Tencent restructures its news team as online censorship and competition with short video outfits such as Douyin grows in China
- The company has appointed a new head for its news service operation and removed some veteran editorial staff from their roles
- Intensifying online censorship and mounting competition from Douyin and others have changed the newsroom’s focus
Tencent Holdings, China’s most valuable tech company, reshuffled its news service operation this week, changing the unit’s head and removing a handful of veteran editorial staff from their roles amid a tougher regulatory environment and increased competition.
In an internal notice issued on Monday, Tencent announced it had appointed He Yijin, a video product expert, as the new head of Tencent News and editor-in-chief of the company’s news portal, according to people briefed on the restructuring, who declined to be identified as they are not authorised to talk with media.
He replaced Wang Shimu, a music product manager who took over Tencent News last August from Chen Juhong, a renowned Chinese journalist and a 2003 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
At least four senior members of the editorial team, including Wang, have been removed from their roles, according to one of the people familiar with the situation.
Wang will transfer to Tencent’s platform and content group to lead Huanhe, a non-fungible token (NFT) trading app that was launched last August, the internal notice said.
The recent reshuffle is aimed at “promoting business development in a better way”, and the news department remains in normal operation, Tencent News said in a statement on Thursday.
