the text complement each other. You can directly describe the picture in one sentence, and then tell the news content and news background. The text description of the photo should clearly state the information that the image cannot express, which adds a finishing touch and helps users gain a clear understanding. It is necessary to pay attention to the picture convergence of photojournalism and enhance the convergence of pictures. Convergence has aesthetic significance, which helps to explore the beauty connotation of news photos. Converged pictures have the directness and implied directionality of selecting records. Journalists should strive to discover the internal logical relationship among a photo’s characters’ expressions, behaviours, and the scenes they are in. “Let the characters’ looks and behaviors be converged with the news scenes and expressed in the pictures”.38 It is also necessary to improve the level of picture convergence of photojournalism, and to converge documentary beauty and artistic beauty into photojournalism. The truthful and objective principles of news reporting should be followed, and the skills of visual art should be referred to appropriately. 2.1.5 Refusing to show cruelty Compared with charts and cartoons, the ethical issues of using news photos are more prominent. As a form of mass communication, news photos should avoid horror and disgust. Close-up photos of cruelty, blood, dead bodies, and physical disabilities should be prohibited. Other mild images with symbolic meaning could be used to replace these often offensive pictures. If it is difficult to judge whether a photo is suitable for publication, text can also be used to remind the user that the following screen may cause discomfort. Then the user can make a judgment on whether to watch it. Pornographic or obscene photos should be considered forbidden. Unless for artistic performance, nude photos should generally not be published.

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But often, when we open a webpage, some pictures that pop up are inappropriate. “Shanghai Funeral Home Launches ‘Bath for the Deceased’ Service to Let Them Pass Away in Beauty”39 reports how a funeral home in Shanghai puts makeup on a corpse in a picture slide show. When the page opens, people will first see a picture of a corpse lying there, while the other photos are those of service personnel trimming nails and putting on shoes for the corpse. On the one hand, publishing such photos will easily cause people’s discomfort. On the other hand, it does not fully respect the deceased. A person’s right hand was chopped off by a machine in Changde, Hunan. Xiangya Hospital of Central South University put the severed hand on the man’s ankle, then the hand was successfully resurrected. “The severed hand on the ankle” was a visual article by many media, which stimulated viewers’ nerves again. The photo report “Successful Replantation of Severed Hand on Ankle for One Month”40 on Sohu.com was posted with a little attention given to the ethical issues of the pictures. A warning slide was set up to remind readers before the close-up picture of “The severed hand on the ankle”, with the text “Editor’s Note: The following pictures may cause discomfort”. The method showed that the editors of Sohu.com were aware of the ethical issues of the pictures. 2.2 News chart News charts are the visual news forms that visually display facts using numbers, text, graphics, and even photos and cartoons. These forms mainly include statistical charts, news maps, news simulation diagrams, and composite charts. The functional advantages of news charts are mainly the integration and visualization of information. The news chart embodies the perfect unity of logical thinking and imagination. It flexibly uses a variety of visual elements to organically combine scattered data and information to display news facts in an efficient, vivid, and refined manner. 2.2.1 Statistical charts In the strictest sense, statistical charts can be divided into statistical graphs and lists. Statistical graphs are diagrams that visualize statistical results based on data collection, summary, and calculation analysis, and they include bar graphs, pie charts, line charts, histograms, scatter graphs, stem-and-leaf displays, box plots, and other categories. Although statistical graphs are more vivid in information display, not all statistical graphs are easy to be understood. Some statistical graphs still require certain statistical expertise for readers to extract the information smoothly. It is difficult for a reader who has no knowledge of statistical graphics to easily understand statistical graphs such as stem-and-leaf displays and box plots. Therefore, it makes sense that certain statistical graphs are usually used in news reports, while others are avoided. The bar graphs, pie charts, and line charts in statistical graphs are the easiest to be understood, which usually do not require the readers to have a

Text, pictures, audio, and video 97 background in statistical expertise. Also, these three graphs are the most used in news reports. In addition, journalists are more familiar with these three graphs as they are easily understood. They are also more likely to be favoured by journalists and editors. Pure statistical lists are drawn only by using text and numbers to display information, which present a strong data integration capability. After an effective summary, analysis, and calculation of huge data, the most valuable statistical results are displayed. The most valuable information is highly concentrated in a statistical list, which maximizes the efficiency of information display. The statistical table is quite strong in integration ability, but its visualization ability is relatively weaker. At least, it is not as intuitive as the statistical graph. Pure statistical lists rely entirely on numbers and words to display information, without resorting to visual elements of thinking in images. In this way, statistical lists may appear obscure, relying more on readers’ logical thinking to interpret information. In order to enhance the vividness of statistical charts, cartographers can further visualize the statistical charts, like adding clip arts, photos, and other visual elements. Also, statistical charts directly output by the statistical software can be further composed, presenting them more vivid and enhancing their receptivity. 2.2.2 News maps Global Mapping from DXY,41 a pandemic map from a medical knowledge-sharing website, was launched on January 21, 2020, then was viewed by more than four billion times on June 16. Instead of using large sections of text, Global Mapping uses charts and maps to convey information. Users can click on a province on the map to get specific data of the place, and they can continue to click for details, which are directly presented. In addition to interaction, the map uses different colours to indicate the number of confirmed cases in the local area, and users can feel the severity of the pandemic in the area through the shade of colour. The product of DXY is a successful case of news curation, which can be converted between Chinese and English. It provides columns like “domestic pandemic data”, “global pandemic data”, “domestic pandemic map”, “domestic pandemic trend”, “foreign pandemic trend”, “real-time report”, “rumor rejection and personal protection” and “disease knowledge”. DXY pays attention to the credibility and authority of information sources. The data mainly comes from the public data of the National Health Commission, the provincial and municipal health commissions, and the provincial and municipal governments. Hong Kong SAR’s data sources from the Department of Health of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Macao’s data sources from Macao Special Administrative Region Government, Taiwan’s data sources from Central Epidemic Command Center, and overseas data sources from various overseas official websites.42 Global Mapping implements a very locally relevant news curation, where data collected through global networks are presented to users after screening and integration (see Figure 4.4). News maps are used to show the geographical location of news facts and related information points. “The scale of news maps may not be as accurate as

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Figure 4.4 “Global Mapping” of DXY

standard maps. However, the important locations mentioned in the news should be highlighted. And the presentation of the news map is more flexible”.43 News maps are often used to report on traffic accidents, disasters, wars, diplomatic events, criminal cases, and urban and rural construction. For news reports where geographical factors are very important, the use of maps can help users clearly understand the location of the facts. If you spend more time relying on text and other media elements instead of news maps, you may not be able to make users understand the geographical position relevant to those facts, let alone text and audio. Videos can display specific geographic environments, however, for a larger geographic environment, it is still difficult to show a clear and grand geographic relationship without the help of a reduced map. Baidu Maps and Google Maps can be utilized. Users can enter the name of the location in the search box, select the appropriate location area and scale to make and intercept specific news map screens. 2.2.3 News simulation diagrams News simulation pictures are made with 3D graphics software based on known information when news photos or images are not available. The diagrams play a

Text, pictures, audio, and video 99 substitute role for news photos, and are mostly used for reports on aviation, biology, medicine, science and technology, military, crime, and other content. 3D virtual simulation technology was acquired by the US military in the 1960s. At the end of the 1980s, this technology began to transfer from fighter pilot training, aerospace, and other military fields to film and television animation, machinery manufacturing, architectural design, and news reporting. In the mid-1990s, Zhang Xiangchun, the art editor of Southern Weekly known as the “first person in domestic news simulation”, started the research and exploration of news simulation diagrams, which had a certain impact in the industry. The production of news simulation diagrams requires early collection of information. However, this collection differs from that of ordinary news interviews which focus on collecting event information, direct quotations, vivid details, etc. The type of interview needs to master enough information such as terrain, landforms, distances, and routes to draw a more accurate schematic diagram. Also, the requirements of conciseness and clarity should be noted to the production of news simulation diagrams. “Construction and composition must be conducted around the central event. If the center is not clear, it will be loose”.44 Therefore, news simulation diagrams must focus closely on key news facts, and concentrate on clearly showing their context. 2.2.4 Composite charts Composite charts are visual new pieces that integrate photos, cartoons, and charts, and they combine visual elements such as photos, text, numbers, graphics, lines, and cartoons. Compared with simple news photos, news cartoons, and other news charts, composite charts use the richest visual elements. The production is relatively complex, and the amount of information is more intensive. Composite charts interpret news information vividly by mobilizing the most extensive visual elements of the composite processing. Composite charts have strong integration and interaction capabilities. For example, NetEase cleverly designed such a composite chart for the 2014 Brazil World Cup report, as shown in Figure 4.5. This composite chart gathered all the information about the top 32 group schedules,45 such as match dates, competition venues, groups and schedules, and competition teams, and the chart was highly interactive. In this way, users could access relevant information more easily. When the user dragged the cursor to move around the circular chart, the relevant match game information was displayed in the centre. Liu Tienan, a former CCP member and deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, was revealed to be involved in fostering mistresses and a series of pornographic activities. Also, he was found to have 19 million Australian dollars in deposits, more than 9 kilograms of gold bars and 25 rare diamonds. Tencent Newspedia carried out a composite chart report “How much money Liu Tienan Embezzled”46, analyzing Liu Tienan’s corruption of more than 870 million RMB (127,288,724 USD), as shown in Figure 4.6.

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Figure 4.5 NetEase’s “Brazil World Cup Top 32 Group Schedule”

The main body of the chart was divided into three parts. The first was that “Liu was exposed to property of about 870,230 million RMB”, which was converted by a formula. The second was that “Liu Tienan can earn 870 million RMB only after working in 8,529 years”. By calculating Liu Tienan’s basic salary, allowance, bonus, and monthly salary, we can find that it will take 8,529 years for him to accumulate such a figure. Therefore, Liu Tienan should have started working in 6516 BC until 2013 to complete this task, which greatly satirized the abnormality and illegality of his property source. The third was that “How much is 800 million RMB in property”, which was a calculation for everyone. For example, according to the annual income of US President Obama and his wife of about 350,000 USD (2.4 million RMB), it would take 362.5 years for them to make so much money. This news chart vividly showed the large amount of corruption of Liu Tienan, with the comprehensively use of text, numbers, and visual elements, such as the photos of Liu Tienan and Obama, the silhouette icons of humans evolved from

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Figure 4.6 Composite chart of Tencent’s “How much money Liu Tienan Embezzled”

apes, the silhouette of the Statue of Liberty, the architecture graphics, the figures of people, and the lines. This news chart made the originally abstract corruption figures easier to be understood. A copywriter and an art designer are usually required to complete the composite charts. If one person has both abilities mentioned above, he or she can also complete the production independently. The production of composite charts includes the following steps. (1) Selecting a topic In addition to the news value of the topic, special attention should be paid to the following aspects. The content of the topic should be instructive enough to require a chart. There are channels to obtain news pictures and text information on the topic, which should provide the visual characteristic.

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(2) Searching It is necessary to search for data and collect enough news information. Also, the source of the data should be recorded during the searching process, so that the citation can be noted in the later editing. (3) Writing paperwork Try to adopt the general-to-specific structure, and first outline the overall framework, before focusing on certain key parts. Mark key elements in the event frame, such as bolding and underlining, to expand and enrich the marked content. The content of the copywriting does not have to be fully used in the chart. On the premise of not affecting the completeness of the event, it is necessary to delete the non-critical content that hinders the reader’s understanding decisively. Also, the wording should be concise. It would be better if pictures can be used to express clear content without words. (4) Art design Art design includes typesetting and design, both of which are often done simultaneously. The typesetting focuses on the layout of the article’s content, while the design focuses on the beautification of the typeset content. Set a canvas size. A dialogue box asking for preset size will pop up when creating a new document in Photoshop. Generally, the vertical bar chart news has a fixed width and the length that depends on the content. It is more suitable for screen viewing to set the width to 25cm. The principle of length is up to the content. For example, the length can be set to 400cm, and the extra part can be cut off. If the length is not enough, the length of the canvas can be increased. Choose fonts. Variations of regular and clear fonts, such as Times New Roman and Helvetica are more commonly used, while handwriting and other fancy fonts are rarely used because they are less legible. The different types of fonts used together should be limited within a certain range, no more than four types by convention. A bolder font can be chosen for the headline text, which should be larger than the main body text. By increasing the font size and bolding, the keywords and sentences in the main text can also be emphasized. Use colours. The background colour sets the tone of the theme. The text colour should be in sharp contrast with the background colour to make the text easy to be read. The keywords and sentences in the text could be eye-catching colours, while other colours could be used for embellishment in parts to prevent the picture from being too monotonous. The number of different colours should also not be too many, usually no more than five. Collect picture materials. You can draw visual materials by yourself. If you cannot draw your own materials, you need to look for ready-made materials on the Internet. And if the picture is commercially available, it must be ensured that the borrowed material will not cause copyright disputes. However, the styles of

Text, pictures, audio, and video 103 the materials collected on the Internet are often inconsistent. Therefore, you can make the material style more uniform by changing it to the same colour system and applying the same filter. There should be enough blank space among the materials to let the readers “breathe”. (5) Multi-person review The purpose of “multi-person” is to test whether the chart can be understood by people with different knowledge structures and different levels of understanding of events. During the review, it is important to check whether the expression is clear, to eliminate typos and ill sentences, and to make the charts easy for people who do not understand the background of the event to understand with ease. 2.3 News cartoons “News cartoons, which communicate or comment on recent facts, should not only have news value, but also follow the creation rules of cartoons. They are visual means of news communication”.47News cartoons not only spread news updates in cartoon form, but also make visual comments on news facts. In a video shot by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, there was a villager called Xu Wenbin in Poliugu Village, Qiu County, Hebei Province. Pointing to a cartoon Looking into the Mirror on the wall, he said, “As soon as you see it, it’s the same as what was said on TV”.48 The farmer gave a popular explanation for the functional advantages of news cartoons. Comics often use exaggerated forms to convey information and opinions. There is a certain difference between the implementation of news professional norms and daily news reports. Therefore, we cannot use the standards of photographic or text reporting functions to require news cartoons. The “news” mentioned here must be taken with a broader concept, extended to the scope of reports and comments. The reporting and commenting functions of news cartoons are often integrated, and the commenting function of news cartoons is stronger than the reporting function. As a visual form, news cartoons integrate visual beauty, vivid images, and obvious humour and satire. They can often bring readers a pleasant experience in spreading information and reviewing facts, deeply loved by the people. Chen Xiaotao, formerly named Chen Yuting, born in 1994, is a cartoon creator. On January 30, 2020, Chen Xiaotao sent an original cartoon on her Micro-blog, “Seeing that everyone is cheering for Wuhan with hometown food, I drew a warm picture, believing everything will be fine”. In the cartoon, hot dry noodle lied in an isolation ward. There were many cartoon characters cheering for it outside the window, such as pancake rolled with crisp fritter, sugarcoated haws on a stick, small steamed buns, stewed noodles, hot pot, green onions, and stinky tofu. This cartoon has been reposted nearly 90,000 times and liked more than 320,000 times. Related topics #Come on, hot dry noodles# have been read 150 million times and discussed 51,000 times. The work of Chen Xiaotao is warm and touching, with 21,365 comments. “Anyway, I really cried upon sawing this cartoon drawn by Xiaotao”. “Your

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Figure 4.7 Cartoon Hot Dry Noodle from Chen Xiaotao

cartoon is the loveliest and the most healing I have seen during this time. Thank you for the help of people all over the country. The hot dry noodles will definitely come on”. “Such a lovely painting. I can’t help copying it in the morning! Hope the hot dry noodles will get better soon!” Chen Xiaotao also drew some “hot dry noodles” comics, which attracted much attention (see Figure 4.7). The creators of news cartoons include not only full-time cartoon creators or art designers of news media, but also freelance cartoonists outside the news media industry. The age of convergence media has given amateur authors a space and platform in showing their talents. Therefore, we should give enough attention to so-called amateur cartoon authors. There are valuable author resources in the masses. Even some farmers may become cartoonists, or outstanding contributors of “user-created content” in the new media age. The phenomenon of farmers drawing cartoons in Qiu County is a good example,49 as shown in Figure 4.8. Qiu County is an agricultural county with a

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Figure 4.8 Multi-image set of cartoons presented on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, which were drawn by farmers from Qiu County

population of only about 260,000 in Handan, Hebei Province. However, there are more than 3,000 cartoonists in Qiu County. The farmer cartoonists in Qiu County have become a spectacular sight. There are 218 administrative villages in Qiu County, and each village has a cartoon wall. In 1983, farmer painters Chen Yuli, Li Qingai, and his wife spontaneously organized and established the “Frog Cartoon Group”, which trained many “tadpole cartoonists” and had a great influence. Mr Hua Junwu praised: “Qiu County farmers are drawing cartoons when frogs are everywhere in the green pond. Tadpoles have become cartoonists as China develops into a well-off society”. Farmer cartoonists in Qiu County were highly valued by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision. The website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision also opened the “Incorrupt Cartoons Exhibition in Qiu County, Hebei Province”.50 Anticorruption cartoons created by farmers in Qiu County were presented in this exhibition. In addition, the Electronic Education Center of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision filmed the documentary Great Integrity in Small Cartoons, which vividly introduced the story of the farmers creating cartoons and using cartoons to fight corruption and promote incorruptibility. 2.4 The use of pictures 2.4.1 Relevance and compliance News pictures can never be used without following the principles of relevance and compliance. In other words, the published news pictures must be related to

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the news content. When news pictures are used in conjunction with other media elements like text, attention should be paid to the compatibility of the media elements. (1) The selected pictures must be related to the topic of the report. (2) Relevance alone is not enough. The picture and the text must also be consistent. It is necessary to ensure that the main picture and the main title are consistent and mutually beneficial. If the picture expresses one sentiment, while the matching text expresses other information, it violates the principle of compliance in the use of pictures. (3) The use of news pictures must not harm innocent people who are not related to the news. In negative information communication, using pictures of unrelated people may cause them to be negatively evaluated, which will affect their normal lives. Journalists should pay attention to protecting innocent people from such infringements. The portrait rights, reputation rights, and privacy rights of unrelated people should not be infringed by published photos. Journalists can take measures such as obfuscation and publication rejection. 2.4.2 Banning picture-spamming New media technology has drastically reduced the cost of acquiring and presenting photographic pictures. On the one hand, with the popularity of digital cameras, photography is no longer as noble as it was in the film era. Also, there is no need to consider the cost of taking photos, resulting in rapid increase in the generation of photos. On the other hand, the Internet provides a huge amount of space for pictures. Purely from the perspective of media resources, new media do not have to be stingy about layout space and TV time as the traditional media when presenting photos. Because of this, pictures published by new media are prone to flooding. “With the reduction of the use cost of digital technology, the work efficiency and usability have been improved. Finally, it has triggered a digital revolution in photography, where the pictures flood the entire society”.51 “In order to increase the click-through rate of news, some websites distribute dozens of pictures with similar content for a piece of news, which wastes netizens’ reading time and website storage space”.52 The practice of spamming pictures by new media is worth precaution. Pictures should not be published at will because of the low cost of picture collection and presentation in the new media environment. In other words, even though new media should select high-quality pictures for users, they cannot push photos with similar angles and content uncontrollably, making it unbearable to the readers. 2.4.3 Acceptable picture processing operations In addition to some necessary post-processing, the processing of news pictures should be as simple as possible. Less post-processing means less human intervention, which is conducive to realize the authenticity of news.

Text, pictures, audio, and video 107 The following post-processing practices should be prohibited. (1) Adding without foundation. Scenes that were not originally included in news photos but are artificially added for visual effects in post-production. This is fraudulent behaviour based on misleading users, which seriously harms the authenticity of the news. (2) Individual elements matting. Different from image matting, cutting out is a re-composition choice and refers to what is cut out is the overall image of the surrounding area. However, image matting deliberately removes individual visual elements, which is also fraudulent. (3) Reversing photo elements is also a kind of news fraud to reverse the direction of the object or character. The following picture post-processing practices are allowed. (1) News image cutting. The process of photojournalism itself is a selective acquisition of object images, which is essentially a tailoring process. Since photography is legal, why should we oppose tailoring in post-production? This method should also be allowed because such choices and trade-offs are allowed in photography. Cutting news photos is not illegal and should be allowed. (2) Repairing stains and scratches. (3) Changing the image storage mode. In order to meet the display needs of different media, it is acceptable to change the image storage mode. CMYK colour mode is required for printing, while RGB colour mode conversion is needed for screen displays. This only adapts the technical requirements of different media types and presents a better performance effect. It does not harm the authenticity of the image. This operation is reasonable and scientific, and should be supported. (4) Conversion of picture format. There are many picture formats. Therefore, converting other formats into a more suitable one for presentation on a web page is a required technical process carried out by picture editors – one which is legitimate and reasonable. Common image formats on web pages mainly include JPGs, GIFs, and PNGs. A “JPG” is a “Joint Photographic Experts Group”. Advanced technology is employed in JPG compression format, and can obtain better image quality using a smaller space. However, a JPG is a lossy compression format. If the compression ratio is too high, the image quality will decrease. Therefore, if you need high image quality, try to avoid using a high compression ratio. News photos on the Internet are mostly in JPG format. “GIF” is the common acronym for a “Graphics Interchange Format” image, which is a lossless compression format mostly used for dynamic image processing. It is especially suitable for non-photographic and decorative small images that are transparent or animated.

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A PNG is a “Portable Network Graphic”. It is a novel bitmap file storage format designed for online transmission. The PNG format attempts to replace the GIF and TIFF, and adds some features that the GIF does not acquire. The PNG compression ratio is high, resulting in small file capacity.53 (5) Adjustment of colour gradation, contrast, and exposure. It is impossible for a camera to record the subject without any automatic adjustments in photography processing. The process of photography itself is that of processing and preserving light and shadow by the equipment, where there must be deviations. The processing of the light and shadow by the post-image software can be regarded as a continuation of the photography and a further improvement. (6) Adjustment of file size. “No delay in browsing is the most important measure of user experience”. “Under the premise of ensuring picture quality, we should employ the highest compression ratio as possible.”54 These methods can facilitate picture transmission. In order to promote online communication and increase the loading speed of web pages, it is usually necessary to process news photos that take up too much space. Photos should be stored in the Web format for smaller file sizes. Generally, a single picture file should be kept below 30KB. A 6MB news photo can be processed into a 30KB picture, while the former is more than 200 times larger than the latter. Obviously, the latter is more suitable for dissemination on the Internet. (7) The bottom line is not to damage the authenticity of the news. Any operation that alters this is illegal, which should be resisted.

3 Audio and Video “Audio-visual communication has had a major impact on the ideographic function of the media system, changing the traditional language structure”.55 In audiovisual communication, information transmission is mainly collected and presented through audio and video, bringing new experiences to human communication. Speaking in a relative manner, audio is independent, while the video is more inclusive. Broadcast news reports use the simple audio broadcast format, and video has certainly been excluded. Therefore, audio is comparatively plain in its media attribute. In current media technology, photography and recording are usually integrated into the information collection stage. In most cases, there are not so many silent videos. Therefore, video naturally includes audio. Audio and video are the products of media convergence. “The crossings or hybridizations of the media release great new force and energy as by fission or fusion”. “The hybrid or the meeting of two media is a moment of truth and revelation from which new form is born. For the parallel between two media holds us on the frontiers between forms”.56 3.1 Audio 3.1.1 Feature recognition of audio Text leaps through time, while sound travels through space. Audio is a transmission medium element, which records and transmits sound with fleetingness. There

Text, pictures, audio, and video 109 is a linear correspondence between audio and time. Sound will disappear after it is emitted, not as persistent as text and image. Audio is inherent. Sound is emitted from the inside of the object, reflecting the internal structure. The internal structure of an object can be perceived by tapping the sound without being destroyed. Also, the sound is produced by the internal vocal organs of the human body in human oral communication. There is a big difference between listening to your own voice and listening to it from a recording device, which is because the sound will resonate in the mouth, nasal cavity, and brain cavity when people speak. In addition to the external air transmission channel, sound can also reach the inner ear through the skull. However, if a voice comes from a recording device, there is only one path of the external air transmission channel. Therefore, the sound is more physically-involving than the visual symbols. Audio plays a central role, and immerses people in it. When an individual listens to the sound, the sound captures the individual, making it a core part of auditory sensation. “Sight plays the role of separation, and hearing plays the role of combination”, “vision is an explanatory perception, on the contrary, the sound is an integrated perception”, “the ideal situation of hearing is harmony and aggregation”.57 Sound is also a kind of landscape, which reflects the human impression of the sound environment through listening. In the 1970s, Canadian composer Murray Schaefer proposed the concept of “soundscape”, which opened a new field for the study of multiple disciplines. The sound environment is external and objective, while the soundscape is the product of the internalization and subjectivity of the auditory mode. “There is no sequential relationship among sound environment, soundscape and auditory mode, but an isomorphic presentation of sensory culture”.58 3.1.2 Audio is intimate Audio has an expressive function. If the same content is heard at a different volume, timbre, intonation, speech rate, and rhythm, the emotion and taste it conveys will be different. Audio is the best media element in stimulating the imagination. It has unique advantages in reporting breaking news, live broadcasting, and delivering private information. Therefore, audio broadcasts can easily make people feel ambient and intimate. In the history of human communication, voice communication is usually carried out in a more personalized and private situation. Correspondingly, audio communication can easily bring privacy to users. Peters even mentions the issue of the “phone-sex business”. “Note too that the couplet – public radio, private telephone – has made the notion of a radio-sex industry sound laughable, but with 900 numbers there is, alas, a thriving phone-sex business”.59 Audio has a strong sense of privacy, which is particularly evident in social media. In the WeChat official account “Luogic Talkshow”, Luo Zhenyu, a Chinese talk show star, insisted on getting up every morning and posting 60-second audios to his audiences, nagging about his “false reasoning”. This 60-second voice online

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experiment by Luo has attracted more than one million fans. The “most unreasonable in history” member-raising campaign he initiated has earned 1.6 million RMB (234,473 USD) in only six hours, which is amazing. The female anchor Jia Yu on the WeChat public account “iRead” posts a 57-second audio every night. At the end of the recording, there is always the sentence, “Reply to XXX (keyword), a song for you. Good night!” Listening to a song is nothing new. The key draw is that the songs sent to users in “iRead” are all a cappella by Pan Yao, another anchor. For example, if you reply by typing “Valentine’s Day” on February 14, Pan Yao will sing “Tian Mi Mi” (“My Sweetie”) for you. There is no music, only a cappella singing. This kind of interaction can bring a different experience to users. Whether it is the voice of a 40-year-old man Luo Zhenyu, the sweet words of anchor Jia Yu, or a cappella of Pan Yao, this form of using audio communication does have its uniqueness in enhancing intimacy. The voice in WeChat seems to be a close partner whispering in your ears. Intimacy of this kind of communication is unmatched by other media elements. 3.1.3 Audio in Convergent Journalism Audio is suitable for many situations. People can be reading, driving, tidying up, and working while listening to audio. Also, the reception of audio has a masking effect. By masking other uninteresting sounds, the human auditory system can focus attention on a specific sound source, allowing it to find and capture the sound of interest in a quick manner. Video is widely used in Convergent Journalism reports, which does not mean that audio necessarily lacks its advantages and value. Some users just may not have the time and energy to read text, or watch a video, or they may just need a rest. In this case, audio communication highlights its advantages. Compared with video, it occupies less space and is easier to listen to. Favoured by many listeners, it still has irreplaceable functions and value in news reports. There is a report “Photojournalist John H. White on Layoffs, 35 years at Chicago Sun-Times”60 on the Marketplace Life website. Besides pictures and text, there is a four-minute and 28-second audio with the report, making it livelier and more cordial, as shown in Figure 4.9. The Convergent Journalism H5 work “Dozens of words floating in the sky, they are all about your business” launched by the Voice of China is a “text-only blockbuster”. This is because its picture is dynamically presented by a pattern composed of words without any real person or scene. Using sound and virtual scenes to realize the convergence innovation, the work with the street style of audio collection highlights the sense of real dialogue.61 This work skillfully uses audio, which plays a good role in supporting our understanding of the media elements in the Convergent Journalism presentation. With the further development of artificial intelligence technology, the possibility of sound becoming the mainstream medium of future communication has been enhanced. “With artificial intelligence, sound realizes free text-voice switching.

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Figure 4.9 Audio and text joint report

Moreover, speech synthesis, voice search, and voice control technology greatly facilitate people’s communication, production and life”.62 In Convergent Journalism production, it is necessary to actively use artificial intelligence technology to collect, process, and broadcast audio content. Using artificial intelligence technology, the Broadcasting Media Center of Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS) and iFlytek have jointly developed the “Chinese Voice and Text Intelligent Editing System”. The system has the function of “one-click transcribing audio to text”. It frees the editor from monitoring or editing an audio file word by word. Instead, they can directly edit the text in the manuscript editing window. Artificial intelligence technology has been deployed for automatic noise reduction, and sound effects like fade-in and fadeout. According to the original text voiceprint, the newly inserted text is synthesized to generate new audio content. The system is deployed on the production cloud platform, which reduces the work intensity of editors, saves time costs, and ensures the audibility and aesthetics of audio products at the same time. HBS and iFlytek have built an audio voiceprint library for well-known anchors of HBS. Continuous training has improved the simulation ability of virtual anchors’ AI speech synthesis with about 90% similarity of the original sounds. Also, this application has been deployed to the cloud, becoming a SaaS (Software as a Service) for the production cloud in HBS. All editors and hosts across the station can use SaaS, so that the eight frequencies of the centre are able to utilize well-known anchors with low labour costs and the production capacity to broadcast massive content.63 3.1.4 Audio collection Audio is an important media element for Convergent Journalism presentation, where the process of audio collection determines its presentation. This is a professional skill that we should master and strengthen in research. In the age of traditional media, audio collection was dominated by traditional types of equipment such as tape recorders. However, in the age of digital media, audio collection equipment is becoming more varied and portable. In addition

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to professional recording equipment, digital recording pens, mobile phones, and tablets can all be used for audio collection. Audio collection is a single-threaded process, but usually, video collection includes audio collection. Therefore, recording problems may occur in both single-threaded audio collection and multi-threaded video collection. (1) It’s important to be aware of the type of microphone you are using. The prerequisite for recording is to understand the different types of microphones, and to be familiar with the effective range of distance for picking up the sound. The microphone should be placed in the right place, whether it is at the mouth or a little farther away, whether it is used indoors or outdoors. (2) Put on headphones. When recording audio, headphones should be used for quality monitoring of recording at all times. When recording, you should respond with eye contact, smiles, nodding and other expressions, instead of many short, spoken fillers like “um”, “ah”, and “yes”. Do not rub the finger holding the microphone to make additional noise. Make the audio material clean and pure. (3) Control the distance from your subject. To record an interview without having to keep moving your mike arm, you will have to shorten that gap to half a metre or less. Arrange your chairs in an ‘L’ shaped pattern, so when you sit down your knees are almost touching. Other than standing up to conduct the interview, this is the most effective arrangement for the use of a hand-held microphone.64 In an interview with a microphone, the distance between those involved can be quite close, which may cause discomfort for the interviewee. If the microphone reaches close to the interviewee’s mouth, it may seem rude. At this time, you might as well explain the working principle and requirements of recording, so that the interviewe can understand that such an arrangement is for better sound quality. (4) Avoid noises. Do not blow into the microphone. Do not produce harsh sounds in the process of recording. Do not lose control of the interview by the interviewee grabbing the reporter’s microphone. Fix the microphone suitably on your clothes to avoid friction and impact. The microphone and the recording object should not shake back and forth. “Sometimes the speaker shakes the body to change the voice. In the interview, tell the other party to keep the body as stable as possible”.65 (5) Check the recording promptly after the interview. If you find any problems, you can communicate and explain with the respondent to ask for another opportunity to record again. This so-called technique is suitable for recording only a few higher-quality audios, which usually does not take too long. Obviously, don’t expect to use it to replace the entire interview record. (6) Re-ask the questions after the interview ended. Professor Mindy McAdams of College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida introduced

Text, pictures, audio, and video 113 an interview technique in the article “Buy an Audio Recorder and Learn to Use It”.66 This method can be used if you are not satisfied with the recording after the interview, or if you mainly take notes instead of recording during the interview. After turning off the recorder, you can communicate with the interviewee, expressing your wish to collect higher-quality audio, and ask the interviewee to answer a few other questions again. In this way, the interviewee’s speech will be more compact and organized, so the reporter will be able to collect better audio materials. 3.2 Video 3.2.1 Vividness and convergence advantages The biggest advantage of video is its vividness. Video is the easiest for comprehension and acceptance among all media elements. Educational background is almost irrelevant for those watching a video. Men and women, old and young, university professors or illiterate people, all can easily understand the video. Unlike text, video reception is the least imaginative media activity, which is the most intuitive. Videoing is especially suitable for reporting the following content. (1) The display of operation methods and actions; (2) Theatrical performances; (3) Aviation and aerospace; (4) Accident scenes; (5) Scenery and environment; (6) Characters. There are no complicated requirements for video production in most online news reports. Video is better than no video. Rich content can be told through simple videos, which is even better than a lot of painstakingly written text. “A picture is worth a thousand words”, while a simple video exceeds thousands of words. It is not easy to understand how to practice Tai Chi and how to learn tea art through text description, but the video format makes it much simpler and clearer. Those who have no basis in martial arts can learn more than 20 Tai Chi movements in a week by carefully watching online teaching videos for 10 to 20 minutes every day. For those who do not understand tea art, they can learn how to make tea in five or six minutes by watching tea art videos. In this way, some problems that users did not understand will be solved. Similar videos have brought many wonderful experiences and satisfaction to users. Video is an independent media element, whose status is equal to text, picture and audio. It has a powerful convergence ability, integrating text, pictures, audio, and other media elements to make an organic whole. The new media work Under the Dome from Chai Jing, a former television host, author, and environmental activist, is a typical example. In 2014, Chai Jing resigned from CCTV, and became a housewife. She spent a whole year investigating the haze issues at her own expense. At 10.30 am on

