Reporter’s Diary: Day one of CGTN Global Media Summit

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01:46

Leading figures from the media world joined CGTN in Chongqing for the opening day of its Global Media Summit on Tuesday, debating disruptive trends, how to harness the power of new technologies, and the future of the industry.

The tone for the day was set by CGTN Controller Jiang Heping who, using nature as a metaphor, laid out his vision for continuing the transformation of CGTN into a cutting-edge multimedia organization.

With industry leaders from agencies such as AP, RT and the BBC among the 500 attendees, Jiang stressed the importance of specialization and targeting to effectively deliver content to CGTN's global, multilingual audience.

Those international experts soon had the floor, contributing to a panel discussion considering the evolution of "we media". Is amateur content a threat or an opportunity for traditional media?

CGTN Reporter John Goodrich (2nd L) is interviewing Reuters Head of Video and Content John Pullman (L). /CGTN Photo

Two of my guests for live interviews – AFP Global Editor-in-Chief Phil Chetwynd and Reuters Head of Video and Content John Pullman – saw amateur video as a useful complement to mainstream news, a chance to broaden coverage, rather than a rival.

The challenge, both said, was ensuring that such videos were reliable and accurate. Watch the videos on the CGTN app to hear the lengths both AFP and Reuters go to when fact-checking and verifying content, and how they are working to combat fake news.

Another interviewee, senior Wochit executive Christoph Pleitgen, emphasized that amateur content was often about entertainment not news – as shown by the Chinese phenomena of Tiktok.

On Monday, we visited some of Chongqing's famous landmarks to find out more about the popularity of the short video platform among young and older, locals and tourists.

Check out the video below to see what users on the streets of the city thought, and whether their views chimed with the media professionals at the summit.

02:43

Back to the main event, where Channel News Asia's Jamie Ho addressed the audience on different media agencies' approaches to the same story before panelists discussed the roots of media bias.

Off stage, I spoke to the head of international affairs at Fox News, Vipp Jaswal, who earlier delivered a keynote speech.

Jaswal told me he was convinced that strong personal stories from China would be a big success in the US, singling out the popularity of "Crazy Rich Asians" – which it was confirmed on Tuesday would hit Chinese cinemas on November 30.

CGTN reporter John Goodrich (L) conducts a street interview. /CGTN Photo

The afternoon session featured further panel discussions on the interaction of new and traditional media, and successful business models as the industry develops. Don't forget to visit the CGTN app for videos and detailed stories covering all of today's action.

Day one of the CGTN Global Media Summit is over, but there's plenty more in store on Wednesday.

Tune into the CGTN app and social media channels to find out more about how 5G technology could revolutionize video content, the role of blockchain in the media and more about the growing power of short videos.

We'll have live coverage of every moment, as well as more live interviews with media leaders from around the world.