doi: 10.56294/sctconf2024.770

 

ORIGINAL

 

The theoretical path of constructive journalism and practical experience in China

 

El camino teórico del periodismo constructivo y la experiencia práctica en China

 

Lin Jiang1  *, Aina T. Duyshekeeva2  *

 

1Jusup Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University, Faculty of Journalism. Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.

2Jusup Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University, Department of Television and Radio Journalism. Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.

 

Cite as: Jiang L, Duyshekeeva AT. The theoretical path of constructive journalism and practical experience in China. Salud, Ciencia y Tecnología - Serie de Conferencias. 2024; 3:.770. https://doi.org/10.56294/sctconf2024.770

 

Submitted: 05-01-2024                   Revised: 15-04-2024                   Accepted: 03-09-2024                 Published: 04-09-2024

 

Editor: Dr. William Castillo-González

 

Corresponding author: Lin Jiang *

 

ABSTRACT

 

The purpose of this study was to examine the stages of the formation of constructive journalism in the world and the practical implementation of this concept using evidence from modern Chinese media discourse. The study examined two theoretical approaches to constructive news: one based on positive psychology and the other on Buddhist philosophy. The Chinese journalism community was the first to pay attention to constructive news in terms of the supervision of public opinion. Based on the study of the official WeChat account of Xinhua News Agency, particularly the topics, genre specificity, emotional colouring, and formal indicators of news, the patterns of Chinese constructive journalism were identified. The rule of law, cultural life and education, health, and travelling were identified as the main themes. The emotional colouring of news reports is most often positive and neutral. It is worth noting the genre diversity: news, news bulletins, news essays, newsletters, investigative reports, and diversity in terms of formal indicators: “text only”, “text + image”, “image only”, “text + video + image”. It was found that the purpose of constructive journalism reporting in China coincides with the government’s public order goals. The concept of Chinese constructive journalism was reflected in the following aspects: using positive psychology to stimulate the vitality of news reports for social development, creating positive narrative strategy, improving news management, and promoting moral values. In the future, this study can be used to analyse patterns of social behaviour, illuminate media literacy, and study national media practices.

 

Keywords: News Report; News Agency; Media; Positive Psychology; Buddhism.

 

RESUMEN

 

El propósito de este estudio era examinar las etapas de la formación del periodismo constructivo en el mundo y la aplicación práctica de este concepto utilizando pruebas del discurso de los medios de comunicación chinos modernos. El estudio examinó dos enfoques teóricos de las noticias constructivas: uno basado en la psicología positiva y otro en la filosofía budista. La comunidad periodística china fue la primera en prestar atención a las noticias constructivas en términos de supervisión de la opinión pública. A partir del estudio de la cuenta oficial de WeChat de la Agencia de Noticias Xinhua, en particular los temas, la especificidad de género, la coloración emocional y los indicadores formales de las noticias, se identificaron los patrones del periodismo constructivo chino. El Estado de Derecho, la vida cultural y la educación, la salud y los viajes se identificaron como los temas principales. El colorido emocional de las noticias suele ser positivo y neutro. Cabe destacar la diversidad de géneros: noticias, boletines informativos, ensayos informativos, boletines informativos, reportajes de investigación, y la diversidad en cuanto a los indicadores formales: “sólo texto”, “texto + imagen”, “sólo imagen”, “texto + vídeo + imagen”. Se constató que la finalidad de los reportajes de periodismo constructivo en China coincide con los objetivos de orden público del gobierno. El concepto de periodismo constructivo chino se reflejó en los siguientes aspectos: uso de la psicología positiva para estimular la vitalidad de los reportajes para el desarrollo social, creación de una estrategia narrativa positiva, mejora de la gestión de las noticias y promoción de los valores morales. En el futuro, este estudio puede servir para analizar pautas de comportamiento social, esclarecer la alfabetización mediática y estudiar las prácticas de los medios de comunicación nacionales.

