How a triple whammy of censorship, Covid and Big Tech cuts left China’s media on its knees
- At the peak of the country’s tech boom, the biggest tech firms began to aggressively build up media portfolios but they are now beating a hasty retreat
- It is the latest blow to a sector struggling from the impact of the pandemic and an ever more restrictive atmosphere
On the first Friday of this month, around 80 video reporters and editors attended a meeting on the sixth floor of The Beijing News building near the heart of the Chinese capital.
They had been summoned to witness the end of a six-year joint venture between what was formerly one of China’s most outspoken daily newspapers and the technology giant Tencent.
The official explanation given for the break-up was business restructuring, with daily management of the Wevideo team being returned to the state-owned paper. The team’s bold coverage had already been reined in as the authorities further consolidated their grip on the domestic media.
But, according to several people close to the matter, the direct cause was the withdrawal of investment from Tencent, which meant a quarter of the team’s workforce had to leave. The Beijing News and Tencent have yet to respond to requests for comment.
For the industry, many of the problems have already been there for 10 years, and they have kept worsening, especially in the past three years
Wevideo’s fate tolled yet another bell for China’s media industry, which has been sinking rapidly in the past few years amid intensified censorship and an exodus of capital.
Many industries – especially in the private sector – have been weakened by regulatory crackdowns and the effects of a strict zero-Covid strategy that lasted for almost three years, but while some anticipate better times, for many Chinese media workers any talk of recovery is just wishful thinking.
“For the industry, many of the problems have already been there for 10 years, and they have kept worsening, especially in the past three years,” said a Beijing-based news editor who has been in the industry for 20 years. “Now it’s already the epilogue.”
While the pandemic added to the woes of the media industry around the world – from content creators to distributors – as advertising revenue dwindled further, stifling censorship has further accelerated the death of the market-oriented segment of the industry in China, where most news outlets are completely reliant on state funding and serve as propaganda tools.