Traditional media heads for digital transformation
A girl sorts virtual waste in VR. Photo: VCG
As the digital economy has been booming, technologies such as cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence have been gradually applied at all levels of the media industry. With its structure and classification undergoing reconstruction, the media industry has displayed a series of new characteristics and faced new challenges.
Shao Peiren, a professor from the Communication Research Institute at Zhejiang University, said that information quality, privacy and security along with information cocoons have become hot issues in academia and society.
Hang Min, deputy director of the Research Institute for Media Economy and Management, said that users’ preferred methods of content creation have provided rich information sources. Thus the quality of news content has become a common concern for the whole media industry. In addition, exploring feasible business models for the digital transformation of traditional media is a key step for the sustainable development of the media industry. Li Mingde, dean of the School of Journalism and New Media at Xi’an Jiaotong University, said that the media industry should further promote media convergence and provide more services and guidance for its audience. It should also seek a balance between its professional ideals and commercial profits, proactively conducting research on user demand while continuing to produce content.
Dong Tiance, dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Chongqing University, said that as the media industry’s border gradually blurs, news content’s objectivity and media’s credibility are facing challenges. Algorithms have redefined the channels for information distribution and reconstructed the ways users are connected to information. As traditional media has gradually become the content supplier for network media, adjusting how benefits are distributed across the two kinds of media will highly influence the quality of content.
Regarding the development trends of the media industry, Zhi Tingrong, executive dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Jinan University, said that AI-based writing will play a significant role in the fields of finance, sports and meteorology; it might also develop a deep understanding of human feelings. Based on algorithms for human sentiment, robots in the future could produce innovative content that could win a great number of followers and form their own “personality” and brands, in a bid to create unique economic value.
Li added that video clips, AI-based production and VR will be the trends of the media industry’s future development. As 2019 is regarded as the first year of Chinese 5G technology, the media industry is experiencing reforms in terms of management mechanisms, technology and market. The new 5G technology will have a profound impact on the efficiency of messaging and communication media. Video clips will be instantaneous and convenient, which are advantageous in reports on unexpected events. Moreover, AI technology will highly improve the efficiency of news production, which will enable media professionals to focus on content production and innovation.
edited by SU XUAN
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