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February 28, 2015, Under the Dome was officially released on the Internet. The next day, at 9 am on March 1, the video was clicked hundreds of millions of times in less than 24 hours, causing widespread heated discussion. Under the Dome differs from other styles of expression it uses. Chai Jing used TED-style speech to present the in-depth survey results, which was profoundly shocking. TED originally referred to a private non-profit organization founded in 1984 in the United States. Its name came from the initials of Technology, Entertainment and Design, which aimed to “change the world with the power of thought”. Every year, TED convenes outstanding figures in various fields as speakers to share their insights, and their speech videos are placed on the Internet for free viewing by users worldwide. Chai Jing’s TED-style speech lasted 100 minutes. Not only was such a long speech not boring, but it was also very attractive. Overall, Under the Dome is a video file. However, this video file adopts a typical multimedia presentation mode, which contains images, audio, text, pictures, and other media elements. Besides, it combines many collections, presentation, and communication skills, such as flash animation, sci-fi movie special effects, dubbing, drone shooting, tilt-shift photography, and interaction with the audience, highlighting the superior ability of convergence. Evaluating current media technology, all media elements except network interaction settings can be converged in the video, which is extremely inclusive. 3.2.2 Video collection The use of montages can be integrated into video collection. At the beginning of shooting, it is necessary to think of the editing effect, and make a plan of the type and the shooting time of pictures. Video collection is the convergence of sound and picture. Therefore, audio must be considered throughout the image collection process. (1) Multi-purpose fixed lens (2) There are many camera movement techniques including pushing, pulling, shaking, shifting and following. Variations of lens expressions are achieved through the combination of camera movements and fixed lenses. Considering image quality, pictures taken by a fixed lens will be clearer and more stable. If you are not confident enough, you should attempt moving shots with caution. This is especially so in the case of insufficient light, large focal length lens, and unstable operation, moving shots such as pushing, pulling, panning, shifting, and tracking can easily blur the captured pictures, resulting in a sense of dizziness for the audience. Increased use of fixed lenses can speed up the rhythm of news expression, improve the efficiency of lens language expression, and convey more news information at the same time. (3) Landscape or portrait

Text, pictures, audio, and video 115 Although both videos and photos are taken on the screen, photos can be taken in landscape and portrait mode. In the TV era, video shooting usually could only be done in landscape mode, because portrait video might not fit TV screens. People couldn’t move TV screens as easily as they could move printed photos. Portrait mode film shooting was generally considered unprofessional in the TV era. It was thought that only a very amateur cinematographer would do so. A camera crew would be ridiculed for shooting in portrait. Landscape shooting has universal advantages, which can present a wider field of view, and help to ensure versatility on multiple screens. However, the nonprofessional practice, large numbers of netizens using mobile phone portrait shooting, has been catered and recognized by TikTok and other Apps, gradually gaining legitimacy. Also, the youth hilarious comedy Life is on Me played on TV was presented in portrait mode. There were dark panels on both sides of the large TV screen, which the audience didn’t care at all. Portrait shooting has gradually become a popular concept. Some people follow the situation and organize convergence media short video filming training camp of “Vertical Screen – Change Shooting Method”. In 2019, I often received such advertising emails in my mailbox. The powerful current of the masses using mobile phones has finally changed the traditional professional requirements of image shooting, and portrait screen thinking took the upper hand in mobile communication. Portrait mode is similar to the arrangement of a standing human body, and is more suitable for the full presentation of individuals. Landscape mode is more suitable for the presentation of groups. Portrait video shooting is popular for mobile phone users and widely used in the age of mobile communication. It is a product of the adaptation of shooting techniques to media technology development. Mobile phone users are unique individuals, the one being videoing is often a performer and a viewer too. Portrait mode shooting is a symbol of mobile communication replacing mass communication. (4) Diversifying types of equipment Video capturing equipment has become diversified, and now includes professional cameras, DVs, mobile phones, tablets, laptops, cameras, driving recorders, etc. A professional video camera is an important piece of equipment for a TV station and other professional video institutions to collect videos, which can obtain high-quality images. DV, an ordinary digital video camera, is easy for people to carry and operate, which has long become the first choice for ordinary home users and amateurs. The price of professional cameras is high, even tens of thousands USD, while DV only costs a few hundreds. The image quality collected by DV is relatively high, thus it is welcomed among citizens. Tablet computers and mobile phones with camera functions are more convenient for users to record video at any time, which greatly improves users’ ability in video production. The convenience of mobile phones in capturing video is particularly commendable. “The simplicity and portability of mobile phones have promoted the

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popularization and promotion of dynamic description text”.67 The mobile phone equipped with a self-portrait artefact even became a beautiful scenery reported by the National Two Sessions in 2015. For example, the video of Shandong TV’s Zhou Nuo’s Two Sessions Diary was mainly filmed by the host Zhou Nuo with a mobile phone and a selfie artefact.68 Laptops usually have a camera that is able to capture video data. Those with cameras all over the streets have become loyal and sleepless photographers. Some images they record can also become the source of news reports. They are witnesses which could provide video evidence of an accident scene, producing videos of the event once they start recording. 3.3 Distance and angle Gaye Tuchman borrowed Hall’s theory of social distance when discussing “TV newsreels and their social roles”, and pointed out that among the six possible shots, “farther personal distance”, “closer social distance” and “farther social distance” are the most common in TV newsreels, which was regarded as “talking distance” by Tachman.69 In short, the scenes corresponding to these three distances are from the upper body to the whole body, which is the most common in news videos. The “close distance” and “close personal distance” mainly use close-up shots, focusing on details. They put superfluous emphasis on the emotional expressions, which is not suitable for hard news reports which take authentication as their responsibility. “Public distance is commonly used in reports, but it is prohibited in reports involving ‘individual’, “Public distance excludes personal and social contact between the speaker and the audience, which is the hallmark of TV news. Public distance depersonalizes the subject, so it is only suitable for shooting the public, not for individuals”.70 Distance not only refers to the space between the lens and the subject, but also to the feeling of the space as altered by the lens. For lenses with different focal lengths, the distance between the lens and the subject can bring about different sceneries and feelings of separation. For the convenience of discussion, the concept of distance here should be taken as the basic perception of it as experienced by an audience. In terms of standard shots, the characters in the video are shot from the upper body to the whole body, which helps to enhance the neutrality of the shot. From the point of journalism professional operation standard, Tuchman’s theory of distance control is reasonable. It can embody a kind of professional pursuit that shows the neutrality of journalists. As the use of direct quotes by journalists, this approach is an effective objective operation to deliberately increase the distance between the reporter and the interviewee, embodying a detached attitude. For audio collection, To record an interview without having to keep moving your mike arm, you will have to shorten that gap to half a metre or less. Arrange your chairs in

Text, pictures, audio, and video 117 an ‘L’ shaped pattern, so when you sit down your knees are almost touching. Other than standing up to conduct the interview, this is the most effective arrangement for the use of a hand-held microphone. If a microphone is held in hand throughout an interview, this close distance between the interviewer and the interviewee may make the latter feel uneasy. If the microphone reaches close to the interviewee’s mouth, it may seem rude at first. In this circumstance, it is better to briefly talk about the recording requirements of an interview seeking tolerance from the interviewee that every arrangement is for better sound quality. The angle is the positional relationship formed between the lens and the subject. When discussing the angle issue, Tuchman said, “The arrangement of space in TV news films also avoids the possibility of dramatic construction”, “For news photographers, restoring authenticity requires them to ‘flat shot’ the event, that is, to place the camera at the same level of the sight of ordinary people. Any other method is deemed to ‘damage’ the facts”.71 “The so-called truth is based on an acceptable angle”.72 For the application of media technologies like photography and videography, the choice of shooting angle is likely to have an impact on the authenticity and objectivity of news presentation. “First, reflecting the general situation and characteristics shall be taken into consideration”.73 The second is the visual impact. From the perspective of following the concept of journalism, flat-shooting is a safer way of reflecting an objective manner and presenting news information more truthfully without distorting the image. Although this approach may reduce the visual impact, it can be considered as a journalism professional operation method, or even as a professional norm that prevails in most cases. But even so, video capture should not go from one extreme to another. On the one hand, the distance control and the choice of angle should follow objective principles. The presentation of news information should be truthful, objective, and fair. On the other hand, such operational suggestions should not be treated as dogmas or imperial edicts. Also, requirements of being attractive shall be considered for Convergent Journalism reports. There are different requirements for news standards among different themes and programme formats. For soft news that emphasizes interestingness and affectivity, video collection should also be freer. For these reasons, my humble opinion is that it is necessary to emphasize the following understanding. Following the objective principle of news, the choice of angle and distance control should be given enough attention in video shooting. More head-up angles should be used, and characters should be filmed from the upper body to the whole body, which will help to enhance the neutrality of the lens. If necessary, we should use bold creative operational methods for reports that emphasize emotional depiction or interesting story elements, without hurting the spirit of journalistic professionalism. We can also shoot in an appropriate but intimate distance, intimate personal distance, back shot, and overhead shot.

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3.4 Be shorter The use of audio and video in Convergent Journalism cannot simply be equated with the production of broadcast journalism. In other words, those time-consuming and costly broadcast and TV news may not suit the presentation requirements of Convergent Journalism. Instead, short audio and video may be more suitable for its presentation requirements. Qiu Bing, The Paper’s CEO, raised a point which worthies pondering, the Paper does not consider TV news into its scope of service. A short video ranging from 48 seconds to 1 minute has the best communication effect on the audience, and it must be grounded and newsworthy to achieve the full sharing effect on social platforms.74 Audiences can easily grasp the key points given in short audio and video: It saves their time and better suits the demands of multi-media elements for Convergent Journalism. If the audio and video acquisition is extended to broadcast and TV news, it will deviate from the spirit of Convergent Journalism and return to the style of traditional news. Especially for the convergent presentation of mobile Internet media, the use of short audio and video is essential. Short audio and video recorded by some text reporters, and even ordinary people, are also welcomed. Compared with professional sound recorders and videographers, these recordings usually seem very amateur. However, provided the content is strong, short audio and video recorded by amateurs can attract a lot of attention. In 2015, the live broadcasting of Golden Week from The Paper was mostly a short video shot by a text reporter. For example, a text reporter was sent to shoot a short video of a wandering artist playing the guitar in Lijiang, a famous tourist city in Yunnan province, China. This kind of short video was definitely much easier in terms of technical operation, but the page view was amazing. “This kind of short video has almost 10 times the number of visits to articles”.75 In this research, I have emphasized the use of short audio and short videos. However, I am not totally against the use of long audio and video elements, nor do I want to say that broadcast and TV news are worthless, since that is not the objective reality. Convergent Journalism research does not oppose the need for differentiation while advocating convergence. Broadcast and TV news acquisition are more standardized and complete. At the same time, they still have their unique value, which can meet the needs of news differentiation and the news receiving preferences of different groups. Being short has its advantages. Short audio and video are more in line with the concept of Convergent Journalism, and they are easy in assembling, sharing and communicating. They are more suitable for Convergent Journalism reports and more conducive in ensuring the communication effect. Convergent Journalism reporting should attach great importance to the use of short audio and video, avoiding going back to the presentation of traditional broadcast and television news due to improper use.

Text, pictures, audio, and video 119 3.5 Audio and video UGC For UGC (User Generated Content), users on the Internet no longer passively consume information. On the contrary, they actively contribute to the production process of content information as communicators. The main types of UGC include: Publishing blogs, such as personal articles on Sina Blog and Tencent Qzone; Posting microblogs, such as written information within 140 Chinese characters on Sina Weibo; Using WeChat, which is for communicating, publishing and forwarding information; Collaborative editing like collaborative production on Baidu Baike and Wikipedia; Resource sharing and publishing, like publishing courseware, articles, or PDF files on Baidu Wenku, and publishing a video on the relevant websites; Participating in media production, specifically to provide news media with text, pictures, audio, or video information resources collected or mastered by users themselves; Posting comments, such as following online news, posting on Baidu Tieba, and commenting on forums; Participating in online Q&A communities like asking and answering questions on Baidu Zhidao and Sina iAsk; Accessing web pages. Any page that a user visits will generate browsing data, which is also user-produced content. For users, it’s more complicated to produce videos than photos and text, which limits their enthusiasm for video content production. But as long as users are interested, sharing professionally created news videos is not difficult. CNNIC’s research76 showed that by the end of 2012, the number of China’s online video users reached 372 million, an increase of 14.3% over the end of the previous year (325 million). There were only 14.2% of video content creators, and it was very close to the data (14.31%) of the author’s survey. 8.2% of users edited and processed video materials, while up to 82.6% did nothing. However, users were more motivated to share videos with data of 49%. Compared with audio, users are more motivated to generate video. From the sample survey of this book, the selection rate for camera shooting in new media applications is 14.31%, while the selection rate for recording is only 8.03%. In users’ daily lives, the use of camera function is nearly 6% higher than that of recording. The probability of users producing video is significantly higher than that of audio, which means that producing video content for news media has a better basis. UGC of video plays an important role in breaking news reports. When major breaking news occurs, users will be more active in producing and sharing a video. After the London bombings on July 7, 2005, BBC News received more than 1,000 user-provided videos on the same day. Since 2005, the management of UGC has become the first step in the BBC News Editorial Department. The UGC Center of BBC has archived the user-provided content. “monitoring the

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materials submitted by the public and ensuring that the materials are sent to news programs”.77 When using UGC, news media must pay attention to the authenticity of the content. Attention should also be paid to the ownership of copyright. It is necessary to clarify “who owns the copyright of the image sent by the users”.78 If the user is not the copyright owner, the news media should consider the infringement of using UGC. 3.6 Short video and live broadcasting The short video has become a mainstream video format. When combined with live broadcasting, e-commerce, and social networking, the short video can facilitate entertainment, cultural tourism, education, knowledge, news, and many other content styles. The business is booming with full vitality. The short video has innovated the narrative mode of Convergent Journalism. “Short video + live broadcasting” has not only enriched the presentation of Convergent Journalism, but also improved the real-time, participation, and vividness of news communication. Media convergence thus entered the era of short-video and livestreaming. Currently, short video platforms have been rather competitive, which include both short video services and live broadcasting services. The convergence of live TV and webcast is distributed through multiple platform channels, which shows the powerful supervision of live politics programmes. 3.6.1 Short video operations There are many moving stories told in short videos, telling of precious opportunities and the possibility of personal successful dreams. Sun Dehai used to be a glass factory worker in Weihai, but now he has become an Internet celebrity called Mala Dezi (Spicy Dezi) as a food expert in TikTok. After the COVID19 pandemic, he raised 100,000 CNY (14,655 USD) for Wuhan. Mala Dezi has 37.332 million fans in TikTok, while the total population of Weihai is only 2.8 million. In the one-hour livestream of “Double 11” (November 11, 2020), he sold 7,000 non-stick pans, with a revenue of 1.71 million CNY (250,593 USD). Judging from Tik Tok’s official publicity, his every advertisement is worth about 300,000–350,000 CNY (43,693–51,291 USD). In addition to his social influencer marketing, industry insiders estimated millions of dollars were likely added to his annual income, which sounds quite encouraging. Liu Jia is a female lawyer. Her TikTok account “Lawyer Liu Jia” focuses on sharing knowledge, and sharp content. She introduced many attractive short videos, for example, “If others C (cut) you with a knife, can you C (cut) back with a knife?” “Where do the drugs for the death penalty come from?” “Is it illegal to beat a mistress?” The first short video of this account was released on February 21, 2020. She took less than a month to release 64 short videos, which saw her number of fans reach 2.913 million. Almost every short video was “liked” 10,000 times. The most-liked short video received 2.225 million likes.

Text, pictures, audio, and video 121 Short video operations rely on traffic. However, traffic is not as simple as it appears, it cannot be achieved by simply acting cute or ugly. Instead, it requires users to choose a vertical field and update Tiktok content constantly. Operators must pay great attention to the word “vertical”. TikTok has extreme demand for being vertical, so users need to have a deep understanding of the definition of “being vertical”. What TikTok requires is not just account verticality, but also the single topic of all content posted by its users. In general, they must watch, follow, like and comment in this field, and spend over 70 minutes browsing on TikTok per day. TikTok is essentially designed for those extremely overemphasizing some topics. Therefore, users should pay attention to one area, not to another. From human all-round development, this is the most criticized “recommendation algorithm”. The design of TikTok makes people obsessed with only one thing, which hides their attention for other fields. However, for news, it is required to reflect the society from all perspectives. TikTok’s definition of “vertical” does not match the value orientation of journalism, and the definition is not conducive to traditional news business operations. Convergent journalists should study the definition and algorithm rules of “verticality” in short video platforms. At the same time, they should optimize their choices, exploit favourable conditions, and enhance the effect of short video news communication. Otherwise, short video operation will be rather difficult. The short video is important business access for the news media to promote the development of media convergence. It has become a new channel for thematic publicity, and has made some achievements. As of March 30, 2020, Yunnan Television released more than 1,500 short videos about pandemic prevention and control on TikTok and other platforms. It received more than two billion total viewing counts, including 1.3 billion on TikTok, 350 million on Kwai, and 350 million on Micro-blog. Its short videos’ likes, reposts, and comments exceeded 30 million.79 CCTV News released 3,060 short videos on TikTok, received 2.99 billion likes and had 86.139 million fans.80 On the whole, news media still have a lot of room for development in the short video business, and need to be more familiar with the play. CCTV News has the best operating performance among the news media TikTok accounts, and seemingly has attracted a large number of fans. But it should be known that it is common to have millions or even tens of millions of fans in individual TikTok accounts. Therefore, there is nothing to be proud of, even it is CCTV News. Let us take a glance at the same period data for Mala Dezi. Mala Dezi has only released 300 cooking videos, but the number of fans is as high as 37.332 million. This kind of individual TikTok account has only a single-content theme, but it truly masters the vertical mode of the short video, thus it has won more with less. However, many news media are often not used to or good at vertical mode, and their short video operations are not as effective. 3.6.2 The livestreaming boom Live broadcasting was originally a high-threshold business activity for TV media in the traditional media age. With the development of the mobile Internet and

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livestreaming platforms, China’s e-commerce is advancing too. Taobao merchants actively partake in social influencer marketing. Recently, livestreaming has seen a nationwide boom. Everyone can become a content creator, and everyone is able to video-stream live. Livestreaming is becoming a hot trend in China. The national popularity of livestreaming has strong entertainment attributes. In addition to entertainment attributes, China’s live webcast has a strong e-commerce side, focusing on social influencer marketing. On January 7, 2020, Li Jiaqi Austin, China’s “Lipstick King” walked into the front line of Liaoning Province to support farmers. During an hour and a half livestreaming, the transaction volume exceeded 200,000 orders and the sales exceeded ten million CNY (1.465 million USD). Among them, there were 125 tons of Chaoyang millet, 400,000 cans of canned fish from Dandong, and 400,000 pieces of flavoured red sausage.81 During the COVID-19 pandemic, many local officials joined the social influencer marketing. “Help Mountain Products Making Headlines”, an official account of ByteDance Poverty Alleviation in TikTok, launched the slogan “Boost Hubei”. The topic of “Battle to Help Farmers is in Action” of ByteDance aims to promote information connection between the supply and demand of agricultural products during the COVID-19 pandemic. Relevant short videos have been played up to 2.38 billion times. Many local government officials recommended local special products in short videos, which were well circulated and had successful promotional effects. The People’s Government of Heze City and Alibaba Group organized a largescale livestreaming event of “Appreciating Peony on Cloud”. On the afternoon of April 7, Zhang Xinwen (Secretary of the Party Committee of Heze) and Chen Ping (Mayor of Heze) joined in, attracting hoards of onlookers. Zhang Xinwen first recommended a miniature potted peony during the livestreaming. According to Zhang, potted peonies can purify the air, and are especially suitable for indoor cultivation. Chen Ping introduced the Heze peony industry to netizens. He explained in detail the characteristics and effects of peony deep-processing products, meanwhile, he also introduced Chenji yam and Heze Han-style Chinese clothing to netizens. Heze has accelerated the development of the livestreaming economy, which successfully cultivated more than 100 C-list online celebrities. The livestreaming economy is becoming a new growth point for e-commerce development.82 Compared with the strong momentum of live entertainment broadcasting, the news business on some social live platforms remains in a weak position. News media should seize live webcast resources and actively use the power of networks to engage in the live broadcasts of news. It is necessary to effectively promote Convergent Journalism communication to enhance social influence. 3.6.3 The power of livestreaming political discussions There are good ways to revive the influence of TV news. For example, convergence TV and online live broadcasting use the full advantages of video content production and strengthen public opinion supervision.

Text, pictures, audio, and video 123 Shandong Radio and Television Media Convergence Information Center has created a large-scale politics programme Shandong Political Discussion, and big questions are raised in this programme. The programme is problemoriented and addresses real challenges, focusing on hot and difficult issues which citizens care about. It urges functional departments to fulfil their promises. Every week, the programme invites a division head in charge of a provincial department to respond to the citizens in public. As a provincial-level all-media politics platform in Shandong, Shandong Political Discussion has converged the promotion of TV and Internet political discussion, forming the supervision mechanism of “all media interaction in politics + all media release of government feedback and Q&A + public scoring and evaluation of provincial departments”. At 7 pm on June 18, 2020, Shandong Political Discussion covered the politics of Linyi City, focusing on the work style of governmental officials in Linyi City and the practical issues concerned by the masses. The programme focused on the implementation of various departments in Linyi City and launched inquiries. The Mayor of Linyi City, Meng Qingbin, went into the studio of Shandong Radio and TV Station to respond to the TV and Internet political enquiries. It was revealed in the programme that Linyi Municipal Government spent more than 56 million CNY (8.218 million USD) in deploying the “Smart Linyi Mall” website, which crashed at times. There were still polluted water bodies in Linyi urban area. In this regard, the host showed no mercy at the livestreaming, inquiring about the mayor of Linyi City and relevant directors. “Media supervision is quite powerful, and it can indeed promote the healthy development of society”, a citizen said after watching the show, “These reporters are also quite capable of delving into problems with sharp questions”. This programme has been broadcast simultaneously on 22 livestreaming platforms. In addition to the public channel of Shandong Television, it is also streaming on People’s Daily Online, Shandong Provincial People’s Government, iQilu, Lightning News, Poster News, Shandong Traffic Radio, People’s Daily Party Media Platform, CCTV News+, CCTV, China National Radio, People TV, TikTok, Kwai, Toutiao, Tencent News, Baidu News, Sina News, Feng-live, Sina Weibo Yi-Live, Zhihu Live, Yidian News, etc. Users can post comments and interact in real-time on the Lightning News client and Sina Weibo. They can also dial the hotline to provide clues and report problems. This programme has attracted considerable attention, reflecting the strong social demand for public opinion supervision. Supervision is the most important function of the news media. News media without public opinion supervision will soon be abandoned by the masses. Never forget the beginner’s mindset, and your mission can be accomplished. Public opinion supervision is the mission of journalism and must not be forgotten in Convergent Journalism production. Live broadcasts of TV and Internet politics have been converged, and spread widely through online channels. The effective implementation of public opinion supervision has highlighted the social value of journalism, giving hope and power to the people.

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Notes 1 CHEN L D. History of World Journalism and Communication (in Chinese) [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, 2007. 2 STANDAGE T. Writing on the Wall: Social Media-The First 2,000 Years [M]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2013. 3 LEVINSON P. The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution [M]. Psychology Press, 1998. 4 LIU W. Close  Questions  for  Artificial  Intelligence:  From  Cambridge  to  Beijing (in Chinese) [M]. Science Press, 2019. 5 PETERS J D. Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication [M]. University of Chicago Press, 2012. 6 NAN H J. The Analects of Confucius (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Oriental Press, 2018. 7 PETERS J D. Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication [M]. University of Chicago Press, 2012. 8 LIU X F. Four Books of Plato (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2015. 9 LEVINSON P. The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution [M]. Psychology Press, 1998. 10 XIA M Z, YE S T. Reading and Writing (in Chinese) [M]. Changsha: Yuelu Publishing House, 2012. 11 SUN L. “We Chat: The Reconstruction of Publicity in E-Book Talk and the Circle of Acquaintances-An Analysis of Internet Culture from WeChat” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, 2014(5). 12 YUN F. “Internet Thinking Inspired by ‘Director Han Han’” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (February 14, 2014). http://yunfeng.baijia.baidu.com/article/2894. 13 CAI S W. Radio and TV Journalism (in Chinese) [M]. Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2006. 14 WANG J T. “Blue Light from Cell Phone and Computer Screens May Speed Up Aging” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (November 2, 2019) https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ BO9rEjduhYQP8f27t D6Xxw 15 CHEN X. Dissemination of Ideas (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: People’s Press, 2008. 16 WILKINSON J, GRANT A E, FISHER D J. Principles of Convergent Journalism [M]. Oxford University Press, USA, 2009. 17 http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/03/17/quakebot_los_angeles_times _robot_journalist_writes_article_on_ la_earthquake.html. 18 KEN SCHWENCKE [EB/OL]. (December 23, 2013). http://www.latimes.com/local/ lanow/earthquake-47-quake-strikes-near- lone-pine-california-s6emrv-story.html 19 ROGER YU. “How Robots Will Write Earnings Stories for the AP” [EB/OL]. (June 30, 2014). http://www.usatoday.com/ story/money/business/2014/06/30/ap-automatedstories/11799077/ 20 August CPI. “Rose by 2.0% Year-on-year, setting a New 12-month Peak” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (September 10, 2015). http://finance.qq.com/a/20150910/019573.htm 21 August CPI. “Rose by 2.0% Year-on-year, setting a New 12-month Peak” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (September 10, 2015). http://finance.qq.com/a/20150910/019573.htm 22 http://finance.qq.com/a/20151014/020297.htm, (September 14, 2015). 23 LOIS. “Yahoo’s Acquisition of Summly: An Opportunity for the Evolution of News Content” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (March 26, 2013). http://search.iresearch.cn/portal /20130326/ 195909.shtml 24 “Robotic Guest Foul-Mouthed BBC Host Very ‘Awkward’” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (September 19, 2015). http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-09/19/c_128245704 .htm 25 “25 Media Bots Released! How Powerful Is it?” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (August 27, 2019). https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DwtdqdIPX7-CcKc6VnOxpQ

Text, pictures, audio, and video 125 26 “How do Media Robots Save People the Hassle of Editing a News Clip in 10 Seconds?” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (September 4–9, 2019). https://www.tmtpost.com/4146316 .html.l 27 LIU W. Close  Questions  for  Artificial  Intelligence:  from  Cambridge  to  Beijing (in Chinese) [M]. Science Press, 2019. 28 GAN X F. Contemporary Newspaper Editing (in Chinese) [M]. Guangzhou: Sun Yatsen University Press, 2013. 29 REN Y. Introduction to Visual Communication (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2008. 30 GAN X F. The History of Chinese News Photography (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: China Photography Publishing House, 2008. 31 CHENG Z. “The Smartest of Cameras: Smart Growth of Portable Cameras” (in Chinese) [J]. China Photography, 2013(11). 32 EVFs use electronic rather than optical viewfinders, but have SLR capabilities. 33 HUANG W. Step by Step – Image Communication in a Digital Context (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Press, 2008. 34 http://www.poyi.org/68/17/third_01.php February 7, 2011. http://pic.news.sohu.com/ group-253169.shtml#0 February 15, 2011. 35 YAO Y Q. “The Ecology of News Photography in the Context of Paper Media Transformation” (in Chinese) [J]. Media Observer, 2014(8). 36 http://news.yahoo.com/chicago-sun-times-lays-off-photography-staff-175916089.html (May 5, 2013). 37 http://www.marketplace.org/topics/life/photojournalist-john-h-white-layoffs-35-years -chicago-sun-times (June 4, 2013). 38 XU B H. Introduction to News Photography (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Xinhua Publishing House, 1999. 39 “Shanghai Funeral Home Launches ‘Bath for the Decease’ Service to Let them Go Beautiful” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (December 19, 2013). http://news.qq.com/a /20131219/003596.htm #pref=hdpicture#p=1 40 http://pic.news.sohu.com/detail-514736-0.shtml#0 (December 19, 2013). 41 https://ncov.dxy.cn/ncovh5/view/pneumonia (June 16, 2020 ). 42 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/pD6BwkjHkHVmf2gwKCkfBw (February 14, 2020). 43 GAN X F. Contemporary Newspaper Editing (in Chinese) [M]. Guangzhou: Sun Yatsen University Press, 2013. 44 ZHANG X C. News Simulation Mapping (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press, 2008. 45 http://2014.163.com/ (July 14, 2014). 46 Tencent Newspedia 183th Issue (in Chinese) [EB/OL].(August 9, 2013).http://news.qq .com/newspedia/183.htm 47 GAN X F. Contemporary Newspaper Editing (in Chinese) [M]. Guangzhou: Sun Yatsen University Press, 2013. 48 “Great Integrity in Small Cartoons”. http://v.mos.gov.cn/qiuxian/index.shtml (December 14, 2013). 49 JIANG J. “Peasants’ Cartoons on the Website of CCDI” (in Chinese) [N]. Legal Evening News, (November 6, 2013). 50 http://v.mos.gov.cn/qiuxian/index.shtml (December 14, 2013). 51 REN Y. Introduction to Visual Communication (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2008. 52 ZHAN X H. The Editor of New Media (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2013. 53 YUE S, YANG M. Media Production and Applications (in Chinese) [M]. Hefei: Hefei University of Technology Press, 2012. http://baike.baidu. com/link?url=BomzMJyaXzJlQvfsCKwoAOegegcaPOWl_HAw154h2ChTpPm17oJ-LaRkQVlDghE (December 11, 2013).

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54 YANG A X. The Next Stop: User Experience (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: China Development Press, 2012. 55 CHEN X. Dissemination of Ideas (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: People’s Press, 2008. 56 MCLUHAN N. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man [M]. The MIT Press, 1994. 57 ONG W J. Orality and literacy [M]. Routledge, 2013. // CROWLEY D, HEYER P. Communication in history: Technology, Culture, Society [M]. Routledge, 2015. 58 JI L X. “Thinking about Communication in Terms of Sound: Sound, Space and Auditory Sensory Culture” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, 2019(3). 59 PETERS J D. Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication [M]. University of Chicago Press, 2012. 60 https://www.marketplace.org/2013/06/04/photojournalist-john-h-white-layoffs-35 -years-chicago-sun-times/ (June 4, 2013). 61 YI J T. “Innovation in the Expression of Broadcasting Fusion News – Take the example of the H5 integration news of the Voice of China, ‘Dozens of Words Floating in the Sky, It’s All About You’” (in Chinese) [J]. Youth Journalist, 2019(1). 62 YU G M, WANG W X, FENG F. “The Insight Paradigm of ‘Voice’ as a Mainstream Medium for Future Communication-An Example of User Perception of Voice News Effects and Measurement” (in Chinese) [J]. Social Science Front, 2019(7). 63 NIU S F. Reconstructing Broadcast Ecology with Big Data and Artificial Intelligence:  Reflections  on  the  Evolution  of  Broadcast  Content  Production  and  Distribution  Architecture Technology // YAO Y. Editor-in-Chief. Let the Thoughts Get Sunshine: Thinking and Practice of Mango Integration and Development (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: China Radio, Film and Television Publishing House, 2019: 134–135. 64 BOYD A. Broadcast Journalism [M]. Taylor & Francis, 2000. 65 ZHOU X P. Introduction to Radio and Television (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2014. 66 MINDY MCADAMS. “Buy an Audio Recorder and Learn to Use it” [EB/OL]. (September 2, 2009). http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/ 2009/rgmp-3-buy- an-audiorecorder-and-learn-to-use-it/ 67 YU X C. Digital  Reader  Theory:  On  Changes  in  the  Public  Learning  Efficiency  Feedback Model (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: China Social Science Press, 2013. 68 http://www.chinaxwcb.com/2015-03/19/content_313433.htm?from=timeline&isappinstalled=0 (March 25, 2015). 69 GAYE T. “Making News: A Study in the Construction of Reality” [J]. New York, 1978. 70 GAYE T. “Making News: A Study in the Construction of Reality” [J]. New York, 1978. 71 GAYE T. “Making News: A Study in the Construction of Reality” [J]. New York, 1978. 72 GAYE T. “Making News: A Study in the Construction of Reality” [J]. New York, 1978. 73 LANGFORD M J. The Step-by-Step Guide to Photography [M]. Alfred A. Knopf, 1978. 74 GAN T, QIU B. “It Doesn’t Make Sense to Turn Off the Newspaper Easily” (in Chinese) [J]. Media Reviews, 2015(10). 75 GAN T, QIU B. “It Doesn’t Make Sense to Turn Off the Newspaper Easily” (in Chinese) [J]. Media Reviews, 2015(10). 76 CNNIC. “2012 Chinese Internet Users Online Video Application Research Report” (in Chinese) [R/OL]. 2013. 77 BOYD A. Broadcast Journalism [M]. Taylor & Francis, 2000. 78 BOYD A. Broadcast Journalism [M]. Taylor & Francis, 2000. 79 LU G, PENG M H. “The Financial Media War Epidemic, Each with its Own Way of Playing” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (April 4, 2020). https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/cy_ MFtnvjy31EqjI0sxSPA. 80 The author of this book surveyed on June 26, 2020 at 6.35 am.

