Long journey to edge of media's new frontier
Li Wu has spent the past decade as a journalist, covering everything from social news to business. But as he continues to work on his resume, the decline of traditional media and the rapid rise of new media has forced him to reassess his career options
How did you start your news career?
I was born in Zunyi, Guizhou province, an important place where the Communist Party rose during the civil war, and graduated with a degree in history from Renmin University in 1998. My first job was at the Guiyang Aluminium and Magnesium Design and Research Institute, but I didn't fit in there, so I resigned and worked in business in Chengdu, Sichuan province. In 2000, I returned to Guiyang and started my news career as a part-timer.
What about your news resume?
I was a reporter for the Guiyang Wanbao for about a year, and then the Southern Metropolis News [in Guangzhou] for two years, and the 21st Century Global News, a newspaper closed by the authorities for publishing a sensitive article. After it closed, I went to the Oriental Morning Post, a newspaper in Shanghai. That turned out to be an important turning point, as I started reporting on business news in 2004. I was director of the editorial department for four years, then I came to the Investor's Journal last year as an assistant editor. In short, I've run the gamut from society news to political news, then to financial news and now in current investment news.
How did you become interested in the media industry?
I had little interest in news at the beginning of my professional career. At first I only wanted a little news job to fill my spare time. Now I enjoy myself more and more, as I have been in this industry for nearly a decade. I'd like to continue my news career, but the failure of traditional media in competition with new media has shocked me, so maybe I will reconsider.
How about new media?
Undoubtedly, new media will rule the future of media - the farewell of traditional media in the US confirms this sad reality. Whether you believe it or not, it is true, and with the number of young online readers growing, the momentum is building.
Media consumption habits are quickly changing. That said, some forms of new media are performing much better than others.
The declining use of traditional media isn't much of a surprise, though, compared with the growth rates of different forms of new media.
New media will control your life from morning to night, especially your reading habits.
You won't read the newspaper every morning; you'll open your computer and read the top news on a website and a blog and there will even be video, and news not only about China, but all across the globe.
The employees in traditional media will have to face huge challenges from new media.
The cost to enter the market in traditional media is high, especially in China, and there are only a limited number of 'players' in the market.
But the entry cost in new media is no more than the cost of a computer, a modem and an internet connection. And there is no limit to the number of players.
Will the traditional media die?
No, at least not over the next few decades, though I feel the outlook is gloomy for the industry.
But just as television didn't replace newspapers in the past few decades, neither will new media drive traditional media out completely.
Even so, traditional media is, indeed, in trouble, and it must re-invent itself to compete with new media and find its place.
Will you continue your news career?
Maybe. I would never lose my interest in media easily. I may embrace the new media if, and when, the appropriate opportunity arises. In fact, many of my friends have surrendered to new media, and so have their staff.
I will persist in my news career, and maybe restructure traditional media with new media's tools. Anyway, I hope I can sow some hopeful seeds in the soil of despair.
