Professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Renmin University of China (RUC) Di Zhang on Sunday said the decline of investigative journalism in China is a part of global phenomena.
He said this at a lecture on “From PGC to AIGC: Technology-driven Content Production Evolution in Chinese Media Sector and Its Social Influences” for journalists from all around the world organised by China International Press Communication Center (CIPCC) in Beijing.
Journalists coming from different countries also shared their challenges and obstacles to the investigation journalism. Thirty percent journalists who participated in a short survey conducted by Namibian Journalist Uaueza Kanguatjivi shared that investigative journalism in their countries is also declining. 38 journalists were in attendance among those were journalists from Nepal, India, Seychelles, South Sudan, Bulgaria, Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Seirra Leone, Malawi, Botswana but to mention a few.
The lecture reviewed the development of professional generated content, user generated content and artificial intelligence content in the context of technological developments and social context in China. It also explored the socio-political consequences of new media in China.
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He started his presentation with a brief overview of the Chinese media landscape in his lecture and said state-controlled media outlets in China are more powerful than traditional Media.
"Historically, Chinese media has been predominantly state-controlled, with outlets like CCTV, People's Daily, and Xinhua News Agency are playing significant roles in disseminating information. Now, still important," he informed.
He also mentioned that print media such as newspapers and magazines have seen a decline in readership with the advent of digital media but continue to hold cultural and political significance.
He said developments in technology, such as artificial intelligence, big data, and 5G, have shaped the way content is produced, distributed, and consumed in China.
"The growing influence of Chinese media, both through content exports and platform expansions, has made China an important player in the global media industry, but not globalized as K-pops," he added.
Highlighting the Artificial Intelligence advancements in China, he said China's progress in Al research and development has been significant, with both the government and private sector investing heavily in the technology,
He showed some examples of AIGC in the Chinese media sector. In 2018, Xinhua introduced the world's first Al news anchor, capable of delivering news reports with synthesized speech and lifelike facial expressions while platforms like Toutiao (a news aggregation app) and Tmall (an e-commerce platform) utilize Al algorithms to generate personalized content recommendations and product descriptions.
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He also said Chinese researchers have developed Al algorithms capable of generating poetry and literature, some of which have been published in literary magazines and anthologies.
About the Al-generated advertising, the professor said companies have begun using Al- generated content for advertising campaigns, creating personalized ads that resonate with target audiences while leading Chinese marketing agency group BlueFocus announced in April that it will "fully and indefinitely" end the outsourcing of creative design, copywriting, planning and programming, and interim employment.
He also commented that the use of Al in content creation raises questions about authenticity, authorship, and the potential for misinformation or manipulation.
The professor earned his doctoral degree in mass communication from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.