China’s news media is undergoing deeper engagement with digital and intelligent technologies, as detailed in the “China’s News Media Development (2024)” report released by the People’s Republic of China Journalists Association (ACJA) on Tuesday. We have entered a new era characterized by integration.
The report highlights generative AI as a key driver in transforming news content production and reshaping business models for journalism and communications.
“China’s mainstream media is increasingly paying attention to and investing in the Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) field, organizing and pooling resources through specialized and professional frameworks to create By leveraging a wide range of assets, we are exploring diverse collaboration models, pooling resources, and facilitating the integrated application of AI technologies in traditional media,” the report said.
ACJA notes that the industry is increasingly defined by data-driven, intelligent, integrated, platform-based approaches, and the role of social networking is growing. The effectiveness of omnimedia communication systems has increased significantly.
As highlighted in the report, with the rapid development of China’s Internet industry, news organizations at various levels and categories are leveraging online platforms to improve quality and efficiency and optimize production and consumption structure. and is stimulating industry growth through AI technology.
“Several media innovation institutes fused with AIGC have been established to promote the integrated development of technology involving media industry companies, universities, research institutes, and users,” the association said.
In April 2023, the AIGC Applied Research Center (Guangxi Institute) under the China Press Engineers Association was officially launched. We focus on applying AIGC technology to the entire media workflow, from planning and reporting to production, review, and publishing, significantly increasing the efficiency of content production.
The report states that the People’s Daily New Media Center is collaborating with universities to develop an important project under the Ministry of Science and Technology: “AI-assisted news writing robot system based on reporting scenarios.” The project involves research into algorithms for AI-assisted and automated news writing, which have been successfully put into practical use.
In March 2024, Global Times English launched an online AI Lab to integrate AI translation, error correction, image generation, and audio transcription into daily operations to streamline workflows.
Similarly, in February 2024, CMG partnered with a leading domestic research institution to establish an AI studio to support high-quality development. Shanghai Media Group has also established a generative AI media innovation studio focused on six key areas, including specialized AI models for financial media and applications of news AI models. This effort aims to create more AIGC usage scenarios in media and explore immersive and interactive audiovisual content generation paradigms.
The report also highlights other important initiatives, including the launch of the AIGC Application Research Lab and Industrial Incubation Center by Daxiang Merged Media. The center fosters the application and development of AI across various domains through talent training, incubation investments, and industry project work. Chengdu Radio and Television Station also established an AIGC Innovation and Application Studio, and Beijing Radio and Television Station launched an AI Media Innovation Lab.
The report revealed that as of May 2024, there were 3,606 internet news information service units in China, providing 14,228 licensed services. This includes 1,912 websites, 3,294 applications, and 8,862 public accounts.
According to the report, by October 2024, China had more than 230,000 journalists with valid qualifications.
Of these, 59,379 people work in newspapers, 4,107 people work in periodicals, 2,980 people work in news agencies, 72,033 people work in radio stations, television stations and newsreel production studios, 6,601 people work in news websites, and 85,485 people work in integrated media centers. was. There were 23,667 reporters working for the central news agency and 206,918 for local news agencies.
In terms of gender, there were 106,699 male reporters, accounting for 46.27%, and 123,886 female reporters, accounting for 53.73%. Regarding educational background, 25,334 journalists obtained a diploma in vocational education (10.99%). 173,366 people earned a bachelor’s degree (76.92%). 27,188 (11.79%) had a master’s degree. 697 people earned a PhD (0.30%). By age, there were 23,814 journalists (10.33%) under the age of 30. 83,844 (36.36%) were between 30 and 40 years old. 79,320 (34.40%) were between 40 and 50 years old. As stated in the report, 43,607 (18.91%) were 50 years of age or older.
The report also refers to the China Media Industry Development Report (2024), which states that the total output value of China’s media industry will increase by 8.38% from the previous year to 3.15 trillion yen in 2023. It is said to have reached 100 million yuan (approximately 438 billion US dollars). -Year growth.
Revenue sources for the newspaper, radio and broadcasting sectors are moving away from traditional channels to more diversified structures that incorporate digital advertising and a variety of revenue streams.
According to the report, “The total revenue of the national radio, television and online audiovisual industry was 1,412.68 billion yuan, an increase of 13.74% over the previous year.”Actual revenue from radio and television broadcasting and online audiovisual services was 1,221.28 billion yuan, an increase of 14.47%. Advertising revenue reached 343.536 billion yuan, an increase of 2.78%. This included 6.731 billion yuan from radio advertising, a decrease of 8.70%. TV advertising decreased by 6.67% to 51,635 million yuan. New media advertising generated online was 269,834 million yuan, an increase of 12.09%.
In addition, other advertising revenues such as in-building advertising, outdoor advertising, newspapers and magazines were 15.336 billion yuan. Online audiovisual revenue increased by 27.67% to 564.281 billion yuan. Cable TV network revenue decreased by 1.04% to 71.206 billion yuan. Traditional radio and TV program sales revenue reached 31.864 billion yuan, a decrease of 3.64%. Revenue from program production-related services reached 32.34 billion yuan, an increase of 27.92%. ”
The report was drafted by the School of Journalism and Communication at Renmin University of China (RUC).
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