Trustable News from China? How Chinese Journalists Negotiate Epistemic Authority in Transnational Digital News Production
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22010845 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tucker Wang-Hai (0000-0003-2108-8681, University of Washington, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 604-622 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-16 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Digital Journalism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2167-0811 • E-ISSN: 2167-082X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/21670811.2024.2355475 |
| OpenAlex | W4398164259 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 36 |
The adoption of social media platforms by news organizations invariably coincides with transformations in the production, expression, and acceptance of news as public knowledge claims. This study explores how a special subset of Chinese journalists—the foreign-aimed journalists—negotiate their epistemic authority while producing transnational news on foreign platforms. Drawing on 26 in-depth interviews, findings reveal four major tensions as Chinese journalists strive to negotiate authority among foreign audiences: reaffirming professional boundaries; navigating the management directives; maintaining a state messaging position; and understanding digital infrastructure. This study further contextualizes how, parallel to digital transformations, cultural transformations around journalistic knowledge claims are linked to historically and socially embedded priorities and constraints. The established conceptualizations of digital journalistic authority require expansion, as China’s case illuminates the complex interplay between technology, politics, media regulation, and individual agency in shaping the epistemic landscape of contemporary journalism
China · Fake news · Journalism · Media studies · Negotiation · News media · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics
Understanding China's Media System in a World Historical Context
Media Politics in China
Epistemology and Journalism
“Fact-Checking Africa”
The Theory Of Social And Economic Organization
(Re-)Discovering the Audience
Networked Journalism
China Ink
From “Propaganda” to “Guided Communication”. Animating Political Communication in Digital China
China Goes Global
Chinese Journalists' Discursive Weibo Practices in an Extended Journalistic Sphere
Journalistic epistemology and digital news circulation
Epistemologies of digital journalism and the study of misinformation
To Tell China’s Story Well’
Using thematic analysis in psychology
The Unbearable Limitations of Journalism
Legitimating a platform
Chinese journalists' views of user-generated content producers and journalism
The Dislocation of News Journalism
Epistemologies of TV journalism
Authoritarianism Goes Global (II)
Isomorphism through algorithms
How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, Not Engaged Argument
How many cases do I need
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |