This past Friday we had the opportunity to visit Xinhua Net, part of the larger Xinhua News Agency. This visit gave us insight into the Chinese media industry and the complex workings of the corporation, and an idea of how we might apply our language study by working in China.
Xinhuanet is an important central news service-oriented website and an important platform for building up China’s online international communication capacity. It carries out the dual functions of providing a vast platform for news distribution and creating original news content. During our visit, we were able to see the real-time coordination of writers, editors and fact-checkers working to quickly report news. All of the departments were closely connected and arranged surrounding a central news room reminiscent of the Star Trek command center.
Xinhua Net releases news items in eight languages: Chinese (simplified and traditional), English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Tibetan. It operates through a number of forums, including text, photos, graphics, audio messages, videos, SMS, etc., allowing it to directly and instantly reach its audience at home and abroad to provide breaking news coverage.
Since March 10, 2000 Xinhua Net has been releasing around-the-clock news, with the task of leading online public opinion at home and setting a good image of China abroad. Starting from 2010 however, it has been transforming itself from a governmental cultural institution to an enterprise. Nevertheless, the government influence remained apparent on our visit, as our tour guides pointed out the government censor’s office. I found it fascinating to learn about government involvement in media, and its effect on how news is reported.
If you’re interested in world news, Chinese media, comparative politics, or just want to expand your horizons, I would definitely recommend checking out their website or following Xinhua on Twitter (though you’ll need to use a VPN to access it in China!)