 

Palabras clave: Reportaje; Agencia De Noticias; Medios de Comunicación; Psicología Positiva; Budismo.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

At the current stage of journalism development, the study of the specifics of constructive news in the national media space is primarily conditioned by the constant development and transformation of journalistic formats, changes in approaches to information coverage – from negatively coloured news to positive and neutral formulations. The topic of creating a constructive news system has been gradually gaining momentum in the global news industry since the beginning of the 21st century, and active international initiatives concerning the concept of constructive reporting and the cultivation of constructive journalists started to be actively launched after 2014-2015, when definitions of constructive journalism and constructive news were formulated.

The study of the theoretical path of constructive journalism is necessary to understand the stages of development of the concept of constructive news and the strategies of journalists’ development in this area. But the key criterion is to investigate the specific features of the practical implementation of the concept of constructive journalism in the national media space. To fully appreciate the practical experience of Asian constructive journalism, the media space of China was chosen as a state where constructive news is deeply rooted culturally. A comprehensive analysis of such parameters as genre specificity, form, and emotional colouring of news is relevant, since the identification of constructive and non-constructive elements in journalism is possible only through the analysis of multidirectional news reports. Thus, the need to investigate the national specifics of constructive journalism is related to the study of the methods used to positively influence the audience, educate readers through the example of active fellow citizens and the state, motivate them to action, and solve social problems.

R.M. Toksonalieva(1) presented different approaches to the study of the concept of media space. The author investigated the relationship between the media and the socio-political structure of Kyrgyzstan. In addition, special attention was paid to the analysis of the work of social media managing mass consciousness, but the specific features of the implementation of constructive journalism in terms of influencing mass consciousness were not investigated. C.A. Kaparova(2) analysed news content in terms of genre and thematic specificity of one of the news channels of Kyrgyzstan. The paper highlighted such features of news as “screenness”, immediacy, relevance, and visualisation. Even though this study has extensively analysed aspects of news reporting, it has not identified the basic parameters of constructive journalism. V.V. Pankov(3) focused on investigating the current situation in Kyrgyzstan’s media, specifically highlighting the genres of journalism, examining the methods of presenting information in the media, and proposing options for improving the work of journalists within the framework of constructive approaches. But the study did not provide a comprehensive analysis of the genre, thematic, and formal specificity of constructive news reports. B. Togtarbay et al.(4) investigated the experience of citizen journalism in Kazakhstan. The findings of the study showed a prominent level of public trust in the media, but at the same time concerns about media bias. This study did not articulate the concept of constructive journalism and its benefits. A.V. Kulikovsky et al.(5) presented the specifics of the development of convergent journalism in Kyrgyzstan. The study analyses the processes associated with the transformation of the media and considers the mechanisms that contribute to the development of a sustainable relationship between the media and the readership. The study aimed to explore ways of engaging readers but failed to articulate the key characteristics and goals of constructive news.

The purpose of this study was to examine the historical stages of the development of the concept of constructive journalism and constructive news in international media and the specifics of the practical implementation of this concept in China. Proceeding from the purpose of this study, the objectives were set as follows: to analyse the key features of news content in China, to structure the theoretical path of constructive linguistics from the early 20th century to the present. The subject of the study was the official WeChat account (2016-2024) of Xinhua News Agency (1931-2024), the state-run news agency of the People’s Republic of China.

 

METHOD

In this study, the official WeChat account of the state news agency of the People’s Republic of China, Xinhua News Agency was used to analyse the practical experience of implementing the concept of constructive news in China. The sample consisted of 859 news articles written between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2023, for a total of 859 news articles. Specifically, the following aspects were considered based on the study of these materials: genres, topics, emotional colouring, and forms of news. This study is original qualitative research with a focus on content analysis. The analysis was based on two concepts of constructive journalism: positive psychology and Buddhist philosophy. Through contextual analyses, the characteristics of the Chinese media space and its role in the global industry related to the concept of constructive journalism were identified.