Text, pictures, audio, and video 127 81 “Li Jiaqi Sells 200,000 Catties of Chaoyang Millet in One Hour to Alleviate Poverty through E-commerce” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (June 22, 2020). http://ln.people.com.cn/ n2/2020/0110/c378489-33704138.html 82 “The Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of This City in Shandong Live with the Goods! Attracted 870,000 Spectators and 16,327 Transactions” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (April 8, 2020). https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/SVeqag1Zooc -VNTxjsdJFg

5

SEO and hyperlinks

1 Search engine optimization The number of netizens is burgeoning and, in turn, more people choose to read news online. It is, thus, gradually becoming habitual for netizens to search for news through keywords. According to the “36th Statistical Report on Internet Development in China” issued by CNNIC at the end of June 2015, the number of Chinese netizens climbed to 668 million, indicating that 48.8% of Chinese people used the Internet at that time. It also noted that 83.1% of Internet users watched netnews, and 80.3% used search engines. Both netnews and search engines are among the most popular online apps, ranking second and third, respectively, far higher than apps of other types, and beaten only by instant messaging and communication apps.1 The “Research Report on Chinese Netizens’ Search Behavior in 2013” indicates that news is the most searched content by netizens through either desktops or smartphones, accounting for 60.8% and 58.3% of searches on each, respectively. Moreover, 70.6% of netizens will search for the content they are interested in through phones.2 In the process of news production, great importance should be given to the netizens’ trends. Journalists today must press ahead with research related to SEO (search engine optimization) and the application of keywords. 1.1   Introduction: Advocacy, classification, and questions 1.1.1 Advocating for search engine optimization Convergent Journalism, essentially speaking, belongs to netnews. The network condition of news communication determined the very importance of search engine optimization (SEO). When great content is created, optimized, and socially shared online, it can attract links from other websites and exposure to new social networks. Those links attract visitors directly and can influence visibility on search engines, which can result in exposure that attracts even more links and social shares.3

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The use of keywords is usually seen as a critical section during the SEO process. In Convergence Journalism, for an Internet-oriented product, more importance should be attached to the research and application of keywords. There are no general requirements for SEO in traditional journalism; however, convergent journalists cannot simply ignore the issues related to SEO and keywords application. Current SEO research and application are mostly conducted in the field of website marketing/promotion rather than journalism. This is undoubtedly regretful for journalism research, Convergence Journalism research in particular, and it is worth more attention from journalism scholars. Even monks will pay extra attention to the use of keywords (hashtags) when posting on Micro-blog, the Chinese version of Twitter. How can professional journalists working online make light of hashtags? Master Shi Yanshen was extolling “Sheng Ming” (meaning “life” in Chinese) in poor mandarin (nonnative Hebei-Province accents) when preaching in Mount E’mei, while several monkeys climbed on him to horse around. This video soon went viral and Master Shi consequently became famous. Rumours surfaced that Master Shi was a reporter for Cangzhou Daily before he became a monk. However, Master Shi himself only admitted that he had worked as a journalist for a less-famous local magazine. Master Shi has been placing great importance on the use of new media, knowing that posting with photos will bring about a greater response. In addition, Master Shi often studied video-making techniques with his apprentices. Netizens found that Master Shi has frequently used hashtags for Microblog posts since September 2010. “He started to use the name of celebrities as hashtags on his Micro-blog posts with a paragraph of obscure words”, according to netizens. Take one of his Micro-blog posts for example: “#Leehom Wang# (a famous Chinese singer) If we see the world in a simple way, we will surely feel a sense of security. The entire world is in the void, but it is the mind that creates real things”.4 In Convergence Journalism, if the news uses the keywords most frequently used on search engines it is more likely to be found, meaning the news is more likely to be received by users. Strengthening the research of SEO and the application of keywords is conducive to enhancing the influence of Convergence Journalism and maximizing its communication value. 1.1.2 Core keywords and long-tail keywords “Keywords”, in this case, mean words typed by Internet users when searching for certain information, and they can be divided into the following two categories. (1) Core keywords: Core representative words that users type into search engines to find certain news or other information. (2) Long-tail keywords: Words that are not representative enough, less-searched, unstable, but can be extended and be accumulated into keywords bringing more search engine traffic. Long-tail keywords normally consist of two to three words or phrases, and these two or three words usually serve as subject or predicate, or even a question conveying complete meaning. For instance: “Haze” represents a core keyword,

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and “the harm of haze to human skin”, “precautions for smog weather”, “what is the hidden cause of haze?” and so on can be regarded as long-tail keywords. 1.1.3 SEO-related questions When using keywords in Convergence Journalism, we may wonder about the following questions: What is the value of the application and research of SEO and keywords? How do we identify certain words as keywords and use them properly? How do we ensure that SEO will bring about a satisfactory reading effect? If these questions can be resolved properly, it will be a great contribution to Convergence Journalism. Staff working for business websites pay more attention to the use of keywords. By contrast, traditional journalists rarely consider keywords. Moreover, they tend to ignore keywords and even doubt the significance of keywords while operating websites. Unlike real estate websites, the content of news websites is not restricted to a certain realm. Journalists should also consider the necessity of SEO on news websites. Meantime, we should explore more about the practical techniques, because even though some Internet experts have applied keywords to business websites, much more work is required when applying them to Convergence Journalism. We cannot indiscriminately imitate the practices of non-news websites to identify core keywords and long-tail keywords in news websites. In addition, journalists tend to write according to their habits of thought. If keywords become a must for news, quite a few journalists might find it hard to get used to them. Furthermore, keywords might backfire, making the whole article awkward and distracting from the reading experience. To add keywords without decreasing readability, we must take a very realistic issue into account, that is, how to balance the readability and SEO in news reports. 1.2 The value of the application of SEO and keywords The reason we introduce SEO into Convergence Journalism and highlight the use of keywords is that both SEO and keywords have unique values. Exploring the value of SEO and the use of keywords deepens our understanding and enables us to attach importance to SEO. For newsgathering and presentation in Convergence Journalism, SEO must embrace at least the following values. 1.2.1 SEO promotes the dissemination of Convergence Journalism Shih Hsin University’s research shows that SEO plays a significant role in improving website ranking and attracting visitors. Compared to the pre-experiment data, the number of website visits, views and pages being browsed has increased dramatically after the SEO experiment. Besides, visitors tend to spend more time to browse websites and fewer visitors exit the page after SEO. All in all, SEO improves websites

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comprehensively according to data in almost every respect. In addition, the research implies that website ranking, visits, views, the number of pages that visitors browsed, the bounce rate of the landing page, the average staying time scale and other data can be altered through manipulating SEO variables.5 For instance, after researchers applied SEO, targeted website rankings generally improved, some of which even enjoyed a four-fold increase. And some keyword phrases even rank second on Google’s search engine. Apart from that, the average population of website visitors rocketed from 10.74 to 17.37, representing a 62% increase rate; the bounce rate of landing page decreased by 7.83% from 53.46% to 49.27%, embracing considerable improvement.6 Through search engines, not only can users search words but also videos, audios, images, etc. SEO enables this information in Convergence Journalism to be better searched, which can improve the traffic of Convergence Journalism and better disseminate it. After 2008, Google shifted its algorithm, incorporating various types of information into the search result. For instance, if we Google “spider”, we can find some short videos about spiders.7 And Baidu (the Chinese version of Google) also has developed its function for image search apart from its former words search function. Search engines will make searching words, images, audio files, videos and other Convergence Journalism elements more effective. SEO professionals also suggest introducing images, audio files, videos, and other elements into traditional transcripts of news so that the search engine can be optimized in a better fashion.8 Since the comprehensive use of various elements underpins SEO, and Convergence Journalism itself highlights the application of different elements, the SEO in Convergence Journalism, in turn, becomes practical. In other words, Convergence Journalism enjoys inherent advantages in the realm of SEO. Therefore, the SEO in Convergence Journalism can be practical and effective. Research on SEO can help to understand users’ news preferences and demands so that news collection and production can be more targeted, and the news can be better disseminated. However, compared to searches for images, audio, and videos, searches for words still serve as the most mature and frequently used current technology. Therefore, among all research of SEO in Convergence Journalism, this book focuses on the research on keywords. 1.2.2 Keywords indicate users’ attention Keywords (hashtags) that rise the fastest among search engines reveal netizens’ attention in gaining momentum. Media outlets can now reflect that whether they forget to report certain breaking news or hot issues. A report named “ranking of the latest issues about citizens’ livelihood”, provided by Baidu Index, presents the following keywords: “Gelsemium elegans”, “Nuka milk powder”, “metro epilepsy”, and so on. A journalist is not able to comprehend every single event immediately after it happens, but he can identify new

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opportunities by keeping an eye on real-time keywords. Clicking related links allows us to learn more about the whole incident – “gelsemium elegans” turns out to be “family of six people were poisoned by the gelsemium after eating it by accident”. “Nuka milk powder” refers to “Nuka milk powder was disclosed to be a ‘domestic brand pretending to be a foreign one’, and here is the list of such milk brands”. “Metro epilepsy” refers to “A man suddenly twitched down and a kind old lady grasped him right away, but the incident was dubbed as a sort of ‘epilepsy’” or “A man disguised himself as an epilepsy-haunted patient to swindle money on the subway”. Media platforms must arrange for certain staff to keep up to date with real-time keywords and take action when necessary. The  Huffington  Post is billed as “the largest American Internet newspaper”, flaunting that it has made the century-old New York Times take a back seat in six years. One of the key technologies that help The Huffington Post succeed is SEO – it keeps an eagle eye on changing keywords among search engines, and thus meets users’ news concerns as much as possible. The  Huffington  Post has a dedicated team to keep a close eye on changes of keywords on Google, and thus to discover those most-searched keywords. Its teams then write news reports according to these keywords and publish them promptly. Links are keys for online journalism. “Websites rely not on the content but views”.9 Keywords show what the public cares about. Therefore, finding those most-searched keywords and publishing relevant news right away is an effective way to meet users’ news demands. This provides users with a customized news service. 1.2.3 Keywords serve as an important index for news planning Popular keywords represent that a large number of users demand more information relevant to them, and these words enjoy a relatively long lifecycle. Through the model analysis of keywords about a Baidu event, researchers found that keywords about political affairs enjoy the longest life span – 52 days; keywords about social events can last about 45 days; keywords related to nature can last about 15 days.10 Journalists must regard popular keywords as a crucial reference index for news planning, and produce Convergence Journalism websites integrated with elements including words, images, videos, and audio as well as interactive settings during their lifespan as soon as possible. In January 2015, 360 News, a Chinese convergent search engine, adopted big data analytics and launched 14 in-depth convergent columns.11 These columns were established by 360’s staff based on popular keywords. “We first analyze keywords/hashtags, people of the month and different search engines to figure out the person and events that receive the most attention and then pick 14 most representative topics based on the information above”.12 On each page of 360 in-depth convergent columns, there are media attention index and user attention index. There is also a pentagon-shaped graph showing an attention index on the right side of the column page, representing foreign media, domestic media, wemedia, WeChat moments, as well as a Micro-blog attention index, respectively.

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In addition, there is also a “Depth & Data” column at the bottom of the page, presenting in a line chart the changes of the clicks and reposts from January to December. Once there is a piece of breaking news or a hot issue, the press must report it as soon as possible to take the first-mover advantage. And, in turn, search engines will give priority to the earliest published news, and they will enjoy a longer lifespan. Consequently, the press will attract as many users as possible. The press must keep an eye on the fastest rising hashtags and analyze them, and then collect them to see if they are suitable for the news report. If properly used in news, these words can help to attract more views. Baidu Top Search List (http://top.baidu.com) released a word list for current affairs, people, events, life, science, finance, automobiles, and entertainment. If one clicks on the “event” button, this list will be further subdivided into social events, sports, etc. Words on the list are suitable for making news. Baidu puts those fastest rising hashtags and popular keywords in order, and they can serve as a reference for Convergence Journalism’s topics. 1.3 The principles and strategies for identifying keywords Keywords effectively promote the dissemination of Convergence Journalism. Keywords – embodying the public’s attention to the news – serve as an important reference index for report planning and are of considerable value. The first step for using keywords is to identify them. Therefore, journalists must make clear the principles for identifying keywords and meanwhile understand the importance of applying personalized ones. 1.3.1  Follow    the principles of integrity, specificity, and effectiveness Identifying words in Convergence Journalism must follow these three principles: Integrity, specificity, and effectiveness. (1) Integrity Never cheat the users. When users access relevant websites, they should be able to see content related to a certain keyword. Do not let them down. Truth is the lifeblood of news, therefore, journalists must be honest and responsible instead of using irrelevant keywords as a ruse to attract users as this may taint a press’s reputation and do harm to its long-term interests. (2) Specificity People type nouns much more frequently than verbs when searching news. Therefore, SEO must attach more importance to nouns. Additionally, keywords must be specific and personalized. Adding a qualifier to an extremely broad keyword can make it more concrete. “News”, for example, its scope is too broad

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and can be easily lost in search engines. As such, keywords like this could be meaningless. Adding qualifiers and phrases can make words more specific, such as “Zhoushan Fisheries”, “Distinctive Town in Weihai”, and “Ocean Farm in Yantai”, all of which are relatively prominent. (3) Effectiveness Effectiveness is seen when keywords successfully attract users to browse relevant websites and, thus, increase the user flow. As such, journalists must give priority to those frequently searched keywords with a competitive edge. However, it is impractical to take search frequency into account without considering competition difficulty. Highly competitive keywords are unlikely to attract users. Likewise, selecting those keywords blindly regardless of the specific situation makes no sense. 1.3.2 Pay attention to the personalized requirements of news The news itself is prone to change. Therefore, compared to e-commerce websites, enterprise websites, and industry websites, news websites should take into account their “personalities” when identifying keywords, instead of mechanically applying tips from generalized SEO books. News differs from general information in nature. The essence of this lies in the mutability of news. In contrast, most general information will remain unedited for a long period – information about commodities in particular. This determines that keywords on news websites and other websites must be identified in a different way. If staff still handle relevant issues per the SEO regularities for general websites, news websites, especially specific news pages, are likely to be ineffective. To identify news keywords, one must keep an eagle eye on the latest top search list and take it as reference. Apart from that, the process of identifying keywords must be quick, flexible, and efficient. News reports must pay attention to the use of long-tail keywords, which generally require no extra research. To use long-tail keywords, the key is to optimize the website and enrich its content. Once the optimization work is finished, it is essential to produce profound content in concerted efforts, that is, to advocate professional journalists putting more effort into reporting and, meanwhile, producing better content for users. If a website displays great content, so that it doesn’t have to take certain keywords into consideration, it will surely bring about long-tail effects. As such, even from the perspective of SEO, the knockout for a press is still the news content. Journalists must realize that news production must meet users’ demands. Making light of content production but resorting to some shortcuts is undoubtedly to put the cart before the horse, which cannot gain the benefits of SEO in the long-term. Websites must be strong enough to cover the majority of new coverage. By then, the main competition among presses is not about a single report but all reports as an entirety. News reports’ competition is not all about quality but also

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the quantity and coverage. It is far from enough to compete with other presses with one single great report. By contrast, a press must make sure that it owns not only enough reports, but also reports that are unique to it. It at least cannot miss certain news. The wider the press’s coverage is, the more users will be attracted to search long-tail keywords, which serves as a key factor for the competition among presses in the current network environment. 1.4 Identifying keywords through the network The recognition and application of keywords not only involve the structural distribution of the whole website, but also adapting strategies towards different issues. Convergent journalists are experts in using apps like “Word-searching assistant” and “Baidu Index” to search and compare those fixed keywords. 1.4.1 Ask yourself several questions in advance We should ask ourselves the following questions to make sure we identify the appropriate keyword: What news can we provide to our users? Is there anything special about the news we offer? What are our competitive news services? What sort of keywords do users tend to search? What keywords do other presses use? Are those keywords searched often? In terms of the whole media operation, we should set up a dozen of keywords first, and then figure out how many times they have been searched in “Words searching assistant” or “Baidu Index”. Then, we can select two or three keywords for the website index and another two or three for the channel. For special pages and general pages, the identification of keywords should be adapted according to specific news content. Moreover, we must also take long-tail keywords into consideration. 1.4.2 Collecting data from keyword indexes We can preset the keywords into the keywords box of “Word searching assistant”, and then click the “search” button to acquire relevant information. This app provides us with the search volume, Baidu’s relevant information, and the competition difficulty (P index) of the keyword we typed in. The data can be exported as an Excel file. The keywords which “Word searching assistant” provides can be divided into seven categories: 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, and unlimited. For example, I typed “smog” as a keyword into the app, and got 100 relevant figures, and then exported them as an Excel file. Some of the keywords and figures are listed in Table 5.1. In general, the larger the number of pages about a certain keyword included in the search engine, the more difficult it will be in competition. For a certain keyword, large numbers of relevant pages indicate many competitors. And in turn, it will be harder for this word to win the competition. By contrast, lesser relevant

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Table 5.1 Keyword search list about “smog” 序号

关键词

搜索量

百度收录

P指数

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

雾霾 雾霾天气形成的原因 雾霾的危害 雾霾 英文 北京雾霾 雾霾口罩 雾霾预报 英拉他信雾霾游北京 雾霾图片 雾霾指数 雾霾英语 雾霾是什么 雾霾的形成 雾霾天气 王菲吐槽北京雾霾 中国城市雾霾天气排名 多地陷入严重雾霾 雾霾天气吃什么清肺 防雾霾口罩 霾 PM2.5 上海雾霾 雾霾天气形成的原因及危害 北京雾霾天气形成的原因 雾霾治理

6037 1407 897 72 729 43 43 0 98 273 55 307 84 323 0 0 0 8 135 648 11798 62 1 11 245

100000000 7560000 4840000 2860000 19400000 16200000 100000000 35900000 8940000 13700000 4270000 4570000 38500000 78600000 2290000 5630000 2350000 918000 5340000 100000000 100000000 4170000 7130000 7170000 6110000

难 难 中等 易 中等 中等 中等 中等 中等 中等 中等 中等 中等 中等 易 中等 易 易 中等 中等 难 中等 中等 中等 中等

pages mean lesser competition difficulties. If the number of relevant pages exceeds seven million, this word has huge competition difficulty. According to Table 5.1, “smog” is a keyword searched frequently by netizens. But Baidu search results show that there are 100 million words or phrases related to “smog”, representing huge competition challenges. However, “Beijing smog” was searched much less frequently with 19.4 million words or phrases related to it included in Baidu. As such, “Beijing smog” enjoys less competition, and can be classified as a keyword with an intermediate level of difficultly. If you search “smog” in Baidu Index, you can get the search ranking of relevant keywords and useful information to help identify keywords. Baidu Index also lists keywords whose ranks rise the fastest, which can serve as a reference for identifying news keywords. The relevant information is listed in Figure 5.1. 1.4.3 Identifying the appropriate keywords Journalists should identify appropriate news keywords based on the Word searching assistant and Baidu Index, combined with the media orientation and

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Figure 5.1 Keyword rankings and rise rankings about “smog”

Figure 5.2 Baidu keywords’ popularity trend

competence according to the principle of “huge amount of search results and low competence difficulty”. The key phrase “the hazard of smog” ranks third in Baidu Index, relatively higher. Words searching apps show that the phrase has been searched 897 times, a relatively big figure. The phrase also enjoys a middle P index – less competition difficulty. According to all these figures, journalists can identify it as a key phrase. In this case, “Beijing smog”, “smog forecast”, “smog weather” and other keywords can also be taken into consideration. It makes sense that we predict a relatively spacious room for rising in keywords such as “Tangshan smog”, “Shanghai smog”, “Jinan smog” and so on for those people who focus on the air quality in specific places. As such, it is advisable to add a geographical qualifier to coin new keywords. Besides, Baidu Index provides two line charts showing certain keywords’ searches and media index (popularity trends), respectively, both of which can serve as references for identifying keywords, as can be seen in Figure 5.2.

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Figure 5.3 Baidu keywords: News supervision

Figure 5.4 Population attributes of Baidu keyword search

Baidu Index’s “News supervision” lists the keyword’s media index and its related news, as shown in Figure 5.3. Baidu Index even launched a function called “Users’ profiles” to display users’ geographical distribution, interest as well as professions based on the keywords they searched. For instance, when the author searches “smog”, the “users’ profile” suggests that users searching this word mainly reside in Beijing, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Hebei, etc. Additionally, these users tend to be movie fans, foodies, travel-lovers, as well as family physicians. These users also tend to be in the age range of 20–49. 78% of the users turn out to be men, far outnumbering women. Figure 5.4 shows users’ profiles of a certain keyword. 1.5 The distribution and use of news keywords Structurally speaking, keywords are distributed in a pyramid-like shape from website front pages, channel homepages, column pages to general pages. For practical

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uses, we must pay attention to the use of keywords on a specific page including website title, description tag, keywords tag, and news report. 1.5.1 The distribution of keywords: Pyramid structure The distribution of keywords follows the pyramid principle. In other words, website front pages located at the top of the pyramid use the least number of keywords; channel front pages and column pages are located at the main body of the pyramid, and the number of keywords they use increases exponentially; general pages are located at the foundation of the pyramid, using most keywords for sure. (1) Website pages Located at the spire, they use the least number of keywords, generally two or three keywords. Also, once the keywords are confirmed, they are relatively fixed. (2) Channel pages Channel pages reflect the characteristics of news classification. Each channel uses two or three main keywords and the number of keywords increases exponentially. And again, once the keywords are confirmed, they are relatively fixed. (3) Column pages Column pages represent the main form of Convergence Journalism. Each column page uses two or three core keywords, and the total number of keywords increases exponentially. There are many more keywords in column pages than in channel pages. Keywords in Convergence Journalism and column pages are alterable according to the specific news content. (4) General pages These are located at the bottom of the tower, and a general news report is usually presented as a single page. Each news page has its own keywords, two or three in total. General pages take up the majority of pages and, consequently, the most keywords. Since news varies greatly in its content, keywords in each news piece depend on its specific content. These keywords are also alterable and it is difficult to confirm them. 1.5.2   Specific use of keywords in news pages (1) Web title tags Web titles are found in the blue banner at the top of the Convergence Journalism browser window. It is usually displayed on the first line of the search result list, attracting much attention. A web title tag is the most important part of SEO content, as the “title is the priority in web page optimization and the most significant hint for SEO”.13 It can be understood in this way: The web title tag is set specially for search engines. The title of the news report is made for the reader, while the web title is made for search engines.

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Here is the HTML code format of the web title tag:

News title – news category(news channel) – news website name ……

Each news page should be accompanied by a web title tag with personalized information to accurately describe the core content of the news report and differentiate itself from other pages. The format of the page title tag is usually “news title – news category (news channel) name – news website name”, such as “Xi Jinping meets French foreign minister Laurent Fabius – Leaders’ Column – Xinhua net”. We can only keep the “news website name” of “News category (news channel) name – news website name” or combine these two in a simplified version “site abbreviation + news category”. For example, “Leaders’ Column – Xinhua net” can be simplified to “Xinhuanet” or “Xinhua Senior News”. When writing web title tags, we should pay attention to setting keywords and putting them at the beginning of the tag. “The HTML page title is an Eternally Important factor in search engine ranking algorithms”, and As a bonus, optimizing your HTML page titles is one of those activities that will quickly affect the way your listings look in the search engines.14 News titles in web title tags are often extracted from the headline of news reports. Some headlines may be quite long, which are not suitable to be used verbatim in web title tags. However, we can simplify them and highlight the most attractive content, gaining an upper hand in the keywords searching competition. The result lists of Baidu, Google, and other search engines display at most 30 Chinese characters. Therefore, web title tags cannot exceed 30 Chinese characters in total. From the perspective of journalism studies, a ten-word title would be the most appropriate for readers as too many words might disturb the reading experience. As far as the author is concerned, ten words can be used as the best reference standard for the news headlines of web title tags. And it is better to write less than 20 words for news headlines. (2) Description tags, keywords tags, and news reports In addition to web title tags, web description tags and keywords tags should also be given extra attention in SEO. We can add appropriate keywords in the quotation marks following “content”:

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The webpage description tag is an overview of the overall content of the integrated news report page, and it can contain up to 125 Chinese characters. This part of the content is similar to the summary topic, or it can be regarded as a more comprehensive news subtitle. We can learn from the summary topic to write webpage description tags with keywords. Webpages should be written in complete sentences and keywords should be added into these sentences rather than simply displayed separately. The webpage description tag is a short paragraph composed of complete sentences, not a list of nominal phrases. Writing keyword tags is much simpler. You only have to add two or three main keywords from Convergence Journalism into the tag. Convergence Journalism reports are written both for the benefit of users and search engines. Only when the search engines notice the tags, will more users find the news piece. In this sense, Convergence Journalism should pay attention to the use of keywords and should reasonably allocate keywords into news pages. To avoid internal competition, the same keyword should not appear repeatedly on several news pages. Attention should also be paid to the density of keywords in the news report. Keyword density refers to the total number of words in a keyword as a percentage of all texts on the news page. In general, websites usually limit it to a range of 2–8%. It is particularly important to not deliberately use more keywords in news reports. Keywords should be used naturally. It is important to set keywords in the news title, subtitle, leading, and ending and beginning of some paragraphs. When reading titles, keywords should be seen as early as possible, since search engines tend to search for information at the beginning of a title. HTML emphasizes the subtitles of a certain article and presents the subtitle levels and the sizes of the content in the tags , , etc. is the subtitle of the highest level and should be put as close as possible to the tag, which helps search engines to quickly grasp the gist of the Convergence Journalism report. 1.6 Notes on using keywords There are still some precautions to take in the use of keywords that are worth our consideration. We advocate the proper use of keywords, but not to the other extreme simply by its importance to pay attention to keywords in Convergence Journalism. We should not deify the use of keywords. We should also remember that “too much might backfire” and not overly rely on the use of keywords. Besides, we must oppose pseudo-original articles aimed at short-term benefits. 1.6.1 Using keywords appropriately News is changeable. When dealing with keywords, it is necessary to pay attention to both core keywords and long-tail keywords. Some keywords are less searched

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by users. However, an increased total number of these keywords might bring a considerable number of searches. Such keywords are essentially long-tail keywords. There are two main points to consider: First, it is necessary to ensure that a sufficient amount of news can be updated in time; second, user-created content also counts. Convergence Journalism reports attach importance to the use of keywords, but they must also use them properly and not go to the other extreme. Do not misuse keywords, as this might incur penalties from search engines. SEO should instead be natural. Do not use keywords bluntly. Do not destroy the smoothness and readability of the article due to the use of keywords, consequently making the whole article rigid and awkward. 1.6.2 Oppose “pseudo-original work” Some websites owners adopt the “pseudo-original” method, adding keywords to alter a certain article and claiming the article as the original manuscript of their websites to trick search engines into giving them a higher ranking. The “pseudooriginal” approach is not worth promoting, and this kind of opportunistic approach is not a long-term solution. Moreover, a “pseudo-original” article is essentially a plagiarized text, which is an act of deceiving users. Counting on “pseudo-original” content to engage in Internet news dissemination is inadvisable. In addition, we should not underestimate the intelligence of search engines. A “pseudo-original” article is plagiarism, after all, and this could be obvious – search engines might be able to see through the tricks. We value views, but we should give greater value to the human behind the views, the user experience, and their evaluation. Attention to the use of keywords manifests in our new media communication awareness, but it also requires us to have good professional ethics and be able to provide high-quality news services. If we do not use keywords honestly but use them instead as a speculative trick, even if views are temporarily increased, it might incur user drain in the long run. 1.6.3 Don’t stick to the use of keywords In addition to the use of keywords, the ranking of Convergence Journalism pages in search engines is also affected by at least the following three factors: (1) the number of links obtained; (2) users’ evaluation and usage of Convergence Journalism elements; (3) more critically, “Search engine ranking depends on how valuable your content is to the target users”.15 The more links it obtained, the richer and more positive the user’s experience, the higher the ranking of the Convergence Journalism page in the search engine. The true value of the content underpins Convergence Journalism. Only valuable content can attract more links, and it is more likely for users to give positive feedback. In this way, the use of keywords serves as the icing on the cake. Through the appropriate use of keywords and SEO, users can be led to our high-quality news reporting resources and be provided with high-quality news

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reporting services. If there are no high-quality news reports, a temporary increase in views makes little sense, because it is the content that attracts users in the long run. Users have the final decision. Therefore, we need not only to focus on SEO and learning to use keywords effectively, but also on improving the quality of Convergence Journalism reports.

2 Hyperlinks 2.1 The value of hyperlinks Without hyperlinks, there would be no Internet. Hyperlinks connect various resources into a web of information. A hyperlink, also known as a link, directs a user from a certain online location to another. This destination can be another webpage, another location on the current webpage, a file, or a programme. The page where hyperlinks are stored is the source page, and the page that the links point to is the target page. The value of hyperlinks in Convergence Journalism reports mainly manifests in the following ways. 2.1.1 Hyperlinks play a role in reference In terms of the writing form, news reports generally do not need to be quoted with references. Traditional news reports deal with related issues in the form of sources. From the perspective of preciseness, its succinct annotation of provenance is not required as rigorously as that of academic publications. On the other hand, it, however, is more difficult in tracing the source of certain interesting information, and in carrying out a more in-depth exploration. The use of hyperlinks realizes the function of reference and satisfies both requirements of succinct presentation and users’ deep learning. What users see at first is a complete news report. It is not cumbersome, thus improves the efficiency of expression. Readers who are interested can click on the hyperlink to enter the relevant page for further reading. Sometimes, the amount of information presented by the hyperlink page may be quite broad, even far exceeding the range of the original news report. The use of hyperlinks enables news reports to meet the different needs of different users. It enhances the functions of news reports and facilitates readers to receive information. News reports, thus, have a more rigorous form, meeting the needs of readers to continue reading research. 2.1.2 Hyperlinks enable news reports to travel through time and space Hyperlinks enable news reports to be connected with past reports and materials and to be extended to the future. Current reports may be linked by a future news report as well, thus shifted into the background information. In this sense, hyperlinks enable news reports to travel through time and space, which is to say, the news becomes more dynamic and has a longer lifespan. The news may no longer

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be fragile since its documentary value is enhanced by hyperlinks. “Today’s news is tomorrow’s history”. Hyperlinks make news reports well-documented historical records, enhancing the value of news and continuing the life of it. 2.1.3 Hyperlinks changed the way of news narratives Traditional news reports are, in most cases, single and isolated. Under traditional media conditions, it is difficult for news reports to achieve flexible contact and interaction with other reports. Therefore, they become isolated entities lacking in vitality. There are connections between various news articles in a continuous report under traditional media. However, this connection is based on the need to report the same theme. It cuts the details because of the limitation of the event process, interview investigation, length, and time. It can neither be linked with other subject articles flexibly, nor can it escape from being isolated. The traditional reporting system is linear and closed, rather than multi-dimensional and open. Hyperlinks make news reports three-dimensional, changing the traditional news narration. Thus, news reports are no longer isolated, linear, or closed. They become connected, three-dimensional, and open. Hyperlinks provide more abundant and diverse information, which makes news reports fuller and part of an open system. 2.2 How to use hyperlinks 2.2.1 Types of hyperlinks According to the different locations of the hyperlinks, there are two main types of hyperlinks: In-text links and end-of-text links. In-text links refer to the keywords, sentences, or other media elements that appear in a report. End-of-article linking is the process of recreating the space at the end of a story to list and link the titles of related documents in the form of a bibliography. According to the number of objects that the hyperlinks point to, hyperlinks can be divided into single-object links and multiple-object links. A single-object link means that the link only points to one target object, and there are no other objects to choose from when clicking on it. A multiple-object link means that the link points to multiple target objects. When the user places the mouse pointer on it, a link title page will pop up on the screen automatically. Then the user can select and click the specific link title according to his or her interest. In Xinhuanet’s “US Media: Snowden Puts Pressure on Russia, May Lead Obama’s Cancellation of Visit to Russia”,16 the keyword Snowden was linked to multiple-object links. When the mouse pointer is placed on the keyword Snowden, a page containing five links will pop up immediately on the screen. We can select one of the titles and click to read, as shown in Figure 5.5. The use of a single-object link is a traditional measure, which is very common and easy to edit manually. A single-object link does not provide users with more choices and sometimes appears monotonous. But if it provides wonderful content, it will help users reduce the cost of choosing.

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Figure 5.5 The case of a multiple-object link

Multiple-object links have obvious advantages, respecting the individual needs of users and greatly expanding the amount of available information. With the development of media technology, the application value of multiple-object links has gradually been highlighted, and new linking applications will continue to develop. Link technology should make full use of the advantages of automatic information processing and supercomputing power to provide users with more valuable information link services. As time goes by, news facts will be updated or changed, and the interest of netizens may also vary. With the help of computer network technology, hyperlink objects can be adjusted automatically, so as to provide users with excellent information extension services. 2.2.2 Set keywords search links Wherever there is a need for arranging keywords, you can consider giving them a link to the search engine. Users can click on the link by moving the mouse cursor over the keyword to read more detailed information. The chat window of QQ, the instant messaging tool developed by Tencent, has this function. For example, when the user talks about Master Hsing Yun, one of the most prominent proponents of Humanistic Buddhism, a dotted line will appear under the keyword “Master Hsing Yun”. If the user moves the mouse pointer over the keyword and clicks on it, the search results window will pop up on the right side. Users can see the search results pages of the blog, videos, pictures, Baidu Baike (a Chineselanguage collaborative online encyclopedia), and related news information. The keyword search links allow users to learn more easily and quickly. 2.2.3 More extensive search links Each user’s identification and understanding of keywords will be different, and each user’s questions in the process of receiving news will differ in thousands of ways. It is sometimes difficult for journalists to grasp the tastes of all users. The editor may have linked some keywords according to his or her own understanding,

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Figure 5.6 A case of a search link

however, there are still some users who require more keywords for an in-depth search for relevant information, which the editor failed to provide a link for. Convergence Journalism reports should consider these personalized issues of users, and take effective measures to meet users’ demands. In terms of media technology, it is difficult for traditional media to solve similar problems. However, Internet technology can easily cope with such problems. This design idea can be adopted. Users select the words they like or wonder, and then the right mouse button will pop up in the search dialogue box. The users can select the appropriate page from the search result list and click to browse to receive relevant information. The following is a screenshot of the Scottish independence referendum coverage17 on iFeng. After selecting the keyword Scotland, users will be able to see the words search Scotland(s) with comprehensive search and search with Baidu. After clicking these words, you will see the words including Baidu Baike of Scotland, Scotland’s latest relevant information and other search results list. Users can choose to read for in-depth understanding, as shown in Figure 5.6. 2.2.4 Dead links No matter what form of link is adopted, ensuring a link’s effectiveness is of the utmost importance. In the links in the text, links at the end of the text, and other direct links to the relevant text, we need to pay attention to dead links. Because files are sometimes deleted or compromised, when readers click on a link, its page sometimes cannot be displayed normally. Such a situation requires a vigilant eye. The function of “error correction feedback” should be set to allow users to provide dead link information promptly, thus corrections can be made in time, leaving users with a good reading experience.

