When website traffic becomes the "hard currency" for measuring media value, newsworthiness faces a crisis of being rewritten. Under the pressure of the popularity of non-professional self-media, traditional media not only imitate packaging and create "internet celebrity reporters," but also cater to algorithms in topic selection and release schedules, competing for fleeting exposure.
This high-frequency, de-professionalized production model suppresses the media's ability to fact-check and engage in in-depth follow-up, making news organizations, which rely on authority and credibility, gradually dependent on the distribution power of platforms, becoming "unpaid contributors" within the traffic system.
The concerns of professional journalists and scholars extend beyond mere formal changes; they encompass a systemic decline in journalistic ethics, production standards, and the public agenda.
Winding story of cabbages
On Nov. 3, a netizen in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, named Huang, noticed someone "picking" napa cabbages in a local village while passing through. After confirming that no one was stopping them, they also "picked" three cabbages and uploaded a video online. On Nov. 5, a local traditional media outlet published the video as "good news," touting "Chifeng offers free cabbage chopping," using its official account.
The report quickly attracted hundreds of residents who rushed to the site. On Nov. 6, after noticing unusual activity in their cabbage field, the farmers posted a rights protection video on social media, claiming "400 acres of land were wiped clean" and "losses reached one million," instantly igniting public opinion online.
However, after multiple rounds of verification, it was found that the affected cabbage field was only 380 acres, already harvested multiple times, and that the remaining cabbages had decreased in quality due to frost, with actual losses assessed at 95,200 yuan. On Nov. 17, the joint investigation team in Chifeng reported again on the incident, punishing both the original video poster and the media outlet, with the responsible journalist's press card revoked. While the farmers received compensation, they were criticized and educated by the police for exaggerating.
Disintegration of journalist roles
The incident highlights how platforms utilize covert traffic manipulation to spread and amplify one-sided narratives, representing a microcosm of traditional media and practitioners abandoning their verification responsibilities.
Hua (a pseudonym), a journalist who previously worked for frontline media outlets in Sichuan and Beijing, commented on the incident, saying that verifying the truth is a journalist's primary duty, but under the monopoly of traffic, the vast amount of content and the brief cyclical nature of hot topics leave traditional media unable to conduct thorough interviews and verifications.
He admitted that the traditional media he worked for would assess performance based on platform categories.
"We do our best to require reporters to verify internet hot topics, but there are exceptions; for example, softer news involving pets or similar topics without social risk might be consolidated and pushed by editors of new media."
The "self-mediazation" of traditional media is also a byproduct driven by traffic. A recent media piece titled "At the National Games, Few People Write Articles Anymore" has sparked many sighs in media circles. The article compared the journalistic scenes of this year's National Games to those in 2013, lamenting that, compared to the roles of videographers, photographers, and writers before, now any reporter can simply point a smartphone or recording equipment at a star athlete's face.
"Internet celebrity reporters" are another reflection of the "self-mediatization" of traditional media, with some even including state media, like CCTV reporter Wang Bingbing, who became popular for her attractive image. Despite having a large fanbase, a review by Wen Wei Po found that over 70% of online comments focus on "appearance" and "image," rather than professional content.
Cultivating platforms, shrinking media fields
Hua's observations are particularly resonant for Xu (a pseudonym), who previously focused on breaking and hot news at a mainstream market-oriented media outlet. Upon transitioning to a self-media platform as an editor, she felt that the interviewing spirit and pursuit of truth valued by traditional media were losing significance, despite it being an exhausting yet proud part of her experience.
Reflecting on her new role, she noted that in traditional media, she would constantly worry about whether there were new hot topics or breaking news, but in her platform job, she found her role felt more like that of "the primary party": if there is a topic to promote, she only needs to toss the materials or leads into the platform's communication group, and hundreds or even thousands of new media editors or journalists would rush to follow up, requiring no direct effort on her part.
Several reporters from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Guizhou also mentioned that it has become customary for traditional news organizations to create new media accounts on multiple self-media platforms. For traditional media, a news story typically involves reporters conducting onsite interviews, verifying from multiple sources, and layers of editing and supervisory checks, often undergoing (at least) three rounds of review and proofreading, consuming a significant amount of human, financial, and other resources.
However, platforms leverage their advantages in traffic distribution to quickly appropriate content. As audiences flock to these platforms, traditional media, which depend on advertising for monetization, are gradually losing support from commercial advertisements.
"Those media accounts that enter platforms compete for so-called 'traffic reader groups,' which may comprise traditional media's loyal audience, yet the commercial value they create resides on the platform, not with traditional media," stated a veteran investigative reporter to Wen Wei Po.
Deconstruction of 'authoritative media' and decline of traditional reporting
Even authoritative voices now require commercial platforms to reach the public. Investigations from Wen Wei Po found that on the Douyin (Mainland's version of TikTok) platform, the People's Daily has 200 million followers, over 9,000 content pieces, and 16.6 billion likes, while a prominent streamer has only 195 pieces but received 1 billion likes. On the surface, state media still boasts a sizable fanbase, yet the efficiency of content production per person and user interaction is far lower than that of leading creators.
The download figures for media client apps tell a similar story. As of Dec. 17, on the App Store's free app download rankings in Hong Kong, Douyin ranked sixth, Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) ranked thirty-ninth, and YouTube ranked forty-seventh, with no official news media apps appearing in the top 200.
"Actually, as platforms have matured, they have needed traditional media less and less. For example, Tencent and Baidu are both adopting 'party-focused models.' Platform editors directly connect with parties involved; when one of the parties requests the platform, the editor simply pushes that request as news, without needing to do any interviews. Although unilateral demands come from a single source, the platform's role is still very clear, replacing certain media functions. Moreover, in the case of hot events, platforms use traffic incentives to encourage self-media to go on-site. Under such circumstances, traditional media have no particular advantage," Hua explained.
Traditional media's investigative reporting has also been subtly altered under the influence of traffic. "In the face of 'traffic hegemony,' traditional media are actually in a disadvantaged position," Hua argued. On one hand, due to the fragmentation of information driven by platform traffic, audiences and traditional media reporters have become accustomed to a gradual reporting model; on the other hand, there is little that reporters can achieve in their reports nowadays.
On Nov. 19, the Beijing Youth Daily's Freezing Point, once renowned for its investigations and in-depth reporting, published an in-depth article on its WeChat official account. While maintaining some standards and levels in in-depth reporting, the article mostly featured mobile screenshots provided by interviewees.
"Lacking onsite photography was once absolutely unacceptable for in-depth reporting. Not facing the interviewees directly loses many observational opportunities for reporters, depriving them of an important means for verifying the truth of news," remarked an investigative reporter from Beijing, who chose to remain anonymous.
(Source: Wen Wei Po; Journalist: Lu Zhi, Lin Kai, Wenzheng; English Editor: Darius)
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