User-generated news: Netizen journalism in China in the age of short video

Abstract

As media technology advances, and with increasingly rapid development, there has been an unprecedented growth in the number of new media platforms emerging in China—and throughout the world—that are changing the procedures of how news is assembled and disseminated by effectively and efficiently adopting user-generated content that has injected new blood into the very nature of journalism. While essentially this is encouraging the productive use of social media platforms, it is also having an impact on users, transforming vast numbers into what are now recognized as “netizen journalists.” This leads us to inquire just how the journalistic outputs of short video platforms of such media outfits like Pear Video and Kwai are framed and also to explore how the roles of the “ordinary” users of such platforms are now defined by their participation in the actual production of news and information. This research aims to contribute to the many discussions on the above questions based on the journalistic study on three different news platforms: Xinhua News Agency’ as adopted and adapted content from Kwai, Kwai Insight, and Pear Video.