New media reads its readers
Although new media has posed a challenge to traditional media, the two can coexist in the near future, a group of editors from China said Monday.
Xia Yong, editor-in-chief at toutiao.com, which offers a personalized news reader app in China, said new media should pay more attention to delivering the news.
"Lots of the news we uploaded was shared from traditional media," he said.
Xia spoke at a panel discussion -The Trend of New Media in the Mobile Internet Age in China - at the Asian Cultural Center in New York.
He said that unlike in traditional (print and television) news organizations, the technology department plays the most important role in the company.
"While people read news by using our mobile app, our app is reading them as well," said Xia. "Based on the Big Data analysis system, we analyze readers' reading interests and behavior."
For example, if a reader spends a lot of time searching real estate information, the app will automatically choose real estate-related news and make it the first screen as the app is opened, Xia said.
"The more a reader searches for news by using our app, the more precise our suggested reading list can be," said Xia.
Zhou Yong, vice-dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Renmin University of China, said helping readers receive news efficiently is crucial. "Cost of information plays a huge rule in this overly informative time," he said.
"Since Sohu.com opened a new door to Chinese netizens about two decades ago, receiving news is no longer a problem in China," Zhou said.
"The era of letting readers dive in massive news and search what they would like to read already ended," said Zhou. "What we (new-media workers) should consider now during the second decade in China's mobile Internet age is how to optimize the search engine and the news we uploaded online, in order to help readers find what they would like to read and what they need to read in a timely manner."
According to China Internet Network Information Center, Chinese Internet users reached 618 million in December; 500 million are mobile users.
Xia emphasized that in the next three years, instead of making profits, the company's goal is to enrich the reader database.
haidanhu12@chinadailyusa.com
Zhou Yong (left), vice-dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Renmin University, discusses the role of new media in China with Tao Guangxiong (center), editor-in-chief of the China News Service, and Xia Yong, editor-in-chief at toutiao.com. Hu Haidan / China Daily |