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2.3 Link technology based on SEO From the perspective of search engine optimization, hyperlinks are important factors that affect the subject relevance and traffic directed to the target page. Hyperlinks indicate the affirmation of the source page to the target page. A hyperlink represents a vote. By analyzing the link relationship between pages, search engines can analyze more important news pages. Two aspects should be strengthened in the use of hyperlink technology in Convergence Journalism reports. One is to understand the importance of internal links, and the other is to actively seek relevant links from external websites. 2.3.1 The importance of internal links Internal links refer to links between internal pages of a website or among different positions on the same page. If internal links can be used, then most news media will be unwilling to direct links to external websites. It is probably because that link export is likely to mean the loss of users. From the perspective of search engine optimization, the link-oriented internal page can increase the topic relevance and traffic to the target page, which is conducive to improving the search ranking and attracting more users to the website. The value of internal links is, thus, obvious. Internal links require a high-quality reporting foundation of the convergence media platform, otherwise, the link direction will lose its practical value and will not provide users with high-quality news services. In this sense, if the internal pages can provide sufficient link protection, they will also prove that the media platform has a solid and excellent news dissemination foundation with a strong news database as support. It can maintain consistent professional ethics in longterm news reporting, which shows that it is trustworthy. The link itself indicates a relationship of trust. A linked page indicates that the content of the page is valued and trusted by the other party. There is extensive scope for links. Therefore, the convergence media platform must have a strong foundation to ensure that the link can be resolved internally. The internal link requires the website itself to provide enough trustworthy background information. In addition, search engines have a limit on the number of internal links to each news page. Search engines will publish the pages whose number of links exceeds this limit, they will ignore such news pages or excessive links to pages (target page). The link number limit of Google is 100. However, for most Convergence Journalism reports, the limit of 100 could be quite loose.18 A news page usually does not require so many hyperlinks and there is no need for so many. If users have any questions and need to understand different keywords in depth, they can use the “more extensive search links” mentioned previously to select relevant words for re-search and re-select. 2.3.2 Actively seek external links External links refer to the link relationship between a website page and other pages, and seeking external links refers to the Convergence Journalism reports

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striving for more external website links. Being linked by more external websites within a certain range shows that Convergence Journalism reports can be recognized by more websites. Search engines will also judge their value based on the quantity and quality of these external links, and give them higher evaluations and better search rankings. It’s much more difficult to find external links than to set up internal links. Internal links are determined by the Convergence journalists themselves and are highly controllable. However, external links are difficult for us to control. It is not easy to predict and control whether other media are willing to link your reports. From the perspective of search engine optimization techniques and methods, classified directories, exchange links, and linkbait can be utilized in adding external links. However, these methods may not be fully applicable to specific Convergence Journalism report pages. A classified directory refers to the manual collection of website resources and storage in a directory system. Exchange link refers to the interaction among different websites. These two are mainly for the website as a whole, but not suitable for specific news report pages. The linkbait in the SEO operation skills emphasizes the use of advertorials, online advertisements, and shareware. Most of them are methods adopted for commercial websites and cannot be directly copied to Convergence Journalism reports. However, the inspiration of linkbait for Convergence Journalism reports still exists. There is no need to worry about writing advertorials and advertising. As long as the attention is focused on breaking news and practical information, it is enough to attract more sites to reprint and link. Seeking external links mainly depends on the authority and attractiveness of the content. Only when news content is high-quality enough can it attract external links. In addition, we must pay attention to the power of our users. User participation in creating content, posting comments, and sharing news pages spreads the web of external links to converged news stories, which is an effective way to expand external links. 2.4 Links to other websites The Internet advocates the spirit of openness. Do not be afraid to link to external websites, or even to the websites of competitors. Instead of sticking to one’s own website, we can use hyperlinks in a spirit of inclusiveness, reflecting a generous and confident style. This helps win the respect of users and is beneficial to the long-term development of news businesses. Most of the time, operators of convergence media platforms worry that actively linking to other websites will dilute the page rank of their own pages. But in fact, the relationship between page rank and search ranking is no longer so relevant,19 as its importance has dropped significantly. After many search engines noticed this problem, they have improved the algorithm, and calculated the value of the derived link. In other words, if the export link is arranged well, it will not compromise the value of the source page. Actually, it will increase its search value, which is an incentive for search engines to export links. Therefore, the operators should have enough confidence to export links.

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The reason for export linking is to truly aid users in finding authoritative and credible websites. It is not desirable to take a rash attitude and find some junk websites that are not recognized by search engines as link objects. Convergence Journalism itself is an open system. As long as needed, links can be extended to external websites. The starting point of this approach is for the convenience of users, not for the personal gain of media operators. When using hyperlinks, do not worry about website traffic, do not be afraid that users will go to other websites, and do not just focus on immediate benefits. In the long run, there will be a greater harvest of loyalty and trust from users if you have a spirit of unrequited service, think for the user from the heart, and set up hyperlinks completely for the user’s experience. If the information provided by other websites is valuable and we are still unwilling to make links, then there are only two paths in front of us. One is to rearrange the relevant information and put it on our website. The other is pretending to know nothing. The first approach is sometimes feasible and worth trying when the work is not particularly laborious. But, if this work becomes rather cumbersome, it may consume more energy for journalists, and the loss outweighs the gain. Pretending to know nothing and not linking users to other websites will make users feel inconvenient and also discount the media’s image. It is a shortsighted behaviour that violates the spirit of tolerance of Convergence Journalism. When The Washington Post reported the loss of the Malaysia Airlines passenger plane on its website, it linked to the English report page of Xinhua News Agency20 unaffectedly, and the behaviour was commendable. When clicking on the underlined Xinhua News Agency link in the article body, the user could easily access the Xinhua News Agency’s graphic report page.21 China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, which had a reporter aboard the Haixun 01 ship, reported that a black box locator heard a signal from the plane on Saturday at around 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude – broadly in the same area where the search effort has been concentrated in recent weeks, in the Indian Ocean about 1,000 miles northwest of the Australian city of Perth. The  Huffington  Post usually reproduces its essence by rewriting reports from other media. It optimizes headlines and generously links to the websites that did the original reporting, allowing The Huffington Post to avoid copyright infringement. “On the other hand, links will not cause traffic loss because not many people will click on those original websites”.22 Do not be afraid to link to other sites that are trustworthy if necessary. In line with the principle of facilitating netizens, linking news-related websites with clickable value on the page will win the respect and trust of netizens. 2.5 Showing keyword news link items News.baidu.com/newscode.html provides the service “Subscribing News Through Keywords”. When you enter a keyword, the corresponding code can be retrieved. The daily updated news of Baidu will be seen if you are copying the

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Figure 5.7 HTML code for “Subscribing News Through Keywords” service

Figure 5.8 Automatically presented keyword search news items

code in the text edit box to a Convergence Journalism webpage. The Convergence Journalism page can be updated synchronously with Baidu, and this process can be done automatically, without any extra labour of a network editor, as shown in Figure 5.7. There is a “title” and a “full text” in Baidu’s “Display Keyword News” search keyword position which must be chosen, while the number limit can be “5”, “10”, or “20”. Let’s take “air quality” as an example. Input it into the keyword text box and click “I want the code” to get the corresponding HTML code immediately. Copy the code into the Convergence Journalism page, and you will see the search news items, as shown in Figure 5.8.

Notes 1 CNNIC. “36th Statistical Report on the Development Status of the Internet in China” (in Chinese) [R]. 2015.

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2 CNNIC. “2013 China Internet Users Search Behavior Research Report” (in Chinese) [R]. 2013. 3 ODDEN L. Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing [M]. John Wiley & Sons, 2012. 4 ZHAO J Y, WEI Q Q. “Master Yan Shen, Do You Want Me to Tell the Truth?” (in Chinese) [J]. Southern People Weekly, August 8, 2012. 5 HUANG Y D. “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Variable Factor Analysis for Ranking Research” (in Chinese) [D]. Taipei: Shih Hsin University, 2010. 6 HUANG Y D. “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Variable Factor Analysis for Ranking Research” (in Chinese) [D]. Taipei: Shih Hsin University, 2010. 7 EVANS L. Social Media Marketing: Strategies for Engaging in Facebook, Twitter & Other Social Media [M]. Pearson Education, 2010. 8 ODDEN L. Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing [M]. John Wiley & Sons, 2012. 9 HU Y. “Newspapers are Dead, Long Live Newspapers – Key Strategies for Newspaper Transformation” (in Chinese) [J]. Shanghai Journalism Review, 2011(11). 10 QIAN B, XU Q H. “An Empirical Study of the Hotness and Periodicity of Internet Popular Words: A Case Study of Baidu Event Related Hot Words” (in Chinese) [EB/ OL]. China Marketing Research Association, March 3, 2013. http://www.emarketing .net.cn/magazine/adetail.jsp?aid=2334. 11 http://sh.qihoo.com/zt/2014jh.html, February 5, 2015. 12 JIANG W H W. “360 Websites: News of the Year, Big Data to Ranking” (in Chinese) [N]. China Youth Daily, January 30, 2015(7). 13 ZAN H. SEO  Practical  Codes:  60  Days  to  Increase  Website  Traffic  20X (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Electronic Industry Press, 2012. 14 GRAPPONE J, COUZIN G. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): An Hour a Day [M]. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 15 EVANS L. Social Media Marketing: Strategies for Engaging in Facebook, Twitter & Other Social Media [M]. Pearson Education, 2010. 16 http://news.xinhuanet.com/yzyd/mil/20130719/c_116610351.htm, July 19, 2013. 17 http://news.ifeng.com/world/special/scotland/, September 15, 2013. 18 WU Z X. SEO Tutorial: Search Engine Optimization Introduction and Improvement (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Posts & Telecom Press, 2008. 19 OU C H. Search Engine Optimization and Website Marketing Revolution (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Publishing House of Electronics Industry, 2009. 20 “Chinese Ship Hears Pulse, Possibly From Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight’s Black Box” [OL]. http://www.washingtonpost. com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-shiphears-pulse-possibly-from-missing-malaysia-airlines-flights-black-box/2014/04/05/ df1dfc97-8308-450e-9f7e-6c94c2f4bf6d_story.html, June 8, 2014. 21 “Chinese Search Vessel Discovers Pulse Signal in Indian Ocean” [OL]. http://news .xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-04/ 05/c_133241023.htm, 2014-06-08. 22 HU Y. “Newspapers are Dead, Long Live Newspapers – Key Strategies for Newspaper Transformation” (in Chinese) [J]. Shanghai Journalism Review, 2011(11).

6

Interaction, sharing, and social media

1 Interaction It is not the Internet that created interaction, but it is the Internet that upgraded interaction in a complete and comprehensive manner. Interaction has become a typical part of online reports. Traditional media still face problems in interaction with the audience. Moreover, in terms of immediacy, extensiveness, and profoundness, it is impossible for traditional media to compete with new media. Convergent Journalism reports adopt various ways to enhance interaction such as replying to comments, the use of online forums, Micro-blog (the Chinese version of Twitter), Wechat, instant messaging tools, emails, QR codes, opinion surveying, social sharing etc. Direct ways can be used to let users participate in the process of Convergent Journalism report, and be part of completing the final presentation of the content. Interaction is the natural property of the Internet. It is also the process of group creation. In the Internet age, Customers – whether external or internal – no longer want to be passive recipients of process outcomes, but want to be engaged. Animated by a new sense of empowerment and enabled by technology, they want to engage on their terms and require that the organization adapt to their new context every time they interact.1 When it comes to Convergent Journalism specifically, interaction links users with professional journalists, and integrates broad information sources, diversified insights and creative expression into the production process of news, making every element valuable. 1.1   Effectiveness of interaction 1.1.1 Interaction indicates a high degree of attention Interaction is a sign that a news piece is gathering a high degree of attention. News articles with a high number of clicks, in general cases, have a relatively higher

Interaction, sharing, and social media 153 frequency of interaction. Ordinarily, the absolute number of follow-up posts and comments will also be quite large. Table 6.1 shows the relevant data rank (clicks in one hour), “like” interaction, and click-through rate of news on Netease.2 The top ten news hits on the list averaged 2,355,939 interactions, with a low of 343,695 and a high of 4,484,046. It can be seen that most of the top ten news with high clicks are of high interaction. The number of follow-up posts and people engaging in interaction are large in volume, with 3,660 posts after each news piece on average, varying from 514 to 7,037 interactions. The number of people engaging is 34,222 on average, varying from 4,709 to 74,618. Interactivity indicates user interest in the specific news content. Interaction can be regarded as an indicator of how effectively the Convergent Journalism work will spread. High interactivity, a typical symbol of high-profile news, is conducive to expanding the coverage of spreading news and improving its influence. 1.1.2 Interaction admits the users into its production system The Internet spirit is the gene of the Internet. The Internet develops from bottom to top, in an open, equal and free manner. Neither does the Internet have any international agreements, nor it is founded by any international organization. Owing to its unique attractiveness, it is recognized by the entire world. As long as your network accepts the TCP/IP protocol in accessing the Internet, it is the gene.3 Interaction opens up otherwise “closed” reports and gives equal status to its users to become free creators. Interaction distinguishes Convergent Journalism from traditional news. It is the best reward for users, and shows them that consumer service is important. Interaction provides opportunities for user-generated content. It enables users to enter the production system. Without interaction, it would be tough for users to create media content, not to mention entering the production system of Convergent Journalism. Netizens’ comments have become an organic part of the news content. When accepting information from professional journalists, people also pay attention to the opinions and new information in the comments, considering them providing framework and references. Therefore, it is necessary for us to enhance the level of interaction to heighten the content production, and to admit our users into the news production system through interaction. From the perspective of objectiveness and standardization, a single user may not be that qualified as a professional journalist. Overall, though, the massive amount of information provided by users can amount to a great value in aggregate. It is rather difficult for reporters to be on location when most incidents occur, so citizen journalists can cover them, offering newsworthy information in good time. Users are willing to give their time and energy to contribute to news information and comments for free, which largely expands the connection of news

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Table 6.1 News interaction and clicks News titles 01. Malaysia Officially Admits that the Passenger Jet Might have been Missed in Malacca Strait. 02. Insider: Zhou Bin’s Father Once Wondered to Grow Fruits in His Hometown After He Retired. 03. The US Investigation Agency Suspects that Flight MH-370 is Still in Flight After it Lost Contact with Air Traffic Control. 04. Someone from the Civil Aviation Administration of Malaysia: The military Might Keep Something Secret about the Missing Passenger Jet. 05. Kuala Lumpur Police Searched the Home of a Pilot of the Missing Plane. 06. The explosion of Shanxi Jinji Expressway Tunnel Caused 31 Deaths and 9 Missing. 07. Insider: MH370 Might Have Suffered even More Special Circumstances Than Hijacking. 08. The Malaysian Military Denied Shooting Down a UFO on the Day of the Incident. 09. Former Dongguan Female Prostitute: Client Fined for Two Months of Sanitation Work for Whoring Without Paying. 10. Prospects for Sino-Uzbek Military Cooperation: The Techniques Sold by Russia are Ten Times More Expensive Than Those Sold by Ukraine to China. Mean value

Recommendations Following- Number of Clicks up posts participants 67

860

29314

4484046

81

1176

35934

4286029

213

5811

41386

3205033

132

6581

47298

3182730

112

1972

16630

2568145

77

7002

55677

2496698

54

4959

29322

1509397

28

514

7329

995798

93

7037

74618

487722

7

687

4709

343695

3660

34222

2355929

86

Interaction, sharing, and social media 155 production and turns news reporting into an open platform. The media were then able to leverage the unlimited power of their users to grow their production ranks. Emphasizing interaction and enabling users to enter the news production system cater to the requirements of the Internet digital platform, which is a giant leap for news production. The process of interaction is closely related to open-oriented collaborative production, where greater importance of interaction shall be attached to information production. Apart from news production, books and magazines shall also be produced in an open system integrating interaction. The book Wikinomics, written by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, discussed large-scale collaboration in the Internet era. Its last chapter, The Wikinomics Playbook, faithfully implemented its concept – open collaborative production. There are only two pages in the last chapter. On the first page the author wrote only three words: “Edit This Book!”; On the second page he writes only three sentences, which are “Join us in peer producing the definitive guide!”, “Your Input Needed Here”, and “Join us in peer producing the definitive guide to twenty-firstcentury strategy at www.wikinomics.com.4 Reading this, I accessed the website provided by the book and browsed related content. The website was established by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams for their book Wikinomics, trying to build a platform for the collaborative production of book content and for effective book promotion, which is worth learning for us. Our writers should also resort to online media to serve readers, extend the value chain of books, and strengthen the interaction with readers. Moreover, writers must adopt collective wisdom to innovate the production and promotion models of book content. Boy Kafka, a publication that is neither a book nor a magazine, collects 1,220 emails between Haruki Murakami and the readers of his best-selling book Kafka on the Shore. Boy Kafka records readers’ perceptions, questions, and advice to the author. As a derivative media product of best-sellers, Boy Kafka is a clear example of involving readers in the production process of media production. “Letting people see the open discussion on the webpage, although within a limited scope, it still can become a discussion platform. Then publish it toward broad readers on paper. This is really clever creativity”.5 In the era of media integration, readers are not satisfied with receiving information, they also have the need to express themselves. Editors should provide services in a timely manner, expand the boundaries of user services, and help users release powerful content productivity. In the context of media convergence, user-generated be collected and disseminated. What editors have to do is to organize and process user-generated content according to specific themes, then curate and present it to the public in a more creative and media-friendly form. 1.1.3 Interaction helps improve visits Interaction is conducive to increasing news clicks and can increase visits, which expands the range of news dissemination and enhances the influence of news. On the one hand, interaction indicates news’ ability to arouse readers’ interests.

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Table 6.2 Number of interactions and clicks from Social Dividend by XU Zhibin Date

Sharing volume

Number of interactions

Number of URL clicks

2012/9/9 2012/9/8 2012/9/7 2012/9/6 2012/9/5 2012/9/4 2012/9/3

112764 115026 104159 98429 105160 110024 103077

6195 4720 4738 4401 5459 6586 7375

771307 726217 659548 664887 683710 681766 639076

In general, the more frequent the interaction is, the more attention and clicks are attracted to the news, as shown in Table 6.2. A study on Tencent’s Micro-blog open platform proves that “an increase in interactions will also greatly boost return clicks”.6 In an online sharing contest between Tencent Micro-blog and Changba (a pocket karaoke application), the background data shows the direct relationship between the number of interactions and the number of URLs clicked. “After the release of the product, the sharing of data in the background started to rise, and the return visit data curve showed a simultaneous upward trend”.7 Interaction boosts visitor traffic with a long-tail effect. Previous interactions such as reviews, recommendations, and sharing will drive future information consumption. “Return links are not entirely generated by the news shared that day, at least half of them come from the news in the past. Interactions extend the life cycle of information and get a long-tail effect”.8 Data on Amazon’s book sales ranking is further proof. Products with more consumer reviews tend to rank higher, especially when these reviews are rated with five stars. Such a long-tail effect caused by interaction is evident. Past information from previous user reviews helped a large number of subsequent users to make consumption decisions. Luo Yang, a web development engineer on the Wechat public account of Southern Weekend, discovered that more than a dozen of the top 100 posts were old posts. He speculated that this is likely to be the result of someone scouring out the old piece and reposting it again.9 This is also a manifestation of the long-tail effect of how interaction increases visiting traffic. Importance should be paid to the phenomenon of the long-tail effect and making the news spread over longer periods of time by reactivating it in a subsequent news flash to give it renewed reach. 1.2 Integrating user-generated content into news production The WeChat public account of Xinhua News published “Just now, the Saudi Crown Prince10 was Deposed”, with only 28 words in a single sentence: “On 21st, Saudi King Salman announced that the crown prince Mohammed bin Naif was deposed, and Mohammed bin Salman was appointed as the new crown prince”.

Interaction, sharing, and social media 157 The producer was Liu Hong, and editors were Wang Chao, Guan Kailiang, and Chen Zixia. The interaction on this article is quite interesting. A netizen named Yankovic left a comment expressing his disdain: “Three editors! For just one single sentence”. This message garnered 104,000 likes. The editors replied with strong languages: “Wang Chao edited just now, Guan Kailiang edited being deposed and Chen Zixia edited the crown prince. Any bone to pick?” This response had an even higher number of likes, at 128,000. A netizen named Linear Algebra thought that was not a big enough deal, he added: “My lovely Liu Hong edited a punctuation mark, the full stop”. The editor replied, “Nobody has called me lovely for 500 years! Uncle Liu shed tears of excitement”. A netizen named Rice Eater commented: “See what Xinhua News Agency does. Their title is concise and the article is direct to the point. Some self-media editors who write click baits should learn from it. #The national-level Wechat public account”. Netizen Leilei commented: “I read the comment replies one by one and instantly fell in love with Xinhua editors. I love their style!” Rather than making news with a straight face, Xinhua editors interact vividly with users to cocreate content. The news is serious, but the editors are humorous, which reflects the progress of the times. A typical difference between Internet news production and traditional media news production is that the Internet breaks the monopoly of professional elites and makes the production of news possible for a wider range of society. The user is no longer a mere consumer of information but has become an important participant in the production of news and a creative force on an equal footing with news communicators. How to gather the power of users and absorb the achievements of social news has become a key to Convergent report. The  Huffington  Post, an American website founded in 2005, surpassed The New York Times in website traffic by 2011, earning the title of “America’s #1 newspaper on the Internet”. “Crowd funding” and “crowd sourcing” are new forms of producing news. The secret to The  Huffington  Post’s success is relying on the power of users to create content. The Huffington Post has more than 12,000 citizen journalists and more than 3,000 core bloggers, as well as even more recipient groups. By depending on these volunteer workers to create a new model of creating content, The Huffington Post has been a success. Users wish to express themselves and are willing to contribute to the content creation through interaction. A common form of user-generated contents is commenting. In order to respect the users and build a friendly atmosphere, we usually discourage deleting comments, even critical comments. The very act of content production is users’ intrinsic motivation in content creation. Users spend their energy and time creating content, most of the time without receiving additional compensation, but the process is enjoyable for them and the production of the content itself becomes a source of happiness. In 1970, Edward L. Deci claimed that human motivation is divided into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation means that the act itself is a reward, while extrinsic motivation is a reward generated outside the act,

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such as a remuneration. Deci emphasized two specific intrinsic motivations, namely: Desires both for autonomy (the work was under their control) and for competence (Soma is a game where continued effort brings improvements in skill).11 For Convergent Journalism reports, users’ motivations for creating content are mainly seen in the following ways. (1) Autonomy. The initiative in content creation is in the hands of the user. It’s up to the user to decide whether to do it, when to do it, and how to do it. The user is in control and enjoys the pleasure of autonomy. (2) Competence. I can provide the news information, I have the advantage, and value of accessing information resources. I am capable of expressing myself. (3) Sharing. Users have an innate desire to share. Sharing multiplies and brings rewards. “Users’ mode is more important than all engineering modes”.12 Media integration must focus on the value of users as the main creative force, and connect them to the content production process. For today’s users, the process of information consumption is also an information production process, while information production is also a way of consumption. Promoting users’ information consumption to extend to information production activities, or sharing the achievements to more users, is one of the important characteristics of new media information production.13 There should be easy platform portals for users to create content. We should engage Internet users in news coverage, and assist users in submitting the news they discover to the media for publication. As shown in Figure 6.1, in reporting on the loss of MH370, The Wall Street Journal set up a “Wall of Remembrance” section on its website features page, requesting users to provide information about the 227 passengers and 12 crew members in memory of the accident. “Whether it’s a memory described in words, a story, a photo, a video or a piece of mourning, we look forward to hearing from you”.14 By encouraging users to submit text, images, or video via social media or email, The Wall Street Journal appropriately addressed the issue of users’ participation in news coverage – both by actively incorporating the information provided by users and sending condolences to those who lost their lives. Here is a report about passenger Jiao Weiwei, provided by user Rose Yu: Jiao Weiwei, 32 years old, Chinese. Jiao Weiwei considers pregnancy and childbirth an important event in her life and has taken a course in psychology for this purpose. After working at tech companies like Qihoo 360 Technology Co. and Yonyou, Jiao Weiwei resigned her job to stay at home with her son, Wang Moheng, who was born in May 2012.

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Figure 6.1 “Wall of Remembrance” by The Wall Street Journal

She travelled with her husband Wang Rui, son and parents in Sabah, Eastern Malaysia. She is known to be a patient mother who is able to deal with her child’s tantrums and calm him down. Wang Moheng is lovingly called as “Boss Mo”. While the family was on holiday in Sabah, Jiao Weiwei shared some photos on Tencent’s WeChat instant messaging service. One of the photos shows her smiling exaggeratedly at the camera, wearing a colourful bow on her head. Jiao Weiwei left Beijing on a particularly polluted day, intending to attend a small reunion of her university classmates when she returned to China. She sent a WeChat message: Friends suffering from smog in Beijing, wait for me to return! We’ll share the same fate! – Rose Yu We have no idea whether Rose Yu is a friend, colleague, or relative of the victim. In addition to the story about Jiao Weiwei, she also wrote a story about Jiao’s husband Wang Rui on another memorial wall. Wang Rui was 35 years old, he graduated from Tsinghua University, majoring in accounting. He was a director

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Figure 6.2 Send to BBC News

of the Boston Consulting Group. His hometown was Handan, Hebei Province. The words written by Rose matched a description that could have been given by a professional journalist. Her text is clear and succinct in describing the poignant stories of the people involved. As shown in Figure 6.2, the BBC also values the production mechanism of user-generated content. Its mobile news with clients has an entry of “Send to BBC News”. Users can click to enter at any time and write their own reports on the blank pages of “Send to BBC News”, participating in the production, then click and send the reports to the BBC. 1.3 The design of online surveys and emotive feedback Online surveys, in conjunction with news reports, are also effective means of interaction, allowing users to participate in the creation of content and distribute their knowledge and evaluation. The design of this kind of survey cannot be simply equated with the general marketing survey. Marketing surveys have a complex and systematic structure, ranging from ten questions to tens of questions. They usually take ten to 30 minutes to finish, while the implementation of a

Interaction, sharing, and social media 161 market survey requires the assistance of mechanisms such as face-to-face persuasion and the gift of compensation. It is not applicable for an online investigation of the news report. The following considerations should be taken into account when using an online survey to accompany news coverage. 1. How to design the questions. We should grasp the controversial aspects of news stories and design them as survey questions. We should also identify users’ interests, ask them for their views and opinions, and satisfy their desires to express themselves. Chen Chunxiu, a farmer’s daughter in Guanxian country, Shandong Province, was replaced by an impostor in college 16 years ago. She had to go out to work. On May 21, 2020, when she was inquiring about student status information on China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center, out of expectation, she discovered that she had even been admitted by Shandong University of Technology. Only then did she know she had been replaced. Relevant administrative departments launched an investigation and cancelled the impostor’s school registration. Chen Chunxiu asked the Shandong University of Technology if she could resume her studies, but was denied on the grounds that there was “no such precedent”. In response to this matter, Toutiao News launched a survey poll on Micro-blog, attracting lots of attention from netizens who were willing to express their opinions by voting, as shown in Figure 6.3. 2. How many questions to be used. Netizens’ participation in surveying is often a momentary act, and they will not spend too much time. The online survey questions should thus be extremely concise, and the number of questions should be strictly controlled, with one to three questions appropriate. If there are too many questions, netizens will be intimidated and likely to give up participating in the survey. 3. How to encourage users to participate in the survey. In most cases, users who are willing to participate in the survey often have a desire to speak and want to express their views wholeheartedly. Despite this, we should still adopt various ways to encourage their participation. A good way to encourage this is that participants are able to see the results of the survey as soon as the survey is completed. We can also use an illustration to encourage users to take the survey. It should also be noted that online surveys are usually not conducted by truly random sampling, and their results cannot be used to infer the opinions of all Internet users. Random sampling has strict statistical rules, and the point is that it must follow the principle of randomness. Online surveys do not follow these. It is up to users to decide whether they are willing to participate or not. There is often

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Figure 6.3 Micro-blog poll survey

systematic bias between those who are willing to participate in surveys and those who are reluctant to express their opinions publicly. However, as a channel for collecting users’ feedback, online surveys in Convergent Journalism are still of positive significance. It is an effective way of interaction, and creates opportunities for users to participate in content creation. Also of note are emotive feedback surveys. I made a report on the Linyi online website about donations made by villagers in Xiaoling villages to help girls with leukaemia.15 Figure 13.3 is an emotive feedback survey at the end of the report and the number of visits was 4,887, and 162 netizens expressed their opinions. The Linyi online news report did not provide users with a forum for freely expressing ideas. Instead, it set up such emotive feedback survey, asking users how they felt after reading the report. Alternative options include “touched”, “sympathy”, “angry”, “funny”, “sad”, “supportive”, “amazing”, etc., as shown in Figure 6.4. It is a helpless move to close the forum of a website. Everyone knows that opening a forum and allowing users to express their opinions freely is the best way to encourage content creation. However, when it comes to the constraints of social reality, we should consider avoiding the punishment brought by users’ irritating comments. Purely from the perspective of freedom of speech, netizens

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Figure 6.4 Emotive feedback survey

Figure 6.5 Sohu’s emotive feedback

have their freedom of speaking, even if they are unscrupulous, their freedom to speak has the potential to spell doom for the media. “It all goes without saying. You know exactly why we use the emotive expressions”.16 This ridicule of just 14 characters carries so much meaning, as shown in Figure 6.5. If the forum is closed and users’ interaction session is not established, what is the difference between the new media and the traditional one? How can new media solve this dilemma? Adopting this kind of a survey is a solution, one that reflects the media seeking trade-offs between political abidance and professional pursuits. It effectively controls the possibility of irritating speech and avoids political risks. At the same time, it also provides a platform for netizens to express themselves and interact with others, and meets the requirement of user-generated content. It is a relatively traditional method but is much better than having no solution. It is an example of media adapting to the complicated social environment and solving the surviving and developing problem, and it can be regarded as folk wisdom. 1.4 Integration of games into news Games are an effective form of news interaction, and the integration of games and news is a noteworthy development. 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War Against the Japanese and World Anti-Fascist War. On September 3, China’s first Victory Day parade was held on Tiananmen Square. To commemorate

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Figure 6.6 Game interaction in Tencent’s convergence feature column “Glorious Song”17

the 70th anniversary, Tencent launched a special report called “Glorious SongCommemorating the 70th Victory”. This special news report set up an “Interactive Games” column, including such five games as “Nationwide Traitor-painting”, “Changing History as a Spy”, “Story of a Bullet”, “Searching Veterans”, and “The Anti-Japanese War in the College Entrance Examination”. When the user moved the mouse pointer over each game pattern, a QR code was displayed automatically, and the user could interact with the game after scanning the code, as shown in Figure 6.6. After clicking to enter the game “Changing History as a Spy”, a picture of five spies appeared on a rotating disk. When I played, I clicked to become Dusko Popov and choose “play now”. The instruction said: “You have received information that Japan is likely to attack Pearl Harbour, and you will meet FBI Director Hoover. Please click the clothes on the right and select a suitable jacket”. I chose a set of colourful casual suits and it turned out that “Due to showing the image of a playboy, the information was not adopted”. The game also told me the real history “Popov squandered in the United States and dated with famous actresses, therefore, Hoover thought he was just a playboy who was decadent and disregarded the information provided by Popov that Japan could have attacked Pearl Harbor”. I clicked again to become Kawashima Yoshiko’s game character, a descendant of the Manchu royal family, who grew up in Japan and was a traitor for the restoration of Manchukuo. She participated in the Mukden Incident and killed Zhang Zuolin, an influential Chinese warlord. The result showed that: “125,958 people refused to play Kawashima”. I clicked the “Punish” button and saw a horrible video of electrocuting the traitor with skeleton flashing. Although the use of games in news reports has raised some questions and objections, the pace of integration of games and news still does not stop, and news

Interaction, sharing, and social media 165 gamification is also being introduced, such as the Philippines media Rappler’s Hunger Project and Al Jazeera’s interactive news game “Pirate Fishing”, being well-known examples. Pirate Fishing has even attracted over 80% new subscribers to the official Al Jazeera website.18 In traditional journalism, news entertainment is rarely seen, and the application of games to news is easily relegated to the category of entertainment news, and has thus been ostracized. I personally do not like playing games, but that doesn’t stop me from remaining optimistic about the value of games in Convergent Journalism interactions. In my opinion, we should be relatively open and steady about the use of games in news interaction. 1. Try to adopt the interactive form of games. Games add fun to the process of receiving news, make news interaction more diverse, and strengthen the user’s sense of participation, resulting in a positive impact. Game interaction should be recognized and supported to encourage the use of games in the integration of news interaction. 2. Do not abuse the form of games. A truthful, objective, and fair reporting principle should be taken into consideration when we apply games to the news. When integrating games with news, we should pay special attention to the requirements of journalistic ethics to avoid secondary damage. 1.5 Social resources utilization and timely feedback 1.5.1 Social resources utilization The production mechanism of social media is a typical phenomenon of “user generation”, and social media has become an important platform for new information. It has expanded news sources and changed the traditional way of interviewing. In the era of traditional media, it was difficult for local media reporters to interview stars and celebrities. However, in the age of convergent media, local media reporters can interview celebrities conveniently. As long as they pay attention to social media, they can always collect valuable information about celebrities. It is even possible to cover a news topic simply by following the statements of different sources on social media. Cameras in every corner of society provide rich resources for Convergent report. In 2004, China launched the pilot “Safe City” project, and one of the key points was to deploy a mass surveillance network system. According to Sina (2013), China has installed 30 million cameras, with an average of one camera monitoring every 43 people. In addition, the number of cameras is increasing at an annual rate of 20%. Each person will be caught on camera about six times per day, from the time they leave the front door in the morning to the time they return home from shopping at a convenience store in the evening. The situation is even more dramatic in the UK, where 5.9 million cameras are installed, with one for every 11 people. The average Briton will be captured on camera 300 times a day.19

