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Abstract
This article examines how journalists defend their boundaries and epistemic authority in the face of the challenges from user-generated content (UGC). It investigates the issue through exploring 51 Chinese journalists’ views of UGC producers and journalism. The interviews reveal that in this case study, Chinese journalists’ commitment to their social identity as ‘people of work units’ (danwei ren), i.e. their identity is defined by the employment relationship between journalists and news organisations, forms the ground of demarcating the boundaries between journalists and UGC producers. As a result, this group of Chinese journalists reinforces their conventional journalistic norms and identity as ‘organisational men/women’ and keeps old-fashioned journalism alive. In the meantime, however, they are aware of changes in the environment within which they practice, and therefore they reflect on their work and (re-)define what journalism is in order to adapt to the changes. This case study shows that the boundary work of Chinese journalists interviewed in the study and their understanding of boundaries are contextually bound. The boundary work of journalism is not only about defence but also about adaptation. It offers a perspective for understanding both continuity and change in the transformation of Chinese journalism as well as the boundaries of journalism in general.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank all interviewees and the anonymous reviewers, who are of course not responsible for any views expressed in this article. Thanks also go to Lin Ji and Jingwei who transcribed the interview recordings.
Notes on contributor
Jingrong Tong is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at the University of Leicester. Her current research focuses on online communication, environmental communication and the relationship between journalism and society. She has published articles on online communication, transformation of journalism and newspapers, investigative journalism, self-censorship, environmental reporting and the media-government relationship in China. She is the author of Investigative Journalism in China: Journalism, Power, and Society (Continuum 2011 and 2012) and Investigative Journalism, Environmental Problems and Modernisation in China (Palgrave Macmillan 2015).
Notes
1. Both refer to a series of terrorist attacks. The former, which are believed to have been launched by al-Qaeda, occurred in New York and Washington, DC, the USA, while the latter took place in the public transport system in London, the UK.
2. In Chongqing, a couple rejected the request of real estate developers, who wanted to demolish it, to leave their house. Their battle became popular first on the Internet and then was picked up by traditional media. In this case, for the first time, China has seen its own ‘citizen journalist’: ‘wangmins’ who visited the scene of the Nail House and reported on this event on the Internet.
3. In Yihuang, the members of a family with the surname Zhong fought against the local government’s decision to demolish their home and immolated themselves. The tragedy was brought to national scrutiny through the collaboration of ‘wangmins’ and journalists.
4. The participation of ‘wangmins’ in discussing the causes, rescue and compensation of the victims of the high-speed train crash in Wenzhou provided news sources for offline journalism and pushed political authorities to increase the transparency of information and the amount of compensation.
5. A news picture showed Yang Dacai, the former head of Shaanxi province’s Bureau of Work Safety, was smiling at the scene of a road accident. Furious ‘wangmins’ collected evidence showing that he owned a number of luxury watches and glasses. Traditional media reported the findings of ‘wangmins’. Yang was soon removed from his post and arrested for corruption.
6. The Chinese term ‘wangmin’ means ‘Internet users’.
7. A label of ‘V’ will be added to users IDs on their Weibo accounts, after members of Sina staff have checked and verified the users’ background information, especially the information about their employers and occupations. Therefore, ‘V’ is a symbol of the credibility of the users, which is confirmed by Sina.
8. In this case, private and personal content published by this girl on social media sites led to national fury and suspicion towards the Red Cross, China charity.