Understanding Online Journalists: Redefining Professional Roles in the Chinese Journalistic Field

• In Event: Journalistic Professionalism and Professional Roles

Abstract

The ever-changing media system in China may have significant implications for online journalists in the journalistic field. Based on a nationwide probability sample of 1760 full-time online journalists from 209 Chinese news websites, the present study is devoted to exploring what constitutes the dimensions of journalistic role perceptions among Chinese online journalists, and how these role conceptions would be influenced by individual-level and aggregate-level factors. The results show that the dimensional structure of online Chinese journalists’ beliefs about the media’s role includes: (1) information disseminator, interpreter, and propagandist; (2) populist mobilizer; (3) entertainment provider and profit seeker. Individual demographic backgrounds and geographical location of news websites are found to have limited effects on journalistic professional values, while the influences of job satisfaction and some organizational characteristics are significant.

Author

• Yu Xu, University of Southern California