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Cameras all over public transportation roads, schools, hospitals, supermarkets, stores, businesses, institutions, and communities are an important source of video information, and these images can also be included in Convergent Journalism. Every year, public transportation becomes an issue of social concern during the college entrance exams. People tend to be especially concerned about the traffic around the test centres. Candidates and their parents will worry about whether they can reach the test centre on time, and drivers will worry about whether there will be traffic control when passing by the test centre. News media should leverage the power of these cameras when covering relevant news. These cameras have the ability to rotate direction to adjust perspective and also push and pull the lens to provide different angles of video quickly. Traffic police have often proven more professional in their coverage of traffic issues than most journalists. In the age of new media, it has become a common practice for traffic police officers to act as announcers and send back traffic images from traffic police command centres to cover news on traffic issues. During a presentation on media integration and station network interaction at Yunnan Television Station, Kathy Walker, a board member of the Radio Television Digital News Association, explained that traffic information from 850KOA in Denver is primarily “obtained through police conversations, monitoring traffic intersection cameras, etc”.20 For the same reason, Convergent Journalism should fully mobilize social forces. The information offered by society should be written into the report as long as it is valuable. From the logical view of producing data-driven news, “analysis of the relationship behind the event” has become the starting point of data news, has increasingly become the basis for news production in the era of big data, and has transformed the way of news production.21 Cameras record the trajectory of people’s social lives, collecting and storing a huge amount of crowd behavioural data, which can be used to analyze the correlation of crowd behaviour and predict the development trend of crowd behaviour. They are an important source of data mining and production. 1.5.2 The necessity of timely feedback New media interactions should emphasize timeliness and the need for quick feedback, rather than the traditional media approach. Some magazines issue a statement: “If no notification of use is received within six months, the author can handle the manuscript on his own”. This is typical of traditional media thinking, which is in a clearly superior position and does take no account of the interests of authors. Even academic papers need to consider timeliness, and publications should give their authors timely feedback – to accept or not. New media researchers should also focus on interaction with users during their use of blogs, Micro-blog, instant messengers, and emails, this interactive experience is an important asset. New media researchers should not just leave their research to books and theoretical arguments, on the one hand, emphasizing the importance of user interaction in theory, but on the other hand, neglecting user

Interaction, sharing, and social media 167 interaction during their own media practices. This approach goes against the spirit of new media and does not give enough respect or value to the other side of the interaction. Feedback should be replied to with no delay. The consequence of procrastination is likely to be no more feedback, which will make the interaction attempt a complete failure. When you see a message or a letter, you should organize a response immediately. Feedback will be constantly updated, once we put off responding to a question for a while, we usually drop the question for good. We will never have time to come back to this question, since new questions will keep popping up, pushing us onward and upward. 1.6 QR codes: Connection and extension A QR code is a rectangular or square shape chequered with a black and white pattern that records information on a two-dimensional plane which can be read by many devices. It uses geometric figures corresponding to computer binary digits to record information. WeChat attaches great importance to QR code scanning. On August 5, 2013, WeChat version 5.0 was released, which has significantly enhanced and expanded the QR code scanning function. Previously, WeChat “Scan” mainly referred to QR code scanning, but since the upgrade, WeChat has also added barcode scanning, cover scanning, street view scanning, and translation scanning in addition to QR code scanning. “Scan” connects online and offline, causing “not only online stores have to take the hit, but many brick-and-mortar stores will face an existential crisis”.22 QR codes can be applied to new digital media as well as old media. Technology in new media can recreate old ones, while old media can adopt the technology of new media. Sometimes, we see QR code patterns printed in newspapers, and sometimes code even appears in the corner of the television screen. By using QR codes, printed newspapers can link readers to three-dimensional papers, meanwhile, traditional television can interact with the online world. “We become used to certain kinds of media experience in which the use of technology becomes invisible”.23 Users will soon adapt to new media technology or the use of new technologies in old media. QR codes are now so commonplace for users that it has even become a breeze for most to make their own QR code image. It is easy to create QR codes. Users can search for the keyword “QR code” to get an online QR code generator. With free QR code generators, users can create QR codes for business cards, phone calls, text messages, web addresses, emails, etc. The information in the QR code can be easily read by any mobile phone with QR code scanning software installed. It is worth noting that the production of QR codes should try to control the number of characters used. With too many characters, the QR code will be illidentified. Nowadays, a large number of codes are linked to a website only, not much else. The advantage of doing this is to make the code easy to be identified while leaving the specific content and functionality for the URL. Additionally, if

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the size of the code is too small, it can be difficult for some mobile phones with poor ability to recognize the codes. For example, some newspapers print such a QR code, which is not easy to be scanned and read with a mobile phone. One of the main uses of QR codes for traditional media such as newspapers and television is to connect with the Internet world. With the code itself providing a link address, users can scan it and click the link to enjoy abundant content and functions provided by the website. Whereas the old media was limited, now it can hold a huge amount of information via available new media technologies. QR codes are tools for extending old media to new media. Traditional media is able to reach the online space through QR codes, blurring the boundary between traditional media, thus, the previously separate media can integrate.

2 Social sharing Sharing is the DNA of the Internet, and the creators of the Internet were scientists with the spirit of sharing. If those pioneers of science and technology had not had the spirit of selfless sharing, they would have become the richest people in the world simply by virtue of their patents on the Internet. As a form of Internet journalism, Convergent Journalism must focus on social sharing as well. Content is the core product of news media. Content sharing has become an important path for Internet communication, providing energy and motivation for communication. News and social interactions are in-born related. Social sharing is an integral part of the Convergent Journalism distribution. Sharing is convenient and zero cost. Social media facilitates sharing, and sharing enhances the impact of the news. 2.1 Social sharing as human nature Sharing is the nature of Internet users. The sheer volume of information and variety of content that users retweet on social media every day is overwhelming. The reason why sharing has become human nature lies on our biological and sociological basis. Humans are social animals, and it is instinctive for them to build relationships and exchange information with others. “Human brains are social brains, tuned to analyze the shifting intentions and allegiances of friends and rivals within a group. Our brains were made for social networking”. “Humans are, in short, built to form networks with others and to exchange information with them”.24 A user’s desire to share sometimes even exceeds their security concerns. Clay Shirky, an American Internet scholar, mentioned a piece of Chinese news in a speech, illustrating the power of social media and the strong desire of users to share. Li and Wang were both in their twenties. Li, who could picklock, invited Wang to “make a fortune” with him. The two broke into a car in a hotel parking on Chengnan Road, Jiaxing City. They retrieved a wallet containing 12,000 RMB (1,824 USD). After going back, Li spread the money on the bed and took a photo

Interaction, sharing, and social media 169 with the money sideways. Then he shared the photo on Qzone with a text, “I got this amount of money in one single night”. As a result, the police caught Li and Wang through this shared information.25 In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, human needs are divided into five levels from basic to advanced, namely physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. In this case, the desire to share surpasses the safety need at a more fundamental level and the protective function of the user’s self-safety. There is a lot of power in social sharing, and we should be aware of this. Without information sharing, there would be no social interaction. The process of communication can be regarded as the process of sharing. The opposite of communication is solitude, and the opposite of sharing is restraint. Communication is changing, while solitude is relatively quiet. From the perspective of life reflection, people need not only interaction, but also solitude. Communication is expansion, while solitude is introversion. Communication is easy to lead to fragmentation, while solitude is the arrangement of fragmentation. As Zhou Guoping said in The Value of Solitude, “Solitude is for internal integration. In communication, people face the part and the crowd. Relatively, they face the whole and the source of everything in solitude”.26 An organic combination of interaction and solitude makes for a healthy life. Not only do people have different needs for communication and solitude, but also information sharing. Therefore, the urge to share should be guided by your temperament. If you push content in social media frequently, it is likely to disgust your friends, and may easily cover up important information. If you spam in Wechat Moments, it is easy to be blacklisted by your friends after a while. In this case, you need to be restrained. 2.2 Important indicators of news evaluation For the evaluation of media and news, print media usually use circulation and reader surveys, while radio and television media usually characterize relevant information with audience measurement, audience population, and audience surveys. Traditional media, especially print media, usually investigate the entire situation and rarely evaluate a specific piece of news. Theoretically speaking, questionnaire surveys, in-depth interviews, or seminars can be used to collect readers’ comments on a news report. However, the number of daily news reports is so large that similar surveys cannot be conducted on a large scale in practice. In other words, due to the inoperability of print media, each specific news in practice is usually unable to be evaluated. In comparison, the survey indicators of radio and television media can be specific to the evaluation of a news programme. For example, the personal rating recorder method can be used to investigate the TV programme ratings. However, this kind of survey must be carried out in the form of sampling. The reliability of the survey results is affected by the sampling method, size, and implementation. Whether the survey results can truly reflect the audience’s preferences for a specific news report is not easy to control.

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The evaluation of Convergent Journalism reports on new media has undergone new changes. That is to say, social sharing has become an important indicator of news evaluation. Users can share the news on social media with one click if they feel it is worthy of attention. Therefore, the amount of social sharing comprehensively reflects the recipients’ attention to specific news. Remarkably, users are surveyed to express their opinions in traditional media, while they make feedback actively when social sharing. Usually, in traditional media surveys, it takes time to see the results. But social sharing opinions are instant and ever-changing. Sampling is not suitable for social sharing. It is unnecessary to infer the overall situation of news recipients, and there is no so-called sampling error, confidence, or other issues. Social sharing itself is the feedback actively made by all news receivers, and directly reflects the overall evaluation of uses’ news sharing through social media. There are some necessary indicators for the evaluation of network news, such as the volume of clicks, posts, interactions, sharing, and user growth. Among them, sharing is more important than others. Only when the volume of sharing increases, will there be new improvements and breakthroughs in clicks, posts, interactions, and user growth. In terms of social sharing, there is not only users’ attention to a specific piece of news to be considered but also more specific opinions. Usually, users like to express their own opinions when sharing news. Their emotions and opinions – even more detailed and personalized information – are shown from text expressions, emoticons, and other means. Compared with traditional media, the survey indicators of network media are more open and transparent. “Journalists can understand the popularity of works in real-time. Also, competitors can analyze the popularity of one article, which government departments can do as well”.27 It is useful for operators to assess the times that news has been shared. Also, outsiders can view the data of sharing directly or obtain the data through invoking API. Shared opinions are public and specific, with clicks, posts, and points. Indicators such as “likes” are usually directly open to all users. However, traditional media are extremely conservative in survey data. At most, some of the disclosed data is beneficial to them. Even the authenticity of these so-called data is always questionable. As for the audience evaluation of a specific piece of news, it cannot be fully open and transparent to the outside in traditional media. Indeed, in traditional media, the evaluation of specific news is not convincing enough, so that the evaluation data of a single piece of news cannot be obtained. 2.3 The generation of network sharing codes Users’ sharing desires should be considered in the news pages. A variety of share buttons should be set, which can facilitate users to share the news they follow to their social media with one click. The benefits of this are also obvious to the media. In this way, the efficiency of news communication has been improved. News can be transmitted quickly in a viral fashion, then the reach of news communication will be expanded.

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Figure 6.7 Share buttons

Some websites provide code services. On www.jiathis.com, there are codes including share buttons, social comment boxes, and “guess what you like”. Baidu also provides the code of share buttons, which users can obtain in “share.baidu.com /code”. Copy these codes and paste them anywhere between the and of the news page’s HTML code. Then a share button will appear in the corresponding position of the page. Users can share the news with one click to some social media, such as Qzone, Sina Weibo, Tencent Micro-blog, Renren, Netease Micro-blog, Kaixin, Baidu Tieba, and Douban, which is very convenient. If a template is used on the website, the share buttons will automatically appear on all pages after the code being copied to the website template, as shown in Figure 6.7. The following are share button codes provided by Baidu:









The number of share buttons should be controlled. Too few share buttons will be not conducive to satisfying the different sharing needs of users. Too many share buttons will make the page complicated, increasing the difficulty for users to find and choose. There is a more reasonable approach. Determine the main sharing media to share first. Give priority to meet the needs of the most powerful media. Then moderately expand the needs of other target platforms. There are five share buttons

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Table 6.3 Statistics on the number of share buttons Media

(Total) Number Social Applications of share buttons

Sina

5 (118)

Sina Weibo, Qzone, Renren, Tencent Microblog, Douban, etc. NetEase 6 Yixin Moments, Netease Micro-blog, Sina Weibo, Qzone, Renren, Youdao Cloud Notes Tencent 4 Tencent Micro-blog, Qzone, QQ Friends, Sina Weibo Sohu 3 (14) Sina Weibo, Qzone, Renren, etc. Xinhuanet 5 (58) Xinhua Micro-blog, Qzone, Sina Weibo, Tencent Micro-blog, Renren, etc. People’s Daily Online 8 (58) People Micro-blog, Sina Weibo, Qzone, Tencent Micro-blog, Renren, Sohu Microblog, NetEase Micro-blog, Baidu one-click sharing, etc. iFeng 3 Sina Weibo, Qzone, Tencent Micro-blog The average number of share buttons: 5 (37) (the number of expansion buttons in parentheses, December 10, 2013)

in the usual manner. If necessary, set one more extension button. When the user clicks the extension button, more sharing destinations will pop up. In Table 6.3, there is the situation of setting sharing buttons on news pages of some major domestic network media. These media have set up five share buttons for news pages on average. The number of buttons varies from three to eight, which can even be expanded to more than 100. For example, the Sina News page has five share buttons, which can be expanded to 118 sharing media destinations. 2.4 Traces left by journalists Users are curious about journalism. They enjoy interacting with professional journalists and learning about their careers. The author of this book found that more than 80% of the respondents to a survey expressed a good impression of interactions with journalists. 34.73% of them wanted to see a personal introduction edited by reporters, 19.72% of them wanted to see their personal photos, and 14.31% of them wanted to see a personal video. Words have the advantage of precise expression, while images and videos have the advantage of visualization, and social sharing should be done with a combination of these media elements. When sharing in WeChat Moments, users are required to take a photo or select a picture from their phone album. This mandatory requirement initially made some people who were used to text-only messages a little uncomfortable, but over time, the users’ habits developed and they may now even actively look for accompanying images when sharing their moments

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Figure 6.8 Introduction to the author at the bottom of the report from Marketplace Life

again. This approach of WeChat is to cultivate “the right-brain thinking” of users, so that the creation and sharing of information can be visualized. When journalists are publishing information, they should also focus on the development of “right-brain thinking”. In addition to the textual materials, visual materials, like personal pictures, should be distributed. From the perspective of narrowing the distance with users, enhancing media affinity, and promoting interaction and sharing, it is very necessary to appropriately publish some information of journalists. Marketplace Life set an “About the author” section below “Photojournalist John H. White on layoffs, 35 years at Chicago Sun-Times”, which had a photo attached to a brief introduction about the author, as well as his Twitter account details, as shown in Figure 6.8.28 The main page on the left of Tencent Newspedia is used to illustrate news reports, and the narrow page on the right is used to display content such as “QR Code for Download”, “Edit”, and “Recommended Following”. “Edit” shows the personal information of the producers of this issue, as shown in Figure 6.9. The producers’ information that Tencent Newspedia leaves to users mainly includes as follows: (1) Following. Users can follow the journalist in the Qzone by clicking this button and become their fans; (2) The name of the journalist and his responsibilities, such as “Editor: Meng Lixin” and “Cartographer: Zheng Cheng”; (3) The personal keyword description of the journalist; (4) Micro-blog URL of the journalist.29 Users can easily see the identity of the broadcaster when receiving the news. The personal photos, text introductions, and video materials of journalists also help to form a personal brand effect, cultivate user trust, and optimize the experience of receiving news. They are beneficial in promoting interaction, sharing, and communication. 2.5 Social media optimization promotes sharing The purpose of social media optimization is sharing. By optimizing and facilitating users to share content products on social media platforms, social energy is

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Figure 6.9 The journalist information in Newspedia

constantly injected into communications, enabling effective expansion of communications through social contacting. Search engine optimization focuses on readers and robots, while social media optimization focuses on readers and sharers. We should create what is worth sharing and make it convenient and easy to share. At ordinary times, we should also take the initiative to comment and share others’ content. Measures should be taken to encourage sharing. In 2006, Rohit Bhargava pioneered the term “Social Media Optimization”, or SMO for short. In 2010, Bhargava updated the five rules of SMO, including creating shareable content, making sharing easy, rewarding engagement, proactively sharing content, and encouraging the mashup. Bhargava believed that SMO aimed to optimize the site so that the content could be linked in an easier manner. Moreover, it could be more easily searched by customized social media, and more positively mentioned by relevant social media.30 In China, social media are represented by some apps like Micro-blog and WeChat. Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, they are represented by Facebook and Twitter. The visibility and participation of content among users can be effectively improved by SMO. Researchers including Michel Ballings designed a social media expert system for

Interaction, sharing, and social media 175 Facebook, and the system involved 426 variables including status, photos, videos, and albums. Studies showed that the network size of Facebook posts could be increased by 61% if the optimal strategy was adopted.31 Doralyn Rossmann and Scott W. H. Young compared the website data before and after the SMO of the Montana State University library’s website. The study found that after the website optimization, the number of visits from Facebook increased by 5003%, and that from Twitter increased by 273%.32 Social media optimization was popularly discussed shortly after it was proposed, but soon fell silent for a while. A few years later, the concept of viral communication associated with social media optimization was introduced and widely circulated, which led to the return of social media optimization to the public’s attention. Social media optimization tools have evolved from providing social logins and content sharing to social commenting, and from a single function to a fully integrated system.33 SMO can be applied to a wide range of organizations, enterprises, groups and individuals that want to increase network access. At present, there are still few research results on SMO positively mentioned by domestic journalism circle, thus more attention needs to be paid. Social media have become the most important channel for news flow. Therefore, journalists should strengthen the research and application of SMO. This book focuses on Bhargava’s five rules as a guide to explain the operation of social media optimization. 2.5.1 Create sharable content The goal of SMO is to share, and the primary task is to create what people are willing to share. We should produce high-quality content with the temptation to share, making the content communicable. Whether the content is shareable can be according to whether we are willing to share the news with family and friends. Fresh, interesting, and unique content may be accompanied by virality, making news more alive. Therefore, we must try our best to highlight the scarcity and topicality of the information, which can make the sharers look so good that they are willing to share actively. Social media bring the possibility of multiple communications, and what kind of content is more likely to be shared is a question that journalists must consider. BuzzFeed has achieved a larger scale of network communication by using “listicles”. A listicle combines a list and an article to refine the rich and complex content into one clear, simple, and lightweight form.34 The subtraction of news content is in line with users’ requirements of information reception (short content, equal communication, and quick update). Now that we are engaged in news production, we should pay attention to the three basic actions, and start with these three to enhance communication power. The three are clicking, reading, and reposting when users see high-quality content in Moments, and the actions are full of mystery. Clicking relates to the title. Only when the title is attractive will the reader click it. Therefore, a good title is very important, which is related to the initiation of subsequent actions. Reading relates to the content. Only when the content is attractive and full of rhythm will

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the user be likely to finish reading it. Reposting relates to the emotion felt in the user’s recognition of the content. Only when the users are moved emotionally and deeply agree with the content, will they be likely to repost the article positively. From the point of data indicators, click volume is of course important. This is because clicks directly indicate the communication of the article. But the data of sharing is more important, which shows the reposting process after users’ reading. Reposting tends to mean a continuous increase in click volume.

2.5.2 Make sharing easy There are usually share buttons on news pages to encourage users to share their valuable content to various social platforms with one click. Currently, users are more inclined to use smartphones to obtain news information. Also, apps usually have a one-click function. Without one-click share buttons, social sharing would be rather difficult. Including relevant topics in the text, adding appropriate tags, getting acquainted with using hyperlinks, and similar practical techniques can enhance the visibility of news content. Micro-blog’s recommendation and hot search functions are also useful in communicating news content to unsubscribed users. In this process, the number of fans of news agency accounts may increase, and the efficiency of social media news communication can be improved. Content distribution is as important as content production. There is an energy interaction between them. The current distribution models mainly include an editor’s recommendation, algorithm recommendation, and social sharing. These three modes are each very important. Therefore, the three-in-one model should be adopted rather than complete dependence on a single mode. Editors, as professionals, distribute content in a values-driven manner, and editorial push should be conducive to public opinion, fairness, and values-based content distribution. Thus, the fairness of content distribution and the guidance of values can be achieved. Algorithms improve the efficiency of content distribution and free people from the heavy workload. Social media have become the entrance of information communication in the Internet era. Content distribution is humane and warm because of social contact. Social sharing is effective in communicating because social interaction mainly depends on the user’s personal agreement with the article. We should make sharing easy to spread information widely. 2.5.3 Reward engagement The aim of rewarding engagement is interaction with users. Providing a comment function enables users to express their opinions and comment on other users’ posts. If editors respond to the comments in an active manner, it will be a symbol of positive recognition for the users, and will encourage other users to pay attention to news content and interactive participation. Using data analytics software,

Interaction, sharing, and social media 177 you can see which posts refer to news accounts or news content posted by accounts. The editor’s selective response is an encouragement for the participants. In contrast to news organizations, other organizations have shown a more materialistic tendency to reward participants on social media with more than just mental gratification. In mobile games, developers often require players to share game content on social media to be rewarded with virtual currency. Taobao merchants often give cash rewards to posters. In terms of rewarding engagement, news media should try more ways to establish a wider relationship with users. 2.5.4 Proactively sharing content SMO leverages its strengths to redistribute the user’s message, not only optimizing the content, but also demonstrating its power in terms of speed and reach. Meanwhile, there is great power in the speed and scope of communication.35 The best promoters of news media are the journalists themselves. Journalists should be concerned about content distribution, use social media to actively share content, and actively widen the communication of news products. Internet content production and distribution are an organic whole and cannot be separated. The notion that we are only concerned with content production instead its distribution is not correct. We need to have a holistic view of content production. In addition to producing content, we must also care about content distribution and be committed to content distribution. If the content distribution is not done well, the value of content production will not be realized. In the age of traditional media, journalists and editors did not care about distribution. This was because the distribution data was not immediately shown, and the reading data of each manuscript was not reflected. However, in the age of new media, the situation of content communication can be immediately sent back. The volume of clicks and interactions can be shown in public. It is impossible for new media content producers to ignore content distribution. Who dares to say that these data is not relevant to content production? Now content production has been bound with content distribution. If content producers want to maintain their professional dignity, it should obviously not be possible for them to ignore distribution. Some content producers only focus on the production process, feeling that content distribution is not within their remit. They have no interest in content distribution, which is very unfavourable in the operation of new media. In new media, the interests of team members are bound together. Therefore, each member should care about the content distribution and do their best to expand the communication. Otherwise, if the content cannot be spread, its influence will be limited. No matter how much power is invested in content production, it will not be able to produce benefits. The work of content production will finally be abandoned. Convergence journalists must update their concepts. Content producers must not only focus on the collection, writing, and layout, but also have a sense of the overall situation. They should care about both production and distribution. Only in this way can Convergent Journalism achieve its ultimate goal.

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2.5.5 Encourage the mashup The fifth rule from Bhargava also encourgages the “mashup”. “Mashup” refers to the concept that users add their own content and opinions to the news content, thus mixing up new content. Encouraging the mashup means to give your audience the freedom to mix up your story with their comments, through the means of social media.36 Users attach their own opinions or explanations when reposting. In this way, the news content is processed twice and is returned to the information stream, which is conducive to attracting the attention of other users of the social network. In the age of social media, news can be easily disenchanted or re-chanted. Users deconstruct the original news facts and reconstruct the news events based on their understanding. Sometimes, the users’ personal opinions have a greater influence than the original manuscript. Therefore, we should encourage mashup and reuse, as they help expand the social impact of information products.

3 Social media Social media is a digital media tool or platform used to publish, share, and evaluate information. Social media mainly include WeChat, micro-blogs, social networking sites, blogs, podcasts, forums, etc., with convenient communication functions. Netizens dubbed The Analects the earliest social media, and furthermore, it is the printed version of the micro-blogging collection: (1) each chapter of The Analects is kept within 140 Chinese characters; (2) fragmented writing, mostly Confucius’s inner thoughts; (3) focus on interaction, Confucius often communicates and dialogues with students such as Zigong, Yan Hui, and Zilu through replies and interactions; (4) Confucius has more than 3,000 fans, 72 of which are certified celebrities. We firmly believe that if Confucius ever crossed over to the present, his Micro-blog would be listed on Hot Search, and his WeChat articles would break 100,000 read counts. Why do we value new media? Why should we place a high priority on social media? Because new media and social media have become the gateway to information consumption! Why should traditional media be integrated into the Internet? What is the value of integration? Because if traditional media do not follow media convergence, they will lose the entrance to information consumption and will be eliminated by society. Therefore, we must attach great importance to social media and elevate it to the strategic position of a gateway to information consumption. Otherwise, media organizations will lose their voices and social influence. The operation of integrated news should focus on the role of social media in expanding the impact of integrated news products and enhancing interaction with users. It includes both “integration” and “distribution”. There is a need for page integration in convergent news, and there is also a need to disseminate information through multiple channels. We cannot avoid the use of social media when producing news online. In addition to news integration, making micro products from the information collected during the production of convergence news and distributing them in a

Interaction, sharing, and social media 179 timely manner through social media could expand the impact of the news. Using social media to communicate closely with users and carrying out dialogues will help improve the interactive effect of convergence news. Journalists should be encouraged to apply for accounts and use social media actively. 3.1 Use of social media 3.1.1 Social media accounts WeChat ID number registration: WeChat IDs should be easy to be remembered, not too long. It is a good idea to use a number as your WeChat ID number, such as QQ ID. You can use your QQ ID as your WeChat ID, or you can use your mobile phone number as your WeChat ID, so that your friends can find you and add you easily. Name Disclosure. WeChat is social media for acquaintances, and you should use your real name. But there are many who prefer to use nicknames. It’s unwise to make others guess your name, and it reduces communication efficiency. Publicizing your real name will help increase trust, and you should use your real name, not a fake one. You can plant keywords in your nickname: Company, occupation, product, location, phone, etc., and your name must be at the top, such as “LIU Bo-Wear-resistant parts Casting”. Using real avatars. A real avatar of the person should be used for social media; if it is inconvenient, your caricature or the cover of your book could be used. Introduce yourself. You should be proactive in introducing yourself on your social media accounts and should not obscure your true identity. You can introduce the media you work for and the positions you hold, as well as your title, education, and your influential work. Authenticating accounts. Authenticating social media accounts promote public trust and therefore should be encouraged. A shortcut to scan your QR code. Set a screenshot of the WeChat ID QR code to your phone’s desktop so that unlocking your phone will allow someone else to scan it. Set up alias information for new friends. In the “alias” column, mark the person’s real name, as well as his or her workplace, position, profession, and location. Defeat face blindness. Take a group photo with another person and set this photo as a current chat background. You will be able to see each other’s photos every time you chat, therefore, there will be no fear of not remembering. 3.1.2 Content publication and dissemination Information expectations. The authors have found that respondents expect to see news insiders, personal comments from journalists, and information about the interview process on their social media profiles. In addition, users are interested in the newsmaker’s personal feelings, reprinted information, interesting anecdotes, and news tidbits posted on social media.

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Authenticity. Information authenticity remains the most important issue, which journalists should verify when posting information on social media to ensure that the information posted is authentic. While timeliness is also important, it must take a back seat to authenticity. Journalists should not post information hastily in the pursuit of timeliness and exclusivity only. Representation requirements. Journalists should follow the principle of objectivity in their social media representations. Their commentary should be independent, with a calm tone, and should be able to convince people with reasoning rather than imposing. On this basis, consideration may be given to enhance the vividness and beauty of the language. Caution in splitting. Many social media outlets limit the length of messages, such as limiting the text length to 140 characters. If there is too much content, it can only be split into a few posts, but the act of splitting posts may not be welcomed. To keep the presentation coherent and improve the full-text readability of the post, it is better to illustrate clearly in one post when posting information on social media. Image presentation. The highest requirement for images in social media is clarity, and images and videos should be easily identifiable; the second and also important requirement is ethics. Perverted, bloody, cruel, ugly, corpse, or pornographic images or videos may cause discomfort and violate journalistic ethics, so these contents should be avoided. Text captions. Most users like to read text captions when they view photos and videos. Text captions make image communication clearer and can improve the efficiency of image reception. Therefore, when posting images on social media, there should be a relevant text caption. WeChat communication matrix. Create a WeChat communication matrix of “media enterprise’s WeChat official account + president’s personal WeChat account + employee’s personal WeChat account”, using “official Account + personal Accounts” publishing and spreading model. The public account publishes professional products, and personal WeChat account forwards and spreads them, striving to maximize the spreading coverage. When forwarding personal WeChat accounts, time intervals between them should be considered to avoid bombarding mutual friends. 3.1.3 Interaction and social contact Commenting. Journalists using social media to post comments should adhere to the professional principles or requirements of impartiality, objectivity, and rationality, and secondarily to the principles of humour, individuality, and openness. Responding to follow-up posts. If possible, journalists are encouraged to respond to users’ follow-up posts actively. Most responses should be completed within a day, but it would be better if they could be made within an hour. Use caution when deleting posts. Some social media do not allow you to edit the information once posted, so if you find a flaw, you can only delete the post or let it exist. Many users might object to the deletion of a post. Therefore, it is advisable to be cautious when deleting posts. Instead, we should do our best to check

Interaction, sharing, and social media 181 and proofread information in advance when posting, to minimize errors, and not to delete it once posted on social media. Good character. Journalists are expected to maintain good characters when interacting with netizens on social media. Qualities such as honesty and trustworthiness, equal interaction, and respect for netizens are vital. In addition, they should pay attention to civilized language and image maintenance when using social media. Rewarding. Rewarding is also an interaction that enables you to make a profit on your work. You can use the rewarding feature of social media directly, or you can take a screenshot of WeChat’s “receive money” QR code as an alternate for rewarding. Likes. Likes send positive signals but do not “like” everything you read. “Like” the content you do appreciate, and let the others see that your likes are serious and selective. Degree of discipline. Do not push messages through your personal window too often, you have to control yourself. Do not force others to retweet your spam. Do not force others to vote for you or for your children after following an official account. Withdrawing from a group is risky. Withdrawing from a group can be seen as an act of betrayal and carries certain risks. Do not ask “are you there?” or “where are you?” right off the bat. Everyone is busy, so do not ask “are you there?” before you send a WeChat message. For privacy reasons, do not ask “where are you?” right away if there is no particular need to do so. Do not mass text to test whether a person has blocked or deleted you. Mass texting to verify if someone has done this, and detailing your specific motives and practices in the process, is not a recommended behaviour. In fact, it cannot truly prove who has blocked or deleted you, but will only hurt your friends and attract resentment. The effective way to detect this is to invite your friends into a group chat, but not to talk (once you talk, the group is really established), and then delete and quit the group when the test is finished. The whole process will not disturb others: If they “refuse to join group chat”, it means they have blacklisted you; if you find “you cannot invite users who have not added you as a friend”, it means they have deleted you from their contact list. But even so, we do not encourage this kind of testing. We should not be too concerned about whether someone blocks or deletes us, because it is their freedom to do so. When the number of friends reaches 5,000, we can clean up the “fake friends” to make room for new friends. 3.1.4 New attempts at interaction Interaction is the DNA of social media, and new forms are yet to be created. New forms of interaction will soon be worthy of further exploration, and we shall likely make social media play an even greater role in the process of convergence news reporting.

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WeChat is currently the most used and influential social media platform in China. In 2015, the CCTV New Year Gala partnered with WeChat “Shake” to allow viewers to shake their mobile phones to grab red envelopes at specific times, which triggered widespread engagement and interaction. This new form of interaction between the Spring Festival Gala programme and an audience has also become an important online event during the Lunar New Year. According to data provided by Tencent, WeChat invested more than 500 million RMB (74,836,271 USD) in red envelopes, with 1.01 billion red envelopes sent and received on New Year’s Eve and 11 billion WeChat Shake interactions on the evening of the Spring Festival. The CCTV Spring Festival Gala also organized a “Share your family photo and show it on CCTV Spring Festival Gala 2015” global collection campaign. Users only needed to follow CCTV Variety or CCTV News, locate WeChat public numbers, reply “family photo”, and they could participate in uploading. Just one hour after the show went on air, 39 million people had uploaded their family photos.37 The “red envelope grabbing” and uploading of family photos via WeChat and other social media platforms may not be entirely appropriate for the variety of topics covered in a convergence report, but such forms of new media interaction can still provide lessons for convergence news interactions. In the case of charity, sporting events, entertainment news, and other topics, social media functions such as WeChat Red Envelope and Tencent Charitable Platform can be used to organize interactions. In relation to the practice of photo uploading, users could be encouraged to upload valuable news photos in their daily convergence news reports, allowing them to participate in the production of convergence news. WeChat’s Live channel detection, announced on March 31, 2015, further expands the space for advanced news interaction using social media. WeChat’s Live channel detection identifies TV shows that are being heard, informs users which channel they are watching and of other TV stations about their interactive schedules, and gives users access to WeChat Live channel detection. After entering the interactive platform, users can express their opinions, exchange views with other users, and participate in activities such as sweepstakes organized by the TV station. WeChat Live channel detection is an interactive feature that has already been opened by the Phoenix Chinese Channel and Jiangsu TV’s News Eye. The forms of interaction are diverse, and more forms of interaction are yet to be created. Convergent news should maintain a positive attitude towards new forms of interaction, adept at using new media forms of interaction, constantly optimize the effectiveness of news interaction to meet the needs of users, and allow them to create more value from the constantly updated interaction. 3.2 WeChat writing and scheduling WeChat is the most widely used social media in China, and is a tool for creating content, browsing information, sharing, shopping, and paying for goods, and is highly embedded in daily lives of the Chinese people. WeChat is an important channel for the production and dissemination of convergence news, as

Interaction, sharing, and social media 183 convergence news also has the need for social media optimization, therefore journalists should pay close attention to writing and distribution on WeChat. Further discourse about this is required, and should cover both the production of official account’s content and the publishing of Moments shares. 3.2.1 New media headlines The title is the first thing that attracts users and motivates them to keep reading and sharing. The main role of a title is not to summarize the content of the article too much, but to attract users to click and open it in order to learn more. Do not be satisfied with the user reading the title of the article without clicking, but aim to encourage a user to share it. Sharing is what keeps the promotion going; the absence of sharing is what ends it. It is necessary to make the headline attractive, but not clickbait. We-media headlines have changed from this style, but there has not been a qualitative change in the face of the requirements of authenticity, simplicity, and depth. While clickbait appears attractive, it only provides a fanciful headline that does not have substance, and over time it can turn readers off. The clickbait scam is eventually unreliable, and professional journalists should not follow in its footsteps. Content platforms are already using algorithmic models to combat clickbait, therefore, even from a content distribution perspective, it is not practical to do clickbait. Write a good headline – without creating clickbait – so as to give the article a better chance of distribution is the way to go. Print media headline writing usually aims for short titles by restricting the number of words. For example, on April 6, 1975, a headline in The People’s Daily, “Chiang Kai-shek died”, was only two-word long. The word counting for official accounts in social media is not that strict, and their headlines are relatively longer. The news of Chiang Kai-shek’s death, if it was published on a WeChat official account, might have a new media style headline like this: “He was an assassin, a gambler, a schoolmaster, he married three wives, he killed countless people, he shamefully lost his empire, he retreated to an island and still dreamed about national glory, he finally died at 88!”38 Longer headlines and a significantly higher number of keywords are good for search engine optimization. Print media headlines are usually moderate in presentation, while social media headlines are less restrictive, more personal, and more intimate. The original Southern Weekly news story, “Stabbing the Mother Abuser”, first published on the paper’s website on March 23, 2017, had a Southern Weekly-style headline, but was not adapted to the requirements of communication in the mobile internet era, and thus failed to spark extensive communication. At 2.51 pm on March 24, an iFeng news editor changed the title to “Shandong: 11 gangsters insulted the mother in front of her son, one stabbed by the son to death”. The first wave of mass media reposting was finally initiated after the title was changed. It was only 22 minutes after iFeng reprinted the article, at 3.13 pm on March 24 that NetEase’s news editor changed the title to “Woman borrowing from loan sharks being controlled and insulted, son witnesses one to death and gets life

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imprisonment”. Netease’s news app reprinted the article at the same point in time, and the title became “Witnessed son sentenced to life in prison after stabbing one to death after mother in debt abused by 11 men”. The report, which was published on the NetEase website, posed extraordinary momentum, leaving iFeng far behind with 2.4 million retweets on April 3. New media headlines including WeChat official accounts, whose writing methods and techniques include at least the following categories. Comparison, i.e.: Why is the death of a black man so shocking when 100,000 people died quietly in the epidemic? In those days, college teachers lectured, not taught Exclamations, or the use of quotations, i.e.: Emergency alert! Stop taking this so-called “shopping allowance”! Alert! China has fully entered the flood season. Ministry of Water Resources: Ready to prevent major floods “Uncle courier saved my mom, he delayed air conditioner delivery, please don’t blame him” Use personalized expressions, or apply effective phrases, i.e.: “Voice of America” was blocked by the United States Xinjiang = Henan + Shandong + Hebei + Beijing + Tianjin + Shanxi + Shaanxi + Hubei + Anhui + Jiangsu + Shanghai + Zhejiang + Hunan? Applying effective sentences can create tension, show personality, and impress the reader. The Phoenix WEEKLY WeChat official account stresses that headlines must be crafted using expressive techniques and effective headline patterns that have been tested by countless data, such as “sorry” and “if not”: I’m sorry, but all of the attractive online scenic spots in your WeChat Moments are overpraised If I hadn’t read the Compendium of Materia Medica, I would have thought that Li Shizhen was really a doctor Eliciting and urging reading, i.e.: 16 years after she “failed” her college entrance exam, a woman in Shandong found out that she was replaced! Official responded WeChat has updated this feature! Netizens: The mistakes made in their youth can finally be made up for Applying challenges, using motivational methods, i.e.:

Interaction, sharing, and social media 185 Only 0.1% of people in Yinan can write these 13 words that we say every day! Figures, highlighting “the most” and “the first”, i.e.: A young couple living deep in the mountains has nine children, and one more in the wife’s belly! The husband’s words sparked a heated discussion Revealing shady deals, i.e.: Zhidao School, the We-media that started the “burger with a corpse” rumour, has been shut down. Its boss owns several companies Private investigation of live pornography: The female anchor died of overwork in live broadcast; office lady, wife, teacher, Lolita, the plot kept updated; boss earns tens of millions of dollars a year Practical and approachable, focusing on factors such as health and the environment, i.e.: COVID-19 detected in the salmon chopping board at the Beijing Xinfadi Market, how can I do? Celebrity effects, i.e.: @ Secretary Dakang (role in In the Name of the People), please guard your love with Rushan oysters! Touching the softest parts of the readers’ hearts, bringing sentiment or pleasure, i.e.: Dr Li Wenliang’s wife gave birth to a baby boy in Wuhan today: My husband’s last gift to me Five middle school girls “found” a lost boy, their next action is so warm! 3.2.2 Fast-paced expressions Writing on social media must adapt to the demands of mobile reading and speed up the pace of expression. Print writing is concerned with pace, and electronic media writing should certainly pay more attention to this too. Use short sentences and the simplest subject–predicate clauses. Use short paragraphs, even one sentence per paragraph. Press the enter key frequently and subdivide more often. Leave more blank space and have blank lines between paragraphs to adequately ease reading fatigue.

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Usually, two characters are left for the first paragraph of the printed media, but there is no such need for the first paragraph of the online media, just write at the top of the column. 3.2.3 Enhance friendliness Writing for social media needs to be accessible. It can no longer be as stark as traditional media. An article from the WeChat official account of Communication University of China’s Student Union, Highlights of the Group B Football TournamentǀThe Semi-Finals Tomorrow’s Beacons Rise Again used unconventional expression when reporting the performance of the academic staff teams on the field – “The teachers are all old fogies after all”, “The flirtatious positioning”, “No. 10 Lao Yang” – these words are unconventional, lively, friendly, and funny when applied to the teachers. The faculty and staff are very well staffed as the seeded team of the B team. After all, the teachers are all old fogies. Their field experience can be said to be very rich, and it is very reasonable for them to handle the ball on the field. Although they are getting older and incomparable with the youngsters in physical strengthes, they controlled the ball under their own feet with their skilful ball carrying and flirtatious positioning. No. 10 Lao Yang is very energetic on the field, and he is so skilful that the youngsters admire him. The star player of the teaching and staff team is No. nine, Professor Wang Linfan. He is the forward of the teachers’ team, and his speed and drilling made the opposing defenders suffer a lot. He also scored ten goals in four games in the group match, ranking the second on the scorers’ list. After the team successfully made it to the top four, Professor Wang’s goalscoring performances will surely continue.39 3.2.4  Organization    of the official account The WeChat official account itself is basic and not user-friendly. You can use the 135 editors to edit the official account articles. In addition, installing a New Media Planner plug-in (https://xmt.cn/index), which facilitates the editing and management of new media articles, is also a recommended approach. WeChat official accounts restrict editors to a large extent– most official accounts are strictly limited to one push per day; a post can only be modified once, with a maximum of 20 characters in total (previously, only five characters could be modified); adding, deleting, and replacing are supported (previously, only replacements were supported); preview links only provide temporary links, not permanent links; and a difficult-to-use content editor, etc.

Interaction, sharing, and social media 187 New Media Planner can be used to manage WeChat public platforms, Toutiao, Particle News, Micro-blog, Zhihu, Netease’s media platform, Sohu’s open platform, Tencent’s open content platform, UC Da Yu Hao, Jianshu, Baidu Baijia, and other new media accounts through plug-ins. It is optimized for more than a dozen functions of the WeChat public platform, allowing editors to complete article collection, search, retouching, editing, and other work directly in the background of the WeChat official account, which implements layout optimization, style inline, and other functions. The new media steward can generate permanent links with one click, avoiding the hassle of repeatedly generating temporary links after modifying an article, and also cleverly circumventing the inconvenience of WeChat’s limitation on the number of pushes and modifications – although it is not the same as a formal release. If you have already promoted the article enough for one day, but still need to share it, you can probably be rescued by the permanent link feature, and you can keep making changes even if there are errors. I hope the plugin will maintain a normal commercial operation to serve the editorial staff for a long time, and I hope WeChat will adopt a more open mindset and remove the non-people-oriented restrictions. Here is a brief summary of the highlights of the official account article organization: (1) Write an attractive title. (2) Find an eye-catching homepage image, which can effectively influence the click rate. (3) Move the highlights forward, and be sure to present attractive content at the beginning. (4) Get to the point promptly. (5) Add a subheading for every 300 words. (6) Keep the structure simple, using parallel structure. Traditional media reports do not welcome the use of Arabic numerals, but this is not a constraint on official account posting, so you can be bold to use column one, two, three, to present information more clearly. (7) Blend images, video, and audio into the text to reduce users’ fatigue. Blend different media elements to form a convergent product. (8) Pay attention to search engine optimization, embed keywords into the article and keep strengthening them. (9) Focus on social media optimization to present shareable content. (10) Be simple and clear in your typography. (11) It is critical to be useful and interesting, and not as serious as traditional media. 3.3 Post on WeChat Moments Information is communicated by social sharing on WeChat Moments, and transmitted through the official account by editing. However, to get a wide communication, social sharing on WeChat Moments is indispensable. In addition, social sharing is applied in Top Stories and Channels where SMO technology is needed.

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Posting on WeChat Moments looks simple; however, it is vital for Convergent Journalism communication. If we forward the convergent news product in the circle of friends with no comment, its effect will be poor. If we write it with care, it will be more effective in attracting users’ attention and clicks. WeChat Moments embodies the concept of social media optimization. It encourages mashups on the basis of original news products and promotes news flow. In addition to forwarding news products from official accounts in Moments, people often publish original content directly in it too. Sending Moments to friends is the easiest news curatorial activity. We can present text expression, picture configuration, and filter information within a small space. These are all the skills that fusion journalists should master. (1) Format The complete format of the Moments information is “[title] + text + #extension#”. The text is a necessary structure, and other parts can be flexibly deleted according to the specific situation. Title: The title summarizes the core content, which is enclosed in square brackets. Generally, the title is placed at the beginning of the text, written flush without any blank, not centred. The title on Moments is usually shorter than that on official accounts. Text: Tell stories for readers, provide useful knowledge or explain fresh ideas. If the text is too long, numerical serial numbers can be used to write hierarchically. Extension: In this part, the writing can be very brief because the main function is to add the finishing touch. New information should be added in this part, and a new way of expression can be considered. If the text adopts the way of narration, the extension part will adopt the way of discussion to clarify the point of view. Some “instructions” can be sent in extension, such as “Like” and “Share on Moments”. Clear instructions will significantly enhance the expression effect. You can also add an “Appendix”. To make it easy to copy without omission, you can add WeChat ID and contact information after the important content. If this is not necessary, the “Instructions” and “Appendixes” can be omitted. The writing of Moments of Friends should be precious, and each part of the writing should open up new perspectives, present new information, and not repeat statements. It is necessary to use some symbols like “[ ]” and “# #” in writing. Without the symbols, the text will become a long piece, and readers will easily get tired and give up in the middle. With these symbols, text paragraphs can be effectively cut, and the ease of reading can be enhanced, which is more conducive to comprehensive reading. (2) With pictures The picture should present different shooting objects, and the same shooting object should be in different scenes. You can send one, three, six, or nine pictures

Interaction, sharing, and social media 189 instead of five, seven, and eight pictures. Otherwise, each line of pictures will be unequal and empty, irritating the Virgo people. (3) Is there a limit on the number of words? There is no word limit in Moments. However, when there are more than six lines or 120 words, you need to click “Show more” to open it completely. Control the number of words, if you don’t want to trouble others. (4) The tip for recommendations Those who bluntly promote products and post advertisements on Moments every day are easy to disturb and even annoy their friends. In fact, there is a tip for recommending products or articles. The tip is not to be seeking short-term successes. We should start from the needs of readers, be good at studying readers’ psychology and recommend skillfully. Li Ping, a book publisher, posted the following on Moments: [Your energy is beyond imagination] Xiao Yao could not recite 20 English words in a day before she went to an English training class. 10 days later, she can recite 500 words per day. In fact, there is nothing you can’t do in life, as long as you have confidence in yourself and have good methods. To promote an English training class, but never mention its name or relevant contact information, only tells the story of my daughter memorizing words to arouse the interest of readers. “When writing product experience, someone will write the contact information or purchase URL, which may not be particularly good. Because once you add these two items, it feels like an advertisement”.40 Li Feng’s approach was to announce the telephone number of the English teacher in the form of reply when many people asked for the contact information of the training class. In this way, the recommendation seemed natural. He avoided an inclination towards advertising and turned it into a helpful recommendation, which was quite clever. 3.4 News changes in social media 3.4.1 From news production to knowledge production News, or news in the traditional sense, is still important. However, the importance of news is falling behind that of “knowledge” on social media. It is necessary to expand the understanding of news and transform the single news production into knowledge production. Knowledge can also be understood as information, which includes specific content such as emotions, health, tourism, cooking, management, methods, and concepts. The news characteristics of knowledge products are relatively weak. However, it is because of this that the life cycle of knowledge products has been

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extended, so that such information can have communication value for a longer time. Data released by the WeChat team provides a visual explanation.41 Judging from the rankings of reading volume and sharing volume on official accounts, the ranking of news has been surpassed by knowledge. Specifically, in the two rankings, emotional and healthcare information ranked the first and second, respectively. Among the news categories, only political and legal news ranked third in both rankings, while financial news ranked seventh in the number of readers. The other top rankings were all dominated by knowledge. In social media, it is necessary to transform news into knowledge, which requires us to understand the key points of news from relevance to realness and freshness. Realness is the bottom line, and freshness is the requirement of content characteristics. The requirement of “currentness” is the second. Although the content is time-sensitive, we can include it in the news category as long as users have not been exposed to it before and still feel fresh about the real content. Timeliness is still of significance to news, but our understanding of news cannot be constrained by this. To lessen the time-sensitive details is not a simple denial of the pursuit of communication speed. Instead, it mainly refers to no longer highlighting time-sensitive information in some products, and the pursuit of the news form is transformed into the pursuit of the lasting effectiveness of products. From the perspective of social sharing, news can be understood more broadly as real and fresh knowledge, without deliberately limiting the content to “recent or ongoing” factual information. In the age of the mobile Internet, news business operators must expand their understanding of news, attach greater importance to users’ sharing issues, and respect users’ sharing desires. Meanwhile, they should improve on fragile news products to create more durable knowledge products to extend the life of such products. Journalists must make appropriate adjustments to narrative strategies, use less time-sensitive information, soften the narratives, and enhance the usefulness, interest, and relevance of the products. 3.4.2 Dealing with time issues In the field of journalism, talking about issues of timing should be done with particular caution, and the understanding of timeliness must not be biased. We cannot go from one extreme of superstitious timeliness to another of completely denying it. Instead, different situations should be distinguished, and timeliness should be treated differently. In general, different strategies can be adopted to deal with time issues according to the following two situations: Firstly, timeliness can be strengthened in breaking news and topical news. Products will appear as hard news and be published and shared at the fastest speed. This kind of news is often significant and controversial, and easily attracts attention, making it suitable to be shared and spread on social media.

Interaction, sharing, and social media 191 Secondly, general traditional news and non-breaking news are easily submerged in the ocean of Internet information and are not easily shared on social media. For this kind of news, it can help to make them less time-sensitive and focus on knowledge creation to extend the relevance. Evolve the concept of timeliness into the concept of time validity. In addition to respecting the value and status of timeliness, the duration here mainly means that news products or knowledge products have been known for their effectiveness and value for a long time. In other words, news media should pay attention to knowledge production as well as news production. The media business should change from single news communication to the production, communication, and management of knowledge. By extending the product’s value chain, the duration period of information products can be expanded to gain greater influence. 3.4.3 Inspiration for transformation and development Furthermore, the transformation and development of traditional journalists can also find inspiration here. When I was working as a journalist in paper media in 2003, the traditional media journalists, full of superiority in their hearts, did not pay attention to network media. Ten years later, traditional media began to suffer from the impact of new media, and the traditional media journalists felt that they could not bear it. In September 2015, the news of the layoffs of hundreds of journalists by Huashang Weekly was spread widely in WeChat Moments. To defend their rights, several people posted the slogan of “Unscrupulous Huashang Weekly laid off old employees innocently”, which was bleak. By the way, it seems that there is something wrong with the slogan. It is more appropriate to change the latter half of the sentence to “laid off innocent old employees”. On September 28, 2011, the newspaper set a record of 15 million CNY in advertising revenue per day. Only four years later, its 100 employees lost their jobs. What’s more, several newspapers announced the suspension of publications one after another this month. Traditional media business hardship was quite substantial. In my opinion, one solution for traditional journalists is to move from journalism to publishing, from producers of fragile products to producers of durable products and copyright holders. As for the traditional industry, the impact on publishing has been far less than that in journalism. So those engaged in publishing had better not complain in front of journalists. The product effectiveness in publishing is more durable. Even in the age of the Internet, people need to read books. But the production of books is far from easy for ordinary users. It is hard to cross the threshold of professional knowledge production, even though users can easily participate or even dominate the production and communication of news information. The more obvious the knowledge characteristics of information products, the stronger their competitiveness is. Compared with the news production of fragile products, the competitive advantages of in-depth reports such as investigative

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reports and explanatory reports are much higher than those of a large number of ordinary news. The sustained influence and compensation from excellent books are both more than can come from single-paged in-depth reports. If there is no innovation in the production and operation of news, it will fatally impact new media. Journalists report and produce so much news, almost all of which are seen as disposable consumer goods. What’s more, these works are not effectively protected by the copyright law, meaning that journalists cannot be compensated in the following years. Nowadays, many news organizations and journalists are working voluntarily for Internet media. The news that they have worked so hard to write is taken away by the new Internet media for free. Journalists work like willing horses. They have worked hard all their lives, but finally find themselves empty-handed. Under the impact of new media, this fragile production model in the traditional news industry has been unable to continue. The vitality of disposable consumer goods is extremely fragile, so the cost of these production losses is very high. If feedback cannot be achieved, it will be difficult to achieve healthy development. In terms of media development, the key issue is to resolve intellectual property issues. “Some Opinions on the Construction of New Type Mainstream Media of Hunan Broadcasting System” is also called “23Articles” in the Hunan Broadcasting System. Article 12 in it put IP (intellectual property) to the level of “establishing a new order of intellectual property rights”. Focusing on the core of IP as a strategic resource, we should break through the barriers between management and operation, even those between different subjects. We will establish a market-oriented, legal and refined operation and management mechanism for IP, and continuously expand the value chain of the media industry. We make efforts to achieve multiple IP development for one content, multiple developments for one IP, and multiple product development at a time, to realize multiple channels for one sale, multiple outputs for one input and multiple increments for one output.42 The foundation of competition in the media industry is content. Hunan Broadcasting System firmly controls the copyright of the content and effectively enhances its core competitiveness. Firmly grasping intellectual property rights and using them as guidance is important in sustaining good journalism. It is the right way for news media to control news content, not provide free content for other platforms, strengthen knowledge production, and enlarge their platforms.

Notes 1 RAMASWAMY V, GOUILLART F J. The Power of Co-creation: Build It with Them to Boost Growth, Productivity, and Profits [M]. Simon and Schuster, 2010. 2 NetEase News Click List (1 hour ago), http://news.163.com/rank/, (March 13, 2014 at 6.15 pm). Number of engagements is the total number of interactions including follow, top, and share. Data compiled by the authors of this book.

Interaction, sharing, and social media 193 3 YU Y, ZHANG T Y. “Fellow Hu Qiheng Inducted into the ‘Internet Hall of Fame’, interviewed by our newspaper Internet Development Calls for Open Integrity Integration” (in Chinese) [N]. People’s Daily, (July 4, 2013)(14). 4 TAPSCOTT D, WILLIAMS A D. Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything [M]. Penguin, 2006. 5 WASHIO K. Editorial Power: From Creativity & Planning to Interpersonal Relationships (in Japanese) [M]. Transview Press, 2014. 6 XU Z B. Social Dividend (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Beijing United Publishing Company, 2013. 7 XU Z B. Social Dividend (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Beijing United Publishing Company, 2013. 8 XU Z B. Social Dividend (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Beijing United Publishing Company, 2013. 9 YUE M, YE H Q. Transcript: Media Interviews in the Mobile Internet Age (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Posts & Telecom Press, 2017. 10 http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/75-QKDcu-0GWOKOP7iAkOg, (June 21, 2017). 11 SHIRKY C. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age [M]. Penguin UK, 2010. 12 LI W Q. A Sense of Involvement: The Xiaomi Word-of-mouth Internal Marketing Manual (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: CITIC Publishing House, 2014. 13 PENG L. “New Media Genetics Revisited” (in Chinese) [J]. China Publishers Yearbook, 2019(1). 14 http://cn.wsj.com/gb/20140326/ATG121214.asp, (April 8, 2014). 15 http://meili.lywww.com/2013/0518/37777.html, (May 18, 2013). 16 Sohu News, April 2, 2014. 17 http://news.qq.com/zt2015/krsl70/index.htm#plmd (February 22, 2015). 18 http://news.qq.com/original/quanmeipai/quanqiuxinwenbianjishi.html (June 10, 2015). 19 Sina “Illustrated World”. A Life under “Surveillance” (in Chinese) [OL]. (September 11, 2013). http://news.sina.com.cn/c/t/20130911/1259134.shtml 20 QIN X G. Analysis of Media Convergence, Radio Network Interaction (in Chinese) [M]. Kunming: Yunnan People’s Publishing House, 2013. 21 ZHANG C. “Characteristics of the Development of Data Journalism” (in Chinese) [J]. Youth Journalist, 2014(4). 22 GAN X F, ET AL. WeChat Complex (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Posts & Telecom Press, 2013. 23 BURTON G. Media and Society: Critical Perspectives [M]. McGraw-Hill Education (UK), 2010. 24 STANDAGE T. Writing on the Wall: Social Media-The First 2,000 Years [M]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2013. 25 XIU Z, LI W J, HUANG N. “The Thief Who Stole More Than $10,000 Was Caught Showing Off His Photos Online” (in Chinese) [N]. Qianjiang Evening News, (August 22, 2014). 26 ZHOU G P. I Like Life the Way it is. (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Writers Press, 2017. 27 http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4ac6b2e60102fa3w.html (June 8, 2014). 28 KAI RYSSDAL. “Photojournalist John H. White on layoffs, 35 Years at Chicago SunTimes” [EB/OL]. [June 4, 2013]. http://www.marketplace.org/ topics/life/photojournalist-john-h-white-layoffs-35-years-chicago-sun-times 29 http://news.qq.com/newspedia/179.htm (June 18, 2014). 30 ZHENG Y. “From SEO to SMO” (in Chinese) [J]. IT Manager World, 2011(19). 31 Ballings Michel, Van den Poel Dirk and Bogaert Matthias. “Social Media Optimization: Identifying an Optimal Strategy for Increasing Network Size on Facebook”. Omega, Vol. 59, 2016: 15–25. 32 Doralyn Rossmann and Scott W.H. Young, “Social Media Optimization: Making Library Content Shareable and Engaging”. Library Hi Tech, Vol. 33, No. 4, 2015: 537.

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33 Symposium on Computer, Communication, Control and Automation (3CA 2017) [C]. Information Engineering Research Institute, USA, Singapore Management and Sports Science Institute, Singapore, 2017: 6. 34 WANG B, LI F. “Analysis of the Operating Model of Platform-Based Media – BuzzFeed, a News Aggregator, as an Example” (in Chinese) [J]. The Press, 2015(15). 35 Symposium on Computer, Communication, Control and Automation (3CA 2017) [C]. Information Engineering Research Institute, USA, Singapore Management and Sports Science Institute, Singapore, 2017: 6. 36 KOLODZY J. Practicing Convergence Journalism: An introduction to Cross-Media Storytelling [M]. Routledge, 2013. 37 http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2015-02-20/072831534746.shtml (March 13, 2015). 38 http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/oLORUtHXwqWqsz0dWT_5_Q (February 24, 2017). 39 http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4lBVFj9sHU_3jyE-qZikXQ, paragraph formatting adjusted, (May 23, 2017). 40 XIAO S Z, LI Q. 108 Strokes for Wechat Marketing (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: People's Daily Press, 2015. 41 “Tencent Technologies, Penguin IQ, Institute of New Media Studies, School of Journalism, Renmin University of China. Mobile Media Trend Report: The Future of Online Media in China” (2014) [EB/OL]. (November 11, 2014). http://tech.qq.com/a /20141112/048252.htm#p=1 42 LV H B. Media Convergence in Hunan TV: A Practice Report (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: CITIC Press, 2019.

7

Convergent news presentation

1 Key points of presentation Convergent news should put the most attractive content to the front, use hyperlinks for hierarchical reports, adapt modules to combine information carried by different media elements efficiently, gather and filter information from online platforms, and deliver relevant information to users. In short, the main points of convergent news presentation mainly include placing highlights at the front, hierarchical reports, module combination, and news curation. 1.1 Highlights at the front Highlighting articles at the front refers to placing the most exciting content at the forefront to attract users. Convergent news needs to highlight the most newsworthy information and put the most attractive content at the forefront. This requires weighing and comparing the factual materials and determining the highlights that users will favour. The highlighted should mainly include the most important facts, the latest changes, the most suspenseful materials, and the most influential media elements. Convergent news usually uses text as the leading media element, summarizes the core facts, puts the most important and newsworthy information into headlines, and places it at the top of the reports or feature pages to facilitate users’ understanding of the key message, attract their attention, and arouse their curiosity. The word “new” is in news and, consequently, users are concerned about the latest changes. Convergent news should give priority to the latest development and report it to users in time. As far as news reports are concerned, the “latest” is often the most valuable, especially for serial reports. Once users have understood the important facts, they usually pay more attention to the latest development. Journalists should deliver the relevant information, such as the latest facts and changes, to meet users’ needs. A special scrolling module can be set up to present the latest information. To take as an example, the special report on the loss of Malaysian Airlines passenger plane on The Wall Street Journal website prioritized the latest news and placed it at the front of the page.1 Core modules were set up such as “Latest

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News”, “Memorial Wall”, “Photo Reports”, “Digital Reading”, “Technical Analysis”, “Passenger Features”, “Videos”, “Viewpoint Blogs”, and “Major Aviation Accidents”. “Latest News” was put at the forefront of these sections and occupied the entire left column, while the remaining sections occupied the right column, which shows how The Wall Street Journal lays emphasized the latest changes. Meanwhile, we should also be aware that people’s attention to news varies at different time periods. Usually, they are more concerned with hard news in the morning but soft news in the afternoon and evening. We should sort the convergent news topics to highlight the key message, putting the relevant news categories in the front according to the time periods, and placing them in less important positions at other times. “We should follow users’ data, redesign the page and rearrange the news links to reflect the changing clicks throughout the day”.2 Convergent news uses multimedia elements to report news, and should put the most influential, interesting, and attractive visual elements in the front. Even if it is the same news report, different media elements will give users different feelings. In the text-led convergent news, the timely placement of media elements such as pictures, videos, audios, etc., will help alleviate the fatigue of users and bring them a fresh and pleasant experience. Shandong University’s public WeChat account released “Promotional Video: Lush Trees, Blue Sea, One High Mountain above the Red Roofs – Shandong University Qingdao campus” on September 12, 2015. It makes comprehensive use of texts, pictures, videos, and other media elements, and the number of clicks is high. For this video, however, it should be highlighted that the use of texts and pictures was not as strong as the video. However, instead of putting the highlight in the front, the report places it at the end, which is like burying the highlight. This arrangement is unreasonable, and it is a bit confusing. The title emphasizes that it is a promotional video. Naturally, users would like to see what the Qingdao campus looks like as soon as possible, but the operators have not considered users’ needs. As a result, users have to slide the screen to find the video, and they can only find it at the end, which is somewhat annoying. Sometimes, it is not enough to pay attention to the number of clicks. Clicks may indicate that the title attracted users, but users’ experience depends on the specific content and layout. For the content, a different arrangement may produce a different effect. As far as Shandong University’s promotional video is concerned, putting the highlight video towards the front would bring about a better effect and more pleasant user experience. The competition of news is no longer purely about information, it also involves multimedia materials. When we use texts to report news, users may prefer to see the narration of the interest parties and the original picture of the news site. At this time, audio and video materials are very important. Whoever has access to multimedia resources first is more likely to win users’ favour in the news competition. As far as the structure of convergent news reports is concerned, all the fresh media materials, especially those collected for the first time, should be given sufficient attention and highlighted.

Convergent news presentation 197 1.2 Hierarchical reports Traditional news reports use a linear structure to convey information. Such reports are flat. Convergent news breaks the linear structure and uses hierarchical reports to turn news into a three-dimensional and multi-layered structure. Hierarchical reporting is based on hyperlink technology. Hyperlinks connect different pages, pictures, videos, audios, interactive settings, etc. to form links and levels. The content of each level can be the annotation, supplement, and extension of the previous level. In one word, with the use of hyperlinks, convergent news can adopt hierarchical reporting to display news three-dimensionally. Convergent news uses hyperlinks to divide news into multiple levels. The most critical information should be placed on the first level, and detailed reports, background information, or other related information should be placed on the second or third level. Convergent news connects multiple levels of reports by adding hyperlinks to form a multi-level and three-dimensional structure. Users have the right to choose whether to go to the next level. As far as network technology is concerned, hyperlinks can connect an infinite number of levels, and this number can be determined arbitrarily. However, considering the actual effects, the hierarchy of convergent news reports is still limited. Obviously, every time users enter the next level, it will engage their attention. Information on the first level is most likely to be followed, the second level is less likely to be followed, and the lowest level is the least likely to be followed. There is a limit to users’ patience. Every time they go to the next level, their efforts will increase. According to Schram’s model for the probability of choice, the guarantee of compensation/the degree of effort = the probability of selection.3 Therefore, a lower level entails more efforts on the part of users. When other conditions such as the guarantee of compensation remain unchanged, the probability for users to choose a lower level is naturally lower. Therefore, convergent news is usually restricted to three levels. The homepage is the first level if it directly presents the news. The key links form the second level. If the homepage is presented via a link, the homepage is the first level, the article page that the link directs to is the second level, and the key link on the article page is the third level. Therefore, convergent reports can usually be restricted to two levels, and convergent topics to three levels. Convergent reports are mainly presented on one page. On the first level, users can see the specific content of the news. If there are links to some key information, users can click and receive the relevant information on the second level. The links usually include a detailed description of news, statistical data, background information, explanations of arguments, explanations of abbreviations and terms, charts, audio and video, interactive settings, reference materials, etc. In addition to presenting the main news report, the convergent page can apply other media elements or use hyperlinks to guide users to the second-level page. Convergent reports can usually be completed in two levels, which maximizes the efficiency of reporting, makes convergent news more concise, and at the same time ensures the richness and depth of news.

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Convergent topics are usually large scale, and the information included is more complex. Convergent topics cover a large number of news reports, and the headlines are usually displayed on one page. Therefore, convergent topics usually have one more level (i.e. the headline level) than convergent reports. In short, convergent reports are usually restricted to two levels and convergent topics to three levels. 1.3 Combination of modules Modules refer to areas of functional significance formed by different media elements, and module combination means to assemble those functional areas into a whole. In convergent news, the core media elements such as text, audio, video, pictures, and interactive settings have their own characteristics. Journalists use a variety of methods to collect original materials carried by different media elements, process them into news parts, and then combine them in post-editing. The main components of convergent news and its subdivisions include news section (news report, value-added content, extension, production information), promotion section (news promotion and advertising), and interactive section (direct and indirect interactive settings). Convergent news involves a combination of those sections. In terms of news writing and narrative, there are a number of structural models where semantic meaning is concerned, such as the inverted pyramid, The Wall Street Journal–style hourglass, and side-by-side format. The structure is a combination of modules. For longer news reports with subtitles, the text under a subtitle is a module, and the news is a whole composed of such modules. For short-length reports without subtitles, usually consist of one level of meaning followed by another, and each level of meaning is actually an information module. This is not only concerned with text, and it is the same with other media elements such as audio and video. It is worth noting that, for convergent news reporting, the combination of modules does not mean placing information modules on one page. Different media elements should be organically integrated, and are supposed to be coordinated, consistent, reasonable, and effective. Simply stacking various media elements together will not meet the requirements of convergence and give people fragmented information. This will inevitably impair users’ experience and cause trouble for them, thus undermining the effect of news dissemination. 1.4 News curation Curation is about mixing. It is a unique process of confluence that integrates the information collected by the curator, the materials contributed by users, and the content created by oneself. In this way, the materials one gathers become their unique products.4 News curation is essentially the application of shelf thinking in news production, and it is concerned with the convergence of news. News curation needs to complete two tasks: To enrich news reports, adding supporting and

Convergent news presentation 199 supplementary information to news; and to expand news sources, experts, and users. “Curation” literally means “curated exhibition”. It was originally a term used in the exhibition industry. The press applied it to the field of journalism and communication as “news curation”. It summarizes how social groups process media information, and it has expanded the horizons of journalism research and brought new inspiration to news business. He Feipeng, Chief Executive Officer of the Taiwan Cite Media Holding Group and Chairman of the Taiwan Digital Publishing Alliance, proposes a formula for curation: Curation = content + context + comment + conclusion. In other words, “endowing a message with relations, putting forward viewpoints, and drawing a conclusion is to curate”.5 Intuitively speaking, news curation is an activity to plan and select topics by gathering and filtering information from the network platform, giving it meaning, integrating the information, and delivering the news to users. News curation is a re-creative activity where curators play a key role. The curator needs to track and gather information from the Internet and filter out valuable content so that the originally messy information becomes organized and clear. Giving meaning is an important step to help users understand news. Curators often give meaning to filtered information through direct comments. Such comments should conform to the laws of objective reality and be logical and convincing. Otherwise, the comments will become a fallacy that cannot be accepted by users. To disseminate news on the Internet, we must attach great importance to the planning and display of the content created by netizens, organize their comments, record the data of people with different views, select valuable content, and plan new pages for display. “Curation” sounds profound and professional, but in fact it is an activity that everyone can engage in. As long as we share information on social media, we have already started curatorial work. Moments shared on social media are a platform for netizens to curate news. Users undertake various news curation activities such as gathering information from the Internet, screening information, giving meaning and displaying news. News curation values interaction with users and redevelops user-created content, thus releasing the productivity of the Internet digital platform. News curation helps to expand the media’s target users and enhance the effect of news. “Gathering news topics via curation can help to locate the target audience, generate more influence, and attract more people’s attention”.6 News media have paid more and more attention to the power of social media, and news curation has become a method for media to produce news. News media often look for report materials from social media, and the news function of social media is becoming more and more prominent. News media and social media have shown signs of convergence. Research finds that the social sites of CNN, the BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, and other media all emphasize the gatekeeping function of editors, and have assigned personnel to manage the content of those websites and interact with

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users. Al Jazeera’s Stream uses news curation to operate social sites. The staff of the Stream look for stories with hashtags that are followed by more people on Twitter and then form a news curatorial topic through editing, screening, organizing, and typesetting.7 News curation is an important technology for media to present convergent news, and it is not limited to social media management. The operation of news curation mainly includes topic selection and planning, material collection, screening, information sublimation, and content aggregation. Topic selection and planning means making comprehensive use of big data and professional skills of journalism to plan news topics. Topic selection needs to have sufficient information sources. Big data technology can be used to monitor the hot topics on news media, social media, and other platforms to prepare for the final topic selection. The final selection of news topics curation needs to follow the rules and ethics of journalism. Material collection means to use information collection tools to gather relevant materials on a news topic. At this stage, the more materials one collects, the better. Screening is necessary because not all materials are worth displaying. One needs to filter out more valuable information for users and eliminate low-value materials. Information sublimation means to extract the essence and place it on the front page as an abstract, highlight its value, and enhance its attraction to users. The convergence of content means to integrate selected materials on the web page and form a complete product of news curation. News curation requires operators to have “shelf-thinking”. A shelf is a device for displaying products. The news shelf is a page for displaying news. It is necessary to strengthen the interface design. Sun Jian, deputy editor-in-chief of The Paper, participated in the overall transformation of The Oriental Morning Post to create The Paper, and realized that the key to successful media convergence is to build a content moat. He holds that shelf-thinking is the essence of news operation. The interface is full of pictures, titles, comments, readings, etc. These are the facade of news products. Shelf-thinking is required to make these elements stand out so as to attract users to click and share.8

2 Convergence of reporting Finally, convergent news is presented on an integrated page. Page integration covers the convergence of reports and that of topics. The convergence of reports means the core task of page integration is to complete the report of news. The main report occupies the leading position, which is supplemented or deepened by other media elements. The convergence of topics emphasizes the integration of multimedia news resources on the same news topic, presented on a larger scale and involving more complex editing. In this book, the convergence of reports focuses on a single piece of news, while the convergence of topics concerns the news resources on the same topic; the convergence of reports focuses on reporting, while the convergence of topics

Convergent news presentation 201 focuses on editing; the convergence of reports is microscopic, and reports on topics are macro integration. The convergence of reports and topics are different in scale and form, yet the two are closely related and have the same operation techniques and concepts. This chapter mainly discusses the convergence of reports. 2.1 The combination of news elements 2.1.1 The combination of media elements The media elements of convergent news include texts, pictures, audios, videos, interactive settings, etc. In daily reports, convergent news may not use all of these elements, and it can be simplified. In the combined mode of convergent news, texts, pictures, and interactive settings are usually indispensable. It will be better if there are videos. There are at least three modes of media element combination: (1) Complete combination Text + picture + audio + video + interactive settings (2) Ideal combination Text + image + video + interactive settings (3) Simple combination Picture + audio + interactive settings Text + image + interactive settings Text + audio + interactive settings Text + video + interactive settings Text + picture + audio + interactive settings We are supposed to place related elements close to each other to create an organic whole. It is not enough to stack multiple media elements on a web page, and different media elements should be combined harmoniously. The placement of links should not be obtrusive or too inconspicuous. The key is to make it easy for users to find the link. “If an element can be clicked, then make it look clickable”.9 The function of a link should be displayed via gentle and appropriate visual effect. A link should be harmonious with the surrounding media elements. When the mouse pointer passes over a link, it should become highlighted to indicate that there is a link there, and so interested users can click it. The arrangement of audio should take users’ hearing abilities into account, and a volume control button should be installed so that users can easily adjust the volume and switch the sound on or off. The size of the video window should be appropriate. If it is too small, it will be laborious for users. If it is too large, it will be inconsistent with the overall page. An adjustment button can be set to allow users to adjust the size of the window. Word size design should also take into account users’ vision, and buttons to adjust text size should be provided.

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2.1.2 Forms of presentation In addition to the application of conventional technology, it is also necessary to explore the use of new technical means and methods to enhance the convergence and impact of news presentation. The HTML5 report on the NPC and CPPCC sessions, Wang Xiaoyi’s Moments, released by the China National Radio (CNR), has a unique form of presentation. This work uses video-matting technology, contextualized immersive reporting on a vertical screen, and a combination of the virtual and the real, to achieve augmented reality. The user clicks on the link or scans the QR code to enter a fullscreen simulation of Moments (updates on WeChat). The beautiful anchor Wang Xiaoyi, dressed in red, appears in the lower right corner of Moments. The style is unique and three-dimensional. Wang Xiaoyi slides on Movements and interprets every message. At the end of the broadcast, Wang Xiaoyi says “bye-bye” to everyone, then turns to the right, and walks out of the screen, which somewhat makes the audience feel that something is lost. According to Xia Wen, editor with Voice of China at CNR, the production team spent about 800 yuan on the matting equipment in order to make this HTML5 video. The host was filmed separately and the matting technology was used to remove the background. The production staff made the video Wang Xiaoyi’s Moments in advance, using interface elements 1:1 in Photoshop software, and then putting it in the graphics and video processing software AE (Adobe After Effects) to match it with the matting video. The new video was finally finished on the HTML5 page (see Figure 7.1).10 On November 1, 2013, the convergent news report “NSA Files: Decoded”11was launched on The Guardian website in the United Kingdom. It made use of new technology to present information. This work utilizes image-matting technology to integrate video and text. Around the video on the top of the webpage is (which processed with matting technology), the background was blank except for the text. When an avatar in the video starts to speak or move, the background text floats accordingly, which is quite magical, as shown in Figure 7.2. Altogether, 30 high-definition avatar videos were placed in the middle of the text report. These avatars are all processed with matting technology, just like pictures embedded in newspapers, and they are consistent with the background text. When users scroll the page, an avatar is displayed on the screen and starts to speak, which arouses users’ curiosity and attracts their attention, as shown in Figure 7.3. When users finish browsing the text and scroll to the next avatar, the previous avatar video automatically stops playing, and the next avatar video starts, bringing users a fresh experience. “NSA Files: Decoded” also has clever interactive settings. It includes an automatic calculator in the report to calculate the data monitored by the US National Security Agency when the user browses the page. The screenshot in Figure 7.4 shows that the amount of data monitored by the US National Security Agency has reached 557.1TB in the short time since I opened this website page, which is equivalent to 142,612 two-hour high-definition movies.

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Figure 7.1 Wang Xiaoyi’s Moments

Figure 7.2 Background text floating when the character avatar speaks or moves

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Figure 7.3 The original still avatar speaks and the video plays automatically

The Arabic numerals in this interactive setting scroll rapidly over time. In order to facilitate users’ understanding of the TB value in red, this interactive setting also provides a conversion in terms of two-hour-long HD movies for the user, which is simpler and more direct. The interactive setting of The Guardian website is a combination of static text and dynamic numbers. Numbers are naturally integrated with the embedded text report to become an organic whole. It achieves a deep convergence of interactive settings and text. Interaction can become a form of presentation, and news is combined and presented to users through interaction. Interaction runs through the entire process of news reporting. In this sense, the process of interaction is the process of news presentation. The NetEase team has explored interactive presentation.

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Figure 7.4 Automatic calculator for data

On the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the NetEase team visited the world’s top nuclear quarantine zone, entered the nuclear radiation restricted area, brought back first-hand report materials, and launched the convergent news report “Echoes of Nuclear Radiation”, as shown in Figure 7.5. This convergent news report provides two reading modes. “Read the complete feature” is an orthodox presentation form, and “view by chat” is a novel interactive presentation form, as seen in Figure 7.6. “View by chat” uses dialogue to report. It is distinctive in relying on interaction throughout the entire process to present the report. The reporting process is “chatting” between the user and the reporter. The user does not need to type. They just need to click the “chat” button to complete the interaction and receive all the information, as shown in Figures 7.7 and 7.8. The text presented in this interactive report is relatively short, with text, pictures, and videos appearing alternately. Selection buttons are given at the right time for users to participate in the report. The design of the selection button is also vivid. Readers can “set the time back 30 years ago to see”, “pick up the memory bottle of a person who witnessed the accident”, or “curiosity kills the cat and dosen’t want to know”. “Echo of Nuclear Radiation” breaks the traditional linear and one-way narrative mode of report. The news structure is dynamic. Users can determine the style of the narrative structure. It is a fresh method of presentation that enhances the interactivity and visualization of reports, displays news information comprehensively and three-dimensionally, and enhances users’ sense of control and initiative. 2.1.3 Combination with commentaries News and commentaries are different genres. News is a report on facts, emphasizing the principle of objectivity, the use of narrative, direct quotation, detailed

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Figure 7.5 Start page of Echo of Nuclear Radiation

description, environmental description, etc. It usually opposes argument. Commentaries are the evaluation and discussion of news facts and mainly adopt the method of discussion. According to the principle of objectivity, news reports should not be mixed with commentaries. The combination of news reports and commentaries in this book does not violate the basic norms, because it does not mean to mix news reports and commentaries in the same piece, but to present news reports and commentaries on the same news page. At the same time, we should also note that news reports and commentaries are not polar opposite to each other. They have their own functions. Convergent news does not exclude commentaries. Instead, it uses the power of commentaries to help users understand facts. Commentaries should be based on facts. A very important quality of commentators involves the collection and investigation of facts. Without such a process of information collection and investigation, commentaries may deviate from the truth and mislead users.

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Figure 7.6 Reading mode selection

Users do not only need investigative reports based on objective facts, but also the guidance of news commentaries. For this complex world, commentaries are a powerful tool to help users understand facts correctly and efficiently. The combination of news reports and commentaries is necessary to convergent news. This combination improves the efficiency of news dissemination and helps users to recognize and understand facts efficiently and accurately. In addition, we also need to pay attention to the interaction of commentaries. Merely pursuing the number of clicks is not enough. Active measures should be taken to guide users to participate in discussion. Only in this way can commentaries exert their maximum force. The following measures may be taken to guide users to participate in the interaction. (1) Set up survey questions below the commentaries so that users can vote to express their opinions. The survey questions focus on the core content of commentaries and are controversial. Users can see the proportion of different opinions after voting;

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Figure 7.7 Click the yellow button to complete the chat: Text and video. (We found a dog … and followed it to the restricted area)

(2) Set up an “Ask the Editor” button to encourage users to interact with the editor, and the editor should give feedback; (3) Set up a comment area after the article so that users can express their opinions; (4) Sort out the comments of netizens, count the data of people with different views, select valuable views, and plan new pages to display. 2.2 Basic operation The basic operation of convergent news is to appropriately add – that is, with a main news report as the core –value-added content, extended content, production information, promotion settings, and interaction. 2.2.1 Content category and adding method The main news report occupies a core position. It is presented via a particular media element. It can be a single text report, video report, audio report, or photo

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Figure 7.8 Click the yellow button to complete the chat: Picture and text (I washed cars for living near the nuclear power plant from 1992 to 1993. My health was affected soon. I had to give up my work. The government gave me 2500 hryvnia [about 633 RMB] per month. I used to visit the free sanatorium run by the government. But as the economy goes down, I cannot afford the travelling expenses, and they do not provide proper treatment anyway.)

report, but it is mostly a text and video report. The main news report is usually added manually. Value-added content refers to the information presented via other media elements that are added to the main news report, such as pictures, audios, videos and other materials added to a text report. The value-added content is consistent with and closely related to the main news report, and it is a supplement of multimedia elements. The addition of value-added content is usually done manually. The extended content refers to “related topics, related news, keyword hyperlinks, and hot word hyperlinks”.12 Although it is related to the main news report, it is less relevant than the value-added content. The extended content is usually

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Table 7.1 Adding content and method Content category

Details

Adding method

News

Main news report Value-added content News extension Production information News promotion settings Advertising settings Direct interaction Indirect interaction

Manual

Promotion Interaction

Automatic or manual Automatic

not the target of the main news report. It is just related to the target. Such content extends the tentacles of users and meets users’ needs for similar or related information. The extended content is usually added manually. Production information refers to the description of the editorial staff as well as the source and time of the report. Its function is similar to the news head and is used to indicate the production of news reports. The addition of production information can be done manually or automatically. Promotion settings mainly include news promotion and advertising promotion. News promotion is usually the promotion of links to previous reports of the media, such as news rankings. Advertising promotion mainly presents the media’s own institutional advertising, paid commercials or search alliance advertisements, e-commerce advertisements, etc. The addition of promotional content is usually done automatically. Interaction includes direct and indirect interactive settings. Direct interaction refers to comment areas (message boards or forums), voting areas, or online surveys that allow users to directly express opinions on news reports. Indirect interaction refers to one-click sharing, print, and copy buttons. The addition of interaction is usually done automatically, as shown in Table 7.1. 2.2.2 Examples “Chinese Ship Hears Pulse, Possibly from Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight’s Black Box”13 on The Washington Post is a typical convergent report, where we can see the specific content categories that are added. As shown in Figure 7.9, the report sent by Simon Denyer from Beijing is long and detailed, and occupies a core position as the main news report. The video at the top of the page comes from China Central Television, which supplements the main report and provides a new experience for users. In this sense, it is news value-added content. In addition, there are indirect interaction settings (the share button) at the top of the page and advertising and news promotion settings on the right.

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Figure 7.9 Main report, value-added content, extended content, and promotion settings

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There are 47 news photos embedded in the text, but these photos are not limited to the date of the news report, but are extended to cover the period from March 30 to April 12. An interactive chart is embedded in the middle of the lower half of the text. Click on this chart, and a new page will pop up: “What happened to Flight 370?” (See Figure 7.10). It illustrates news on the loss of the MH370 airliner. The photo collections and interactive charts in this report are all extended content, which is related to the main news report but not as relevant as the value-added content. It may not be strictly identical to the subject of the news. For example, the subject of this report is “Chinese ships hear the pulse”, but the extended news content is not limited to this. The end of the main news report introduces the contributors and the reporter. Such content is production information. The buttons to share to Facebook and Twitter are indirect interaction settings, as shown in Figure 7.11. The netizen comment area at the end of the page is the direct interaction setting, as shown in Figure 7.12.

Figure 7.10 News extended content (interactive chart)

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Figure 7.11 Production information and indirect interaction settings

Figure 7.12 Direct interaction setting (comments from netizens)

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2.3 Convergence of report The convergence of reports should focus on operability, and there are rules to follow. The convergence of report should follow the following conventions: To collect materials and establish the main report form; to add content and focus on interaction; to pay attention to reasonableness and moderation. First of all, reporters should collect sufficient news materials to establish a suitable form of report. After deciding to conduct convergent news reporting, reporters should move fast to collect enough news materials in different media elements. In addition, we should also pay close attention to other news sources on the Internet, not rejecting borrowing attitude, and vigorously explore the text, pictures, video, audio, and other materials related to the report. Meanwhile, reporters should consider the form of the main news report or main media element being used. No matter what media element is chosen as the main report form, we must pay attention to the visual impact of the report, visualize it, and present the information in an image rather than an abstract way. If text is the main report form, one should also match large pictures with it to enhance the report’s attractiveness. Putting videos, pictures, and texts close to each other, which complement each other, can enhance the reception of the convergent report. Second, we should add content and focus on interaction. Adding value-added content and extended content can strengthen the convergence of reports. Convergent news emphasizes relevance. We must strive to find value-added content and extended content for the main report, including background information, related news, and comments, along with other resources for the convergence of the report. Such content should be added to the main report where appropriate to provide users with a rich news dinner. At the same time, interactive functions should be enhanced to provide channels and platforms for users to express opinions, create content, add comments, leave messages, participate in online surveys, and share the news with one click. We can also select some of the wonderful comments from users and put them on the news page. Finally, we must pay attention to moderation and reason. Convergence makes the report three-dimensional and gives users multiple perspectives to observe the news. Needless to say, there is a charm to it, but it should be used to a proper degree. Neither excessive nor inadequate use is good. As a Chinese saying goes, “Excessiveness is just like insufficiency”. Confucius said, “Gentlemen follow the doctrine of the mean, the small-minded people oppose it”. Aristotle also said, “excess and defect are characteristic of vice, and the mean of virtue”. The operation of convergent news should also focus on the application of “the golden mean”.

Convergent news presentation 215 If it fails to meet the requirements of convergence, news reports will appear thin and cannot meet users’ needs for information. If it is overdone, the page will be bloated and cumbersome and make users bored. We should not stuff unrelated things onto the news page or utilize converge for convergence’s sake, which would only overwhelm users. Convergent journalists need to help users to select information, instead of pushing all the materials to users and putting the burden of selection on users. The convergence of reports must take into account the relevance of news materials, implement a logical integration of news resources, focus on the rationality of convergence, and allocate relevant resources appropriately.

3 Convergence of topics The convergence of topics refers to the form of presentation that integrates multimedia news resources on specific topics. The convergence of topics emphasizes the use of convergent thinking and methods, and the application of multimedia elements. If the convergence of news resources does not implement the convergent concept and does not appear in the form of multimedia, even if a lot of news resources are gathered, it still has not achieved the convergence of topics. Some news pages have only a few columns, each including three to five reports in the form of graphics and text. Such pages lack multimedia elements such as audio and video. They are inadequate in terms of interaction, sharing, and user experience. Therefore, such a presentation does not meet the requirements of media convergence. It is not the convergence of topics but just a news topic in the ordinary sense. 3.1 Features of topic convergence The convergence of topics has three typical characteristics, namely, large capacity, convergent state, and rich associations. Such features are also requirements, without which real convergence cannot be achieved. First of all, the primary feature of topic convergence is its large capacity. Compared with traditional reports and convergent reports, the convergence of topics is like the aircraft carrier of news reports. It gathers the most extensive resources and has a quantitative advantage. This advantage becomes the basis of topic convergence, which can cover the development of news to the greatest extent. In short, there must be a sufficient amount of news reports to sustain the convergence of topics. Second, the convergent state. The convergence of topics brings together a large number of news reports, and these are more condensed and compact, which gives order to the originally complex news reports. The convergence of topics is

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a process of reprocessing and re-creation. It must present news in a clearer manner. Otherwise, the topics will become a hodgepodge of articles, which will only annoy users and make it difficult for them to follow the news. Large capacity is the primary advantage of topic convergence, but it is also a potential danger to cause a mess. If the complex information is not effectively collected and processed, users will feel numb, and the advantage of large capacity may become a disadvantage. The convergence of topics must avoid being messy and disordered. Otherwise, it will make users lose patience. Convergence means the aggregation and organization of a large amount of information, and it is the ideal state for the convergence of topics. Finally, the convergence of topics has rich associations because it brings together the most extensive news resources related to a topic. Compared with other forms of reports, the convergence of topics contains the most abundant relevant reports. The topic page also provides the most links to related reports. All related reports should be included and processed. Topic convergence has comprehensive, rich and diversified content, which is presented via multi-faceted, multiperspective, multi-level reporting in a continuous and coherent reporting manner. The rich associations of topic convergence are also reflected in the use of means. Topic convergence uses Internet technology, news genres, and interactive forms to provide users with an abundant news dinner. 3.2 Topic assessment and planning 3.2.1 Topic assessment The assessment of topics takes place at the start of convergent news production, and largely determines the style and success of the topic convergence. With a good topic, the convergence has been half successful. The selection of topics requires both wisdom and technical consideration, and the topics should follow the logic of information and data.14 Editors should select news topics based on the characteristics and laws of topic convergence. To be more specific, they should look for topics with significant social value, grasp social pain points, and be good at using new technologies to facilitate topic selection. Not all news is suitable for topic convergence. On the one hand, it is limited by the content of the news report. On the other hand, it is based on the consideration of practical factors such as operability, communication efficiency, economic cost, and user attention. News with the following characteristics can be considered for topic convergence. Significant subject: Only important news is worth special reports. If the subject matter is not important, there is no need to mobilize the public and use topic convergence. Influence: The news should have an extensive influence, involving the interests of more people and social classes. Close attention: The news attracts people from all walks of life, and the number of users is large. Users pay close attention to the development of the news and have relatively strong needs for information.

Convergent news presentation 217 Large amount of reports: The operator is confident enough to obtain a large number of relevant reports, which can reflect the latest development of news from all angles quickly and timely. The media of news reports should be rich, and news materials such as text, pictures, audio and video should be complete. 3.2.2 Overall planning The more meticulous and thorough the pre-planning is, the easier it is to succeed in later implementation. Planning guides action. It should take into account the key steps of topic selection, structure, column settings, media elements, interaction, page style, web technology, art editing, information resources, media convergence, and division of labour. Special attention should be paid to the implementation of the following professional concepts or operating principles, that is, in-depth report, awareness of thoughtful service, media convergence, and clear and concise presentation. (1) In-depth reporting Different from ordinary news reports, the convergence of topics brings together a huge amount of information, and it must highlight the depth of the report. Therefore, the planning of topic convergence must be done at a higher level, guided by the concept of in-depth reporting, setting up columns with individual characteristics, and providing in-depth reports on the topics with comprehensive analysis and powerful extensions in order to dig deeper and reveal news facts. (2) Awareness of thoughtful service In the era of media convergence, journalists must be aware of the change of roles from pure news producers to news service providers. Special attention must be paid to the issue of service in the process of planning topics. Service embodies the value of journalism. When planning special topics, we must consider users’ needs, have a sense of empathy, and try to gratify such needs. The special report “Asian Airlines Boeing 777 San Francisco Crash”15on Sina’s website provides rescue contact information, a list of Chinese citizens confirmed as safe, search services for the topic, review of past topics, and air crash escape techniques. Such practical information is provided to be user-friendly. It can be said that the editors thought about what users were concerned about, and everything was done for users, which reflects good service awareness in this topic convergence. The planning of topic convergence should also consider the use of links to past information. The air crash escape techniques introduced in the Sina topic were reported on their website on November 2, 2006: “Don’t be separated from your family”, “Learn to unlock the seat belt”, “Stay close to the escape port”, “Turn your back to the direction of flight”, “Bring on smoke hoods”, and “Listen to flight

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attendants”. The webpage was relinked and refined, and users can click to enter the original link page if they want to know more information. (3) Media convergence The planning of topic convergence must pay attention to the advantages of multimedia communication and fully release the media energy of text, pictures, audio, video, and interactive settings. It should also emphasize the coordination of multimedia elements, which are supposed to be unified as a whole rather than being separated from each other or piled on one page. (4) Clear and concise presentation The topic gathers huge and complex news materials. The advantage is that it is rich in information, but this advantage can become a disadvantage of being messy. The planning and production of special topics must take this issue into account. No matter how complicated the content is, it must be presented clearly and concisely so that users will not feel confused. Chaotic topics are irritating to users and may turn them off. Clear and concise topics can bring users a pleasant experience and grasp their attention. 3.3 Implementation of topic convergence 3.3.1 The title Although the title of a topic has been initially considered or even determined in the planning stage, further consideration is needed in the implementation phase to finalize it. The title of the topic is placed at the top to highlight the news value. The title should be concise and powerful, summarize the core content of the topic, and preferably be composed of no more than ten words. The title usually appears in the form of subject-predicate sentences, elliptical sentences, or phrases. For example, the title “Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 Crashed in San Francisco”16 by Sina is a subject-predicate sentence, the title “Uncover the Background of Wang Lin”17 by NetEase is an elliptical sentence, “Twenty-Year Evolution of the Internet”18 by Sina is a nominal positive phrase. The title of the topic is like the commander and soul of the topic, and it should be carefully crafted. 3.3.2 Structural design Information should be processed and organized to clarify the logic of the pages, design the location of different content, and divide and entitle sections. Text is usually placed in a prominent position, but length should be considered, as users might be distracted. The text should not occupy one whole screen. Otherwise, users might give up and stop reading.

Convergent news presentation 219 Pictures and videos should be placed in prominent positions and given enough space. If there is more than one picture, they should be presented via slide show. If there is more than one video, they should be presented in a collection. The positions of text, pictures, video, audio, interaction settings, etc. should be relatively fixed, and set into several different modules. We can choose from these modules when organizing convergent topics to gradually cultivate users’ browsing habits. The convergence of topics usually includes a three-tier structure including the homepage, column page, and text page. These three-tiers should have a common tone to ensure overall balance and harmony. The top priority for design is the homepage, which displays the essence of the topic and reflects the editorial thinking. To a great extent, it determines the success of topic convergence The importance of the topic homepage is also obvious in terms of SEO. Its importance is only second to the website homepage. There is only one website homepage, but there can be many convergent topic homepages. The continuous launch of high-quality convergent topic pages not only presents news to users, it is also conducive to SEO. It helps to improve the search ranking of the website, attract more users, and increase the number of visits. The homepage designers should set up columns according to the content of the special topic, divide the page into sections and define their functions, draw the page structure diagram, and hand it over to the art designer and Internet technicians to complete the production. The design of the columns is very important. Columns organize the scattered content into an order and make it easier for users to choose, so they can improve the efficiency of news dissemination. Columns are divided into basic and personalized columns. Basic columns are general, which cover “all or latest news”, “picture report”, “video news”, “comment”, “interaction”, etc. Personalized columns need to be set up separately according to the special topics. Such columns are not easily generalized, and they should be designed with reference to the specific content. For example, “Severe Rain in the South”19 by NetEase includes the following columns in addition to the basic one: “Meteorological Disaster Warning”, “Today’s Weather Inquiry”, “Illustration of China’s Eight Major Flooded Cities”, and “Travel Guide”, among others. 3.3.3 Addition and maintenance Collecting daily information in the media is very important, and there should be adequate reports and updates. If there is no substantial collection of information, it is difficult for the media to make solid special reports. Special attention should be paid to browsing and collecting relevant information from a variety of media and publishing it in a timely manner to consolidate the basis of daily reporting. Only in this way can the media manage the source links of a topic. We may write an introduction to the topic to summarize the core facts, give users an overview, and let them understand the facts in the shortest time. An introduction should be short, highlighting the news value, and attracting users’

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attention. It can also be used as a link to expand the content, and the linked page should also be condensed and concise. The topic convergence requires the collaboration of news editors, art designers, and Internet technicians. Art designers and technicians complete the topic pages based on design templates, but this is just a semi-finished frame without content, and news is needed. Editors add relevant content, including news reports, commentaries, background information, etc., via text, pictures, audio, and video, among other formats. After the content has been added, the topic page is ready to be launched. However, this does not mean that the topic convergence has been completed. Many topics still need to be supplemented and updated according to the development of news, but this means the piece has entered the maintenance stage where timely updates of news reports should be provided. As appropriate, adjustments should also be made to column settings, interactive settings should be optimized, and the content created by users should be categorized, highlighted, recommended, and displayed. 3.4 Increase in editing content Editing content was originally a concept in the field of editing and publishing. It was mainly used to discuss the amount of work editors put in the production of publications. “Editing content refers to the amount of editing labor and its impact on the quality and value of publications”.20 The editorial content of convergent news can be defined in a broad or narrow sense. The editing content in the narrow sense refers to the work in editing convergent news, while editing content in the broad sense includes the workload of editors in a series of convergent news business links such as topic selection, planning, control and management of material collection, and multimedia material processing, product distribution, and operation. The convergence of topics is led by the editor, and editing content occurs at all stages of convergent news production. On the one hand, it includes the determination and execution of editorial policies, the structure of content, image and style of the report, the topic page, columns, and organization of major news reports, etc. On the other hand, it includes specific manuscript analysis, multimedia material selection and processing, title selection, manuscript assignment, and layout and presentation, etc. Editing content runs through the production process of topic convergence. “It is not an objective thing or phenomenon that can exist independently, but the internal labor that must be integrated into all links of the editing process”.21 The editing content in topic convergence is concerned with the whole process. In the early stage of topic selection and planning, the later feedback and interaction as well as other links are equally important. Editing content cannot be reduced in any of the links. Otherwise, it will be difficult to achieve the ideal communication effect. Journalism is highly political. To engage in journalism in China, one must have a sense of political security. To improve the editing of the content, one needs

Convergent news presentation 221 to give priority to orientation. The principle of orientation first requires that journalists adhere to the correct political and value orientation in convergent news production, and try to influence and guide users with correct thinking and a positive attitude. Editors should analyze and select manuscripts based on mainstream social values. To improve the editing of content, editors need to highlight the value of convergent news production, and present the content that users expect most. The use of technology can help editors better realize the value of news, and it is conducive to enhancing the editing content in topic convergence. The improvement of editing content entails the use of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and other technologies to highlight the value of news. Editors should choose the most appropriate presentation method according to the characteristics of the news piece to best aid users’ understanding. 3.5 Thematic integration case COVID-19 has had the widest effect of a global pandemic in the past 100 years.22 According to the data of the “epidemic map”, as of 3.58 pm on June 17, 2020, a total of 8,152,204 people had been diagnosed with the virus globally, with a total of 443,762 resulting deaths. “The epidemic is a major test for news and public opinion work, and it is also an opportunity for the reform of media production methods”.23People’s Daily Online accepted the challenge, implemented topic convergence, and launched the report “Making an All-out Effort to Prevent and Control Covid-19”.24 It set up columns such as “Original”, “Wuhan Diary”, “Comments”, “Dynamics of Various Regions”, “Seeking Truth and Not Rumours”, “People’s War against the Epidemic”, “Public Heroes”, “Party Media Concerns”, “Epidemic Prevention”, “Return to Work”, etc. The reports about COVID-19 are converged and curated effectively. People’s Daily Online enhances the visualization of pictures during topic convergence. Under the topic title and columns, priority is given to the collection of pictures. The pictures are all linked, and users can click on them to read more detailed reports. On the left side of the photo gallery are the columns “Report” and “Interpretation”. Users can slide their mouse to see more headlines and click to read, as shown in Figure 7.13. This topic collects a large number of reports, which reflects the characteristics of large capacity, convergence, and rich relevance. There are 14 text columns on the main page, including “Key News”, “Important Comments”, “Live Wuhan”, “Wuhan Diary”, “Seeking Truth and Not Rumours”, “Dynamics of Various Regions”, “Stories of the Frontline Anti-epidemic Heroes”, “This is Our War against the Epidemic”, “Support from Everywhere”, “Guardian of the Epidemic Frontline”, “Authoritative Interpretation”, “Return to Work”, “Epidemic Prevention”, and “International News”. All of the columns are presented via text titles and are linked, and the amount of information is huge. This topic attaches great importance to the propaganda function. The title “Making an

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Figure 7.13 Topic convergence of People’s Daily Online

All-out Effort to Prevent and Control COVID-19” is eye-catching on the homepage and directly expresses the standpoint. In addition, the convergent topic page of People’s Daily Online has also set up the columns of epidemic alerts, domestic cases, foreign cases, and real-time broadcast to report the epidemic data in time, as shown in Figure 7.14 and Figure 7.15. The video column of Live Wuhan is set up under the topic title to make the news presentation more vivid. The video Wuhan Diary Vlog.23: You are an angel and a soldier tells the story of the nucleic acid detection sampling team. On February 7, 2020, the Wuchang District Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Wuhan formed a nucleic acid detection and sampling team urgently to sample all quarantine areas and nursing homes in the Wuchang District. The team members were volunteers, and two-thirds of them were female. On the eve of Women’s Day, a reporter met with those women and recorded their work and life as shown in Figure 7.16. The convergence of this topic also shows the characteristic of nesting. There are multiple topic promotions at the bottom of the homepage, such as “Guidelines for Epidemic Prevention”, “Wise Fighting against Epidemic”, “Epidemic Prevention and Control: Local Actions”, “Epidemic Prevention and Control: Ministries and Commissions in Action”, “Epidemic Prevention and Control: Enterprise in

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Figure 7.14 Collection of a large number of reports

Figure 7.15 Real-time bulletin

Action”. It can be seen that the topic includes a huge amount of information. If users click “This is Our War against the Epidemic”25 in the middle of the page, another page will pop up with reports of multiple characters, which uses sand painting, video, pictures, text and other forms of presentation, and the content is also rich and diverse, as shown in Figure 7.17.

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Figure 7.16 Video from the “Live Wuhan” column

Figure 7.17 Special report of “This is Our War against the Epidemic”

Strengthening and innovating the construction of Internet content and promoting the development of media convergence are strategic measures to consolidate the ideological and cultural position and enhance mainstream ideological and public opinions. The topic of epidemic prevention and control launched by People’s Daily Online is outstanding in conveying mainstream voices and building consensus. It is huge in size and serious in content, demonstrating the power of topic convergence.

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Notes 1 http://cn.wsj.com/gb/macrash.asp (April 8, 2014). 2 FRIEND C, CHALLENGER D. Contemporary Editing [M]. Routledge, 2013. 3 PORTER W E. Men, Women, Messages, and Media: Understanding Human Communication [M]. Harper & Row, 1982. 4 Rosenbaum S. Curation Nation: How to Win a World Where Consumers Are Creators, New York etc. [M] The McGraw Hill Companies, 2011. 5 H E P F. “content+3C=CURATION – Curatorial, a New National Movement in the Online World” (in Chinses) [A]. TOSAKI S. The Era of CURATION Curation: The Information Revolution of “series” has begun! (in Japanese) [M]. Taipei: Economic Trends Agency, 2012. 6 WANG Y H. “Research on the Content Production System of News Curatorial Platform – Taking ‘Key Commentary Network Topics’ as an Example” (in Chinese) [D]. Taipei: Shih Hsin University, 2017. 7 LIN Z Z. News, at a Turning Point: The Transformation and Aggregation of News in the Digital age (in Chinese) [M]. Taipei: Lianjing Publishing Company, 2017. 8 SUN J. “Surging to Start a Business Again: The key to Media Integration Is to Build a ‘content moat’” (in Chinses) [J]. Chinese Reporter, 2019 (9). 9 THUROW S, MUSICA N. When search meets web usability [M]. Pearson Education India, 2009. 10 http://media.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0321/c120837-29157982.html (March 21, 2017). 11 http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/01/snowden-nsa-files-surveillance-revelations-decoded (November 1, 2013). 12 ZHAN X H. New Media Editor (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2013. 13 “Chinese Ship Hears Pulse, Possibly from Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight’s Black Box” [EB/OL]. (April 5, 2014). http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/ chinese-ship-hears-pulse-possibly-from-missing-malaysia-airlines-flights-black-box /2014/04/05/df1dfc97-8308-450e-9f7e-6c94c2f4bf6d_story.html 14 LIU T. “An Integrated Journalism Topic: The Connection Between ‘Information Logic’ and ‘Traffic Logic’” (in Chinese) [J]. Journal of Education and Media Studies, 2020(1). 15 http://news.sina.com.cn/z/BY777/ (December 11, 2013). 16 http://news.sina.com.cn/z/BY777/ (December 11, 2013). 17 http://news.163.com/special/qidiwanglin/#p=9518JQ9O00AP0001, (August 12, 2013). 18 http://tech.sina.com.cn/z/internet20/ (June 11, 2014). 19 http://news.163.com/special/baoyu2014/ (June 24, 2014). 20 ZHENG Y Q. “Perseverance and Striving for Perfection – The Dynamic Management of Editing Work and the Improvement of Editing Content from the Perspective of the Publishing Process of a book” (in Chinese) [J]. Chinese Editor, 2011 (6). 21 HE J M. “Three Basic Questions about the Improvement of Book Editing Content” (in Chinese) [J]. Published in China, 2019 (23). 22 “‘China Action to Fight the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic’ White Paper” (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. (June 7, 2020). http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2020/0607/c1001 -31737896.html. 23 Zeng Xiangmin. “Innovative Dissemination, Amplifying the Mainstream Voice” (in Chinese) [N]. People’s Daily, (March 31, 2020). 24 http://society.people.com.cn/GB/369130/431577/index.html (June 17, 2020). 25 http://society.people.com.cn/GB/369130/431577/431800/index.html (June 17, 2020)..

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Convergent Journalism education

Convergent Journalism education should take new digital media into account by including the digital transformation of traditional media, integrating journalism, computer science and technology, digital media art, and other disciplines, and training new interdisciplinary journalists. Attention should be paid to training in news practice ability and theoretical research ability to make sure that students master the skills of new media reporting, convergent news collection, editing and processing, and convergent presentation. Traditional media have been impacted by the development of new digital media and the Internet. Everyone has a microphone, and everyone can be a reporter, but it does not mean that the importance of journalism education is decreasing. On the contrary, the value of professional journalism education has increased. In the era of traditional media, the American newspaper industry’s requirement for newly recruited journalists is “40% journalistic quality and 60% non-journalistic quality”.1 In the era of new media, this requirement is reversed and becomes “60% journalistic quality, 40% of non-journalistic quality”. In this new media era, the requirements for professional journalism have become higher and journalism education has become more important. Journalism education will, thus, play an essential role in the cultivation of Convergent Journalism talent.

1 Majors and interdisciplinary training 1.1 Majors The original style of journalism major was established based on traditional media’s needs for skilled professionals, without taking into account the characteristics and requirements of new digital media. Traditionally, journalistic majors mainly included journalism or radio and television journalism. The training of journalism majors is required to provide talented professionals to the print media industry, and radio and television journalism majors are needed to train professionals for radio and television stations. In the media convergence era, however, the aforementioned training can no longer fully meet the needs of new digital media and the digital transformation

Convergent Journalism education 227 that has happened to traditional media. The innovation and development of journalism majors have become a major issue for educators. Journalism schools and departments around the world have explored media convergence and Convergent Journalism, and there have been breakthroughs in the development of curriculum designs. In 2005, the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in the United States added a media convergence major and developed a complete curriculum. The dean and deputy dean thought about how to adjust the curriculum every day, and the school also compiled and published a set of tutorials to support the teaching of media convergence and Convergent Journalism.2 In 2007, the School of Media, at Jinling College of Nanjing University, referred to the curriculum of the School of Journalism of the University of Missouri3 and took the lead in setting up a major of media convergence in China by establishing the Future Laboratory of Media Convergence. New media and media convergence have since become distinctive programmes at the school. It has also built experimental and research institutions such as the Microblog Laboratory, Microfilm and Cloud Creative Laboratory, Glasses-free 3D Laboratory, Media Intelligence Analysis and Strategy Research Center, etc.4 In 2007, the School of Journalism at the Renmin University of China established a major in digital news communication to cultivate journalism professionals with omnimedia skills. In my opinion, a traditional journalism major should be retained, but Convergent Journalism education should be strengthened and the option to major in Convergent Journalism should be established. Key to developing the major of Convergent Journalism is to revise the traditional syllabus and develop a new curriculum. Curating a major in Convergent Journalism cannot be perfected overnight, and it would need to be reviewed often and constantly evolve. The reporting technology of traditional paper media, radio, and television can be transferred to convergent news, and the curriculum of a Convergent Journalism course could be built on the original curriculum of journalism. Firstly, courses such as Convergent News Reporting, Convergent News Editing, Convergent News Practice (individual or teamwork), Social Media Studies, Big Data, and Precision News should be taught. Secondly, courses such as New Media Communication and New Technology and Equipment could be taught. Thirdly, professional or elective courses such as Computer Science and Technology and Digital Media Art could be planned to cater to students’ interest. Some people worry that courses in Convergent Journalism are too complicated and, as a result, students are familiar with everything but not proficient in anything. Students must master not only the writing, photographic, and editing skills required by print media, but also the audio, video, and editing skills required by radio and television media. In addition, such reporting and editing technologies need to make use of the Internet for the sake of convergent news. Therefore, some believe that these requirements are too broad for students to be truly proficient, which may reduce the professional standard of news reporting and make the training superficial.

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This kind of worry may initially seem to make sense but, in fact, it is exaggerated and groundless – at least in as much as it is not that difficult for journalism students to master multiple media reporting techniques. In the traditional media era, news reporting technology was often considered sacred by outsiders. Many journalists dared not even touch the camera, let alone audio and video equipment. But now, society has changed, and there are so many citizen journalists who produce written works, audio, and video programmes every day. Many have received no professional education, but have become experts in new media reports. Those who are worried that journalism majors will not be able to master media reporting technology are merely exaggerating the difficulty of commanding crossmedia technical methods. This is an irony of professional education. A journalism major student should master interviewing and writing, photography and videography, audio and video editing, and other technologies. No one should complain about how hard it is to learn these technologies in the new media era. Convergent Journalism education will not make a student superficial. Only those who are irresponsible and uninspired will make themselves superficial. Only students who are not diligent will fail to be proficient in mastering professional technology. 1.2 Interdisciplinary training The training of Convergent Journalism professionals needs to integrate the strengths of journalism, computer science and technology, digital media art, and other disciplines. More specifically, it needs to expand journalism education towards the fields of digital media technology and digital media art, and train new journalists across disciplines. Convergent news is a product of the Internet era. The development of computer and network technology is the technical prerequisite for convergent news. Convergent reporting cannot do without the support of such technology. The knowledge structure of convergent news professionals inevitably depends on the support of computer science and technology as well as network technology. For the training of news talent, computer science and technology are more directly demonstrated as digital media technology, which falls under the engineering field, focusing on digital information processing and communication, programming, database design, human-computer interaction, graphics and image processing, and other computer science engineering technologies. Digital media art is an art major, which emphasizes the use of digital media tools and technical means to complete graphic designs, animation productions, digital video editing, games and virtual realities and other artistic tasks. Digital media art combines artistic skills with computer technologies. As for the specific application of computer technology, it shares the attribute of journalism by focusing on the application of the technology rather than its development. Many of the skills learned in a digital media art discipline are also ones that Convergent Journalism majors should master.

Convergent Journalism education 229 Although journalism students can learn about computer technology and digital media art, such learning is restricted by professional thresholds, and sometimes it is difficult for them to really explore further. We could consider enrolling students majoring in computer science and technology and digital media art to study journalism courses in order to cultivate Convergent Journalism talents. Such students would need to be qualified in the following two areas. First, they should have a solid foundation in computer science and technology or digital media art and be enthusiastic about still learning their original subjects. Second, they should have an interest in learning journalism, be willing to graft their original major with journalism, and have a strong desire to explore the integration of news collection and presentation. The students would mainly be selected from sophomores. There is no need to schedule too many journalism courses, but the following core courses should be considered: Journalism Ethics and Regulations, Journalism Theory, News Writing, Convergent News Reporting, Convergent News Editing, News Review, and News Photography and Video. Students should continue to learn digital media technology and art while also studying journalism. They would be expected to cultivate their interdisciplinary ability to solve problems in convergent news. In addition, a professional project could be assigned at the end of the first semester of their junior year. The students would submit a proposal, and their supervisor would sign and confirm the topic. The project would intend to solve the technical problems in convergent news reporting. Such training can enhance students’ interdisciplinary ability to investigate and solve practical problems. Of course, interdisciplinary training also includes the expansion of professional training for journalism students – that is, providing enough computer science and technology as well as digital media art courses for journalism students – but this requires teaching students in accordance with their aptitude and focusing on their actual situations so as to achieve flexible and efficient training of interdisciplinary journalism talents. 1.3 Individualized teaching The training of Convergent Journalism entails teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. On the one hand, the curriculum of journalism should include courses on digital media technology and digital media art to ensure that students can master the necessary computer and network technology and digital media art. On the other hand, we need to achieve a higher level of interdisciplinary education and be good at finding, guiding, and training convergent news professionals. Masters who can really grasp such disciplines as journalism, computer science, and digital media art, etc., are very rare. While we advocate the mastery of those disciplines, it is impossible and unnecessary to require every journalism student to become such a master. Convergent Journalism education must take into account students’ characters, interests, and personal circumstances and teach them in accordance with their aptitude.

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There will always be some students who have the potential to move across disciplines; ones that have a strong interest in journalism, computer science, or digital media art, and a strong will to learn. Journalism educators should be good at discovering such students, providing them with timely guidance and services, and training them to be highly qualified talents in Convergent Journalism. The innovation and development of journalism education is a gradual process that requires continuous exploration and adjustment. To begin with, the journalism course system could be expanded to include such courses as Big Data and Precision News, Social Media Research, and Application of New Technology and Equipment, which have journalistic features and involve technical application. Then, courses such as Animation and Game Design, Virtual Technology and Art, and Computer Programming can be established when appropriate. Alternatively, students could be allowed to choose such courses according to their own interests and intentions. The adjustment of the course system is an exploratory process, which should be gradual and have a practical effect. In the process of transformation, it is more important to integrate journalism, computer technology, and digital media art into students’ minds, which will help the Convergent Journalism education to achieve real success. 1.4 Based on journalism The Internet has profoundly affected and changed human life, traditional media, and the development of journalism education. No matter how new media develop, the unique value of journalism and its education is unquestionable. We must not lose ourselves in the tide of the new media era or get disoriented. Convergent Journalism education must be based on journalism. In other words, journalism is the mainstay, and Convergent Journalism education should not be transformed into technology education or art education. The achievements and talents of other disciplines can be borrowed to enrich the development of journalism, but such interdisciplinary training should not weaken or ruin the journalism major. To make innovations in Convergent Journalism education, professional confidence is needed so as not to lose our way or undermine ourselves in the “dazzling” developments. In the era where “everyone is a journalist and everyone has a microphone”, it is even more necessary to extend journalism expertise across the whole of society. The fact that everyday online communications have no set standards reflect netizens’ lack of news literacy and the profound social needs for journalism education. In this sense, the social demand for journalism education has not decreased, but increased. The value of journalism is unique. No matter how new media technology develops, journalism is always necessary for society. As times continue to develop, journalism and its education will continue to move forward too. We do not need to be pessimistic or confused. We should see opportunities and hope and face the future with more confidence. Convergent Journalism education must be based on journalism, as well as constantly absorbing the knowledge and skills of other disciplines and professions in order to stay relevant and vigorous.

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2 Journalistic ethics With the rapid development of new media, research on news communication has also been flourishing, but it must be admitted that such research mostly follows the progress of Internet platforms. In other words, computer and Internet experts constantly put forward new media tools such as blogs, microblogs, WeChat, clients, etc. They establish new communication modes, develop new programmes, and popularize them among users, which then form user trends. After that, researchers in the field of journalism and communication begin to conduct research and publish papers, closely following the trend. Each discipline has its strengths and advantages. The strength of news communication research does not lie in the media technology that network engineers are good at. Instead, it is concerned with how to use technology to improve news communication, how to make new media methods serve the news business, and how to investigate and solve the ethical issues of communication in a new context. In the era of new media, new problems have emerged regarding ethics, which deserve the attention of professionals and need to be studied, sorted, summarized, and taught to students. 2.1 Ethics education to non-professional groups Traditionally, ethics education in journalism targets professionals who are engaged in news practice. It does not consider other non-professional groups involved in such news activities. Traditional journalism does not treat news recipients as equals. This can be seen from the concept of “recipient”, which implies that they passively receive and cannot interact with news. In this sense, they are not treated as “on par” with news workers. This concept has obviously not been in keeping with the era of convergent news. Those usually seen as recipients have now changed from passive receivers to active creators and, therefore, often hold the same position as news workers. The principal participants cover all people involved in news activities. In this sense, both the party sending out information and the party receiving it are participants. Therefore, journalists are the main participants in news dissemination, and the recipients have also become participants in news reception. Nowadays, participants in reception may transform into participants of dissemination when it comes to convergent news. When users create content, they become participants in news dissemination. When professional journalists browse information on the Internet, they change from participants in dissemination to participants receiving the news. In the era of new media, people’s identities change rapidly in the process of news activities. Journalism ethics education often focuses on professional norms, which of course makes sense. The main goal of journalism education is to train professional journalists, so the teaching of professional ethics is indispensable. However, the media environment has changed. The status and role of non-professional

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journalists in convergent news have also changed. Those users who are nonprofessional journalists, but provide information and produce news, should also improve their journalism ethics. Ethics research and education should be extended to non-professional groups, and everyone involved in news activities should have ethical awareness and follow ethical rules. There should be a social consensus that ethics are not restricted to professional journalists but are relevant for all those involved in communication activities. When an ordinary user participates in discussions, news followups, and forwarding information online, he must take into account the rules and requirements of ethics. Journalism educators should study the new problems encountered in new media communication, re-organize the teaching content of journalism ethics, and expand the research and teaching of ethics, targeting both professional journalists and users or non-professional journalists. We should teach journalism ethics in a more comprehensive, systematic, and professional manner in the era of media. 2.2 Universality of journalism ethics Moral relativism, which is based on cultural relativism, opposes the universality of morality. Cultural relativism holds that different cultural models have their own value and rationality. They cannot be classified as being superior or inferior. Cultural relativism is in contrast to cultural centrism, which means that a nation or a country can easily regard its own culture as the best, and use its own cultural model as a benchmark for measuring other cultures, accustomed to discrimination, suspicion, and rejection of other cultures. Compared with extreme cultural centrism, cultural relativism has the advantage of tolerating different cultures. However, “it denies the absolute side of things, so it can easily make mistakes”5. For this reason, it “gradually evolves into a rigid system and challenges all forms of universalism”.6 In the field of morality, cultural relativism advocates for the diversity of moral practice almost dogmatically and ignores the universality of morality. Moral relativism can be manipulated easily and even become an excuse and theoretical basis for people to exculpate themselves. To oppose the moral relativism of news communication and emphasize the universality of ethics means to look at the ethical norms of journalism from a global perspective and based on the foundation of China. It also means taking a professional rather than disciplinary perspective on ethical issues. In the process of teaching journalism ethics, we should strengthen the professionalism and persuasiveness of ethical norms. The “Code of Professional Ethics for Chinese Journalists”, formulated in 1991 by the National Association of Journalists, includes eight articles: 1) Serve the people wholeheartedly; 2) take social benefits as the highest criterion; 3) abide by laws and disciplines; 4) maintain the authenticity of news; 5) follow the principle of justice; 6) show honesty and integrity; 7) carry forward the spirit of teamwork and cooperation; 8)increase friendship and cooperation with the press of

Convergent Journalism education 233 various countries. Professor Chen Lidan claimed in a criticism that “the writing and thinking are not professional, the language shows style of the Party, and it is not operable and does not show the characteristics of self-discipline”.7 Later, the National Association of Journalists made several amendments. Although the terms have changed, the core ideas remain the same. “It seems that changes must be made from a professional perspective, otherwise, weaving a kind of self-discipline with non-professional thinking and language is no self-discipline at all, and it is difficult to be implemented”.8 Using propaganda disciplinary clauses instead of ethical norms of news dissemination will harm the academic and professional nature of ethics. We should pay attention to the universality of news ethics, adopt professional thinking to study ethics in the era of media convergence, and apply the research findings to convergent news education.

3 Journalism as vocational education 3.1 Transitional vocational education The innovation and development of Convergent Journalism education must follow the essential requirements of journalism education. Educators should study the innate laws of the vocational education of journalism and promote the reform and development of Convergent Journalism education with a pragmatic attitude. Only in this way can Convergent Journalism education truly contribute to the training of professional talents. Journalism is a major in applied liberal arts education, and teaching it is ultimately a kind of vocational education. It focuses on the cultivation of practical ability, but does not ignore the pursuit of academic quality. Vocational education does not mean to avoid or underestimate theoretical education. Without adequate emphasis on theoretical education, the academic nature of journalism may be harmed. News theory is the sublimation of, and plays a guiding role in, the practical experience of news practice. News practice without theoretical guidance is likely to be blind. Meanwhile, news practice provides a realistic basis for the study of news theory. Without news practice, the study of news theory can easily become empty talk or working behind closed doors. Research is the process of summarizing the experience of news practice, refining methods, and elevating theoretical levels. Research on news business must contain theoretical elements and insights. In 2014, news about the “transition of 600 undergraduate colleges and universities to vocational education” aroused heated discussion. At the press conference on the reform and development of vocational education held by the State Council Information Office on June 28, Lu Xin, Vice Minister of Education, said that the ministry will guide and support some undergraduate universities that are willing and qualified to transform. Ge Daokai, Director of the Vocational Education and Adult Education Department of the Ministry of Education, said that colleges and

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universities upgraded after the year 2000 are encouraged to transform into applied technical schools. Although the Ministry of Education emphasized that “the schools to be transformed can be new ones or ones with a long history”, objectively speaking, the main call for the transformation of vocational education and technical education is still oriented towards local newly founded undergraduate colleges, not key universities. Transitional vocational education has its pragmatic value. It is an effective measure to fix the disconnection between college education and work practice and improve the employability of students. However, there are many issues worth discussing in this transition. Major universities are mostly research-oriented with strong academic capabilities; newly founded undergraduate colleges are mostly teaching-oriented with weak scientific research capabilities. Transitional vocational education is based on a hypothesis: Newly founded undergraduate colleges with weak scientific research capabilities are suitable for the development of technical or vocational education. On the surface, it seems that the level of vocational education is low, and it is easier to implement vocational education in newly founded undergraduate colleges. In fact, the requirements of vocational education for teachers are not lower but higher. Vocational education requires teachers to be doubly qualified by being familiar with theories and possessing excellent professional skills. Although most of the newly founded undergraduate colleges have excellent teachers, their overall strength is inferior to that of key universities, and the practical ability of those teachers may not meet the requirements of vocational education. Teachers who are weak in scientific research skills are not necessarily strong in professional practice. The reality is that teachers who are weak in scientific research are also likely to be weak in practical operations. The basic requirements for qualified journalism education are that teachers should have practical experience, be familiar with the actual situation of the media, and be proficient in news production skills. Newly founded colleges may not necessarily have advantages over key universities in this regard. According to my observation, the news experience of teachers in those new colleges is limited. In contrast, the journalism and communication departments of key universities tend to have more teachers who are more experienced, work with more influential media, and hold higher journalistic positions. Teachers with strong research abilities in journalism and communication theory and strong professional practical abilities will play a greater role in journalism vocational education. Major universities’ teachers perform relatively better in both aspects. 3.2 A pragmatic view of education: Emphasis on practical courses In fact, whether a university is newly founded or has a long history is irrelevant to vocational education which is mainly related to the attributes of disciplines. Disciplines with obvious theoretical characteristics – such as mathematics,

Convergent Journalism education 235 physics, chemistry, philosophy, etc. – do not need to be included in a vocational transformation. Vocational education must be considered for the disciplines and majors which emphasize professional application. Journalism is an applied major of liberal arts, and it is natural for it to cross over with vocational education. Only in this way can it conform to the laws of running a school and truly meet society’s demand for journalism and communication talents. Judging from the history of journalism majors at home and abroad, journalism education mainly follows the line of vocational education. For example, the School of Journalism at Columbia University in the United States provides postgraduate, not undergraduate, education. It is entirely based on the development of journalistic professional ability. The deputy dean in charge of teaching, David A. Klatell mentioned that they did not want to recruit students to study journalism theory, they did not teach journalism theory, and the school was set up for those students who wanted to become professional journalists.9 The master’s programme at the School of Journalism at Columbia University lasts for one year, the curriculum is mainly about journalism practice, with very few theoretical courses. When Professor Cai Wen visited the School of Journalism of Columbia University in 2005, he found that the introduction to all courses in the school’s teaching manual had only one compulsory course that was somewhat theoretical, namely Journalism, Law and Society (two credits). In addition, there were two elective courses with theoretical attributes, namely American Politics and Media and Media and Modern Society.10 Many courses at Columbia University School of Journalism are taught in the laboratory. Teachers and students work together to improve their practical abilities. The transformation of journalism vocational education is not just a matter of new colleges, and the journalism major in key universities should not deviate from the practical characteristics of journalism or take a theoretical line. 3.3 Integrated training of practical and theoretical ability Vocational education does not mean to discard theory or theoretical research. To separate theoretical research and practical ability is short-sighted. Some college students complain, after two weeks of internship, that the theories they have learned in class are simply useless. While such complaints reflect some problems with the current education, they are superficial and impetuous. Without theoretical support, the vocational education of journalism will lose its academic quality, and it will not cultivate students with stamina and responsibility. The vocational education of journalism should not only emphasize the training of students’ practical ability, but also their theoretical research ability. The cultivation of practical ability and academic ability should be integrated so that students can think, research, and find solutions to problems independently when they come across new problems in news practice. News research cannot take a purely theoretical and abstract route, as there is no value in those foggy studies and papers. If academic research intimidates readers

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with bluffing words, regarding obscurity as theoretical depth, such values are very questionable. Theories can reveal essential laws, and they also play a role in transforming the world. Practical research needs to raise its theoretical level to be of academic value. However, no matter what kind of research one is engaged in, using esoteric theoretical expressions does not mean academic value, and being clear is more important. Researchers should not be mysterious, and they should speak the truth honestly. If research on news practice does not pursue the actual value and significance but seeks to be esoteric, then our academic research has made a mistake. The findings of such research can increase a library’s collection, but cannot promote our news practice. What is frightening about this kind of thinking is that it sets a benchmark, placing hypocritical research at the centre of power. It turns an academic institution into a factory producing research papers, and a country into a bigger producer of papers. The paper producers and those involved in the chain of interests will make profits and prosper.

4 Research methods Research on convergent news is not only concerned with the development of Internet technology. More importantly, it needs to study how to use these technologies to collect and present news and how to organize news production and interaction. The innovation of convergent news involves social applications rather than natural science and technology. Convergent news research should combine news practice with academic research and strive to enhance the value of research findings to convergent news practice. We should not only address existing findings, consolidate the theoretical foundation, and improve research efficiency, but also explore new ideas and methods. In other words, we need to go further, create something new, and explore and solve the problems with convergent news collection and presentation on both theoretical and practical levels. The research findings of convergent news should be operable, provide news media with practical and feasible skills and methods, provide professional guidance for the practice of convergent news, enlighten the news industry, and contribute to the discipline of Convergent Journalism. Convergent news research can be carried out via practical experience, literature research, case studies, questionnaire surveys, and many other methods. This book does not intend to explain the research methods in detail, but the following three methods are indeed worth emphasizing. 4.1 Practical experience The American philosopher John Dewey holds that truth is best perceived and achieved in the process of use and experience. Truth is not a pre-existing thought or analysis.11 In the specific field of news communication, practical application is

Convergent Journalism education 237 the best way to conduct research, and this is particularly the case with convergent news. The American media theorist Paul Levinson emphasizes practice when introducing his research methods in the book New New Media. He says that the primary learning method should be to practice and a lot of information in the book can be traced back to his experience in different fields.12 Zhou Hongyi, a pioneer in China’s Internet industry and Head of Qihoo 360, also admits that he learns and masters mobile Internet-related knowledge by observing how people around him use mobile phones.13 Such an observation can be regarded as a method of learning from practical experience. In the case of convergent news, it is also easy to conduct research through practical experience. Convergent news is presented on new digital media platforms represented by the Internet. Every user can access and apply this service, and it is easier to engage in convergent news practice than in traditional media practice. This is because there are many options available to try, including blogs, microblogs, WeChat, websites, instant messaging tools, mobile phones, laptops, and tablets, and various media channels. In the process of researching convergent news, we should try to keep in touch with online media companies and participate more in online news gathering and editing. In the continuous Internet news practice, one can experience, perceive, and acquire the skills of convergent news collection and presentation, and elevate and test convergent news theory. In the process of studying convergent news, whenever a new idea comes up, we should try to experiment as much as possible, such as in the selection and use of keywords, information collection, news writing and text presentation, video filming and editing, information sharing and dialogue, etc. Theoretical research should be verified in practice as much as possible. 4.2 Literature review Media convergence research and convergent news research are hot topics in journalism. The volume of relevant literature is quickly growing. The achievements of my predecessors are rich in insights and worthy of our respect and reference. Studying existing literature can provide a shortcut for our research. We need to adopt a positive attitude towards reading literature. The practice of dismissing others’ research as useless in a literature review in order to promote oneself is contradictory to the basic objective and fair spirit of academic research, and it should be discarded. The author of this book has collected and read a large amount of work on media convergence and convergent news in order to truly understand the development of convergent news practice and research and learn about the problems comprehensively, accurately and systematically. A literature review is an important research method, and it plays a prominent role in the following aspects:

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(1) Understanding the history and current situation of convergent news research to grasp the general picture; (2) Forming a knowledge system of convergent news research; (3) Gathering inspiration and discovering the gaps in convergent news research; (4) Reflecting on the views of existing literature and gradually forming one’s own views on convergent news. 4.3 Case study The purpose of research indicates that we should conduct case studies on convergent news reports to expand perceptual knowledge, inspire new thinking, and lead to new discoveries about convergent news gathering and presentation. When writing this book, I browsed online reports of various international media such as The Wall Street Journal, the BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times as well as domestic media such as NetEase, Tencent, Sina, People’s Daily Online, Jiefang Daily, and Yantai Daily. I studied the successful cases of convergent news reporting, explored the key points and experiences of news gathering and presentation technology, and extracted theoretical findings from the vivid convergent news practice. For example, The Wall Street Journal website’s “memorial wall”, The Washington Post website’s convergent report on the missing Malaysian airliner, the use of matting technology on The Guardian website’s convergent works, the use of interactive composite charting technology in the NetEase World Cup special report, Sohu.com’s news expression feedback, and more, have brought useful inspiration to this book. It is also beneficial to learn to identify useful cases in life. For example, a small team operation case I discussed previously in the book was attributed to a phone chat. One of my former students worked as a director in a media company. She called me, and I asked her what media the company chose for advertising. She said they no longer chose traditional media such as newspapers and television, not even the once-famous real estate websites when promoting real estate projects. They now liked to cooperate with WeChat public accounts. I immediately searched for and added the official account she mentioned, and carefully studied some articles it had published. After that, I managed to get in touch with the account’s founder through friends in the local media. I interviewed her via WeChat and finally compiled a case about the operation of small teams in a new media project. In addition, we can also study some negative cases and problems in online news reports to summarize the lessons learned and remind future convergent news reports to avoid similar practices.

Notes 1 PAN X H, SUN Z G. “Pragmatic Innovation: American Journalism Education in the Age of Media Convergence and Its Implications” (in Chinese) [J]. Future Communication, 2012(3).

Convergent Journalism education 239 2 PAN X H, SUN Z G. “Pragmatic Innovation: American Journalism Education in the Age of Media Convergence and its Implications” (in Chinese) [J]. Future Communication, 2012(3). 3 CHEN Y. “Exploring the ‘Convergence Journalism’ Program at the Missouri School of Journalism” (in Chinese) [J]. Southeast Communication, 2011(6). 4 http://www.cmic.zju.edu.cn/zgxwcb/default/content/index/id/169, June 11, 2013. 5 ZHENG H S. New Revision of Introduction to Sociology (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2003. 6 HUANG H. News Communication Laws and Professional Ethics Course (in Chinese) [M]. Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2010. 7 CHEN L D. Ten Lectures on News Theory (in Chinese) [M]. Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2008. 8 CHEN L D. Ten Lectures on News Theory (in Chinese) [M]. Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2008. 9 CAI W, ZHOU X F. “A Classic Case of American Journalism Education Reform (Part 1)—A Survey Report on the Columbia University Journalism School” (in Chinese) [J]. International Press, 2005 (10). 10 CAI W. Media Convergence and Convergence News (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: People’s Press, 2012. 11 LEVINSON P. New New Media [M]. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2009. 12 LEVINSON P. New New Media [M]. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2009. 13 ZHOU H Y. Zhou Hongyi: My Internet methodology (in Chinese) [M]. Beijing: CITIC Publishing House, 2014.

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Index

artificial intelligence 32, 63, 111 audio-visual communication 108–23

internal link 147–8 Internet branding 33, 40–1, 48, 131–2

backpack journalists 18, 41 backpack reporter 41–6

journalism major 226–8 journalistic ethics 68–71, 142, 147, 180, 200, 231–3

citizen photography 94 commentaries 64, 205–6 convergent journalism 18–20 convergent journalism education 226–8 convergent media 4, 53–4, 56, 57–60 convergent news 18–20, 33–42, 44–6 convergent reporting 52–73, 228–9 COVID 19 31, 65–6, 97, 122, 221–4 cultural relativism 232–3 digital media technology 54, 61–3 emotive feedback 160, 162–3 E-screen reading 48, 80–3 ethical norms 68–70, 233 expanded connotation 54–6 extended content 208–14 external link 147–8 fast-paced expression 185–6 game interaction 164–5 geographical proximity 55–7, 97–8 hierarchical report 195–7 hyperlink 143–7, 197 individualized teaching 229–30 information mode 71–2 integrated training 235–6 interactive chart 212–13 interdisciplinary training 228–30

keyword 129–43 knowledge production 189, 191–2 LBS see location-based service live broadcasting 87, 120 livestreaming 88, 121–3 livestreaming political discussions 122–3 location-based service 56; see also LBS long-tail effect 134, 156 media convergence 1–7, 9–11, 12–16 mobile photography 91–3 moral relativism 232–3 multi-image set 104–5 multimedia material collection 38–45, 196, 220 multiple-object link 144–5 news cartoon 103–5 news chart 99–101 news curation 198–200 news maps 96–8 news robot 85–9 news simulation diagram 98–9 news value 52, 55, 57–9, 103, 210–12, 218–19 objectivity 64–8 picture-spamming 106 population attribute 137–8

Index portrait 114–16 post-processing 106–7 real-time bulletin 223 screen reading 80–2 search engine optimization (SEO) 128–34, 147–8 small team operation 47–8, 238 social media optimization (SMO) 173–5, 187–8 social sharing 168–70 statistical chart 96–7 story mode 71–2 text 74–85 text intelligent editing system 111 thematic integration 221–3

253

Tiktok 62, 115, 120–3 topic assessment 216 topic convergence 215–22 UAV 91–3 universality 232–3 universal photography 94 user experience 19–22 user generated content (UGC) 22, 119 value-added content 198, 208–12 visual element 83–4, 99–100 vocational education 233–5 WeChat communication matrix 180 WeChat Moments 79, 90, 132, 187–9 WeChat official account 90, 109, 180–7