Statistical analysis was used in this study to identify the main patterns of functioning of Chinese media space through the relationships between genres, topics, emotional colours, and forms of news reports. Descriptive statistics were employed to calculate frequencies and percentages for each category. Based on the obtained statistical data, after analysing the official WeChat account of Xinhua News Agency, figures and tables were generated to show the percentage of different components of constructive journalistic discourse (genres, thematic categories, emotional colouring, and news report form). These visual representations included pie charts showing the breakdown of genres, bar graphs comparing the frequency of thematic categories, stacked bar charts depicting the proportions of emotional colouring across different topics, and treemaps illustrating the hierarchy and relative sizes of news report forms.

Structural analysis in this study was used to examine Chinese media discourse based on the official WeChat account of a news agency called Xinhua News Agency. The materials were analysed in terms of the specifics of the Chinese media field, specifically its components: genres (news, newsletters, news bulletins, news essays, investigative reports), thematic categories (rule of law, cultural life and education, health care, travel, disasters), emotional colouring (positive, neutral, negative), form (“text only”, “text + image”, “image only”, “text + video + image”). Structural analysis was used to evaluate the Chinese media discourse as a whole, i.e., to identify the main features of Chinese constructive journalism, specifically those different from Western European journalism.

Contextual analysis was applied to demonstrate how the effect of news reports constructed using patterns of constructive journalism is achieved. Thus, for each news category, striking examples were selected to show the key features of a particular genre or topic. Contexts supported the results of structural analyses of Chinese media discourse, namely the patterns and features of Chinese constructive journalism. In addition, based on contextual analysis, the statistical results of the study of the practical experience of constructive journalism in China were summarised.

The analytical-synthetic method was used to explore the theoretical paths of Western European and Chinese tradition of constructive journalism, particularly the trends of positive psychology and Buddhist philosophy. It was shown when and under what conditions constructive journalism was born, what made its emergence possible and necessary, what events influenced the active development of constructive journalism over the last 10 years. They also considered topical issues related to the study of constructive journalism in the global media industry: the development of social responsibility, coverage of vulnerable public topics, and the interaction between the media and the state in addressing important issues.

The study was conducted in full compliance with all relevant ethical guidelines, ensuring the protection of the data collected from the Xinhua News Agency’s WeChat account and the anonymity of any individuals mentioned in the news reports analysed.

 

RESULTS

Constructive journalism is one of the modern trends of journalism, in which news is considered as a mechanism of social influence on the audience, forming positive patterns of behaviour and social responsibility. The philosophy of constructive journalism aims to redefine the functions and values of journalism and call on journalists to reject dissent, to take a conscious and active part in public life, to report the positive aspects of news events and to provide constructive solutions to social problems.(6,7,8)

 

Foundations of constructive journalism practice in China

Xinhua News Agency is the most authoritative and influential news agency in the Chinese news industry as it operates according to officially recognised standards for the conduct of China’s media. Using the framework method to analyse news articles located on the official WeChat account of Xinhua News Agency helped to assess the characteristics of constructive journalism in China. The social news reports published by Xinhua News Agency from 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023, a total of 859 news articles, were used as the sample for the study. The themes, genres, form, and emotional colouring of the reports were examined in the analysis.

When examining the thematic structure of the news reports, it was found that all the stories submitted could be categorised into fourteen categories: elderly care, healthcare, employment and entrepreneurship, rural revitalisation, housing, travel, social welfare, environmental protection, education, politics, rule of law, social support, disasters, and cultural life. As presented in figure 1, the proportion of news related to the rule of law is the highest (194 news items), the cultural life category ranked 2nd (140 news items), while the social support category ranked 3rd (99 news items). The following sub-themes can also be identified as follows: education, environmental damage, travel safety, and elderly care. They were mentioned in news reports not only to identify problems, but also directly to solve them through societal reactions and state instruments.

 

Figure 1. Key categories of news reports

 

For instance, the main purpose of publishing news such as “Delaying the wages of migrant workers, these enterprises are jointly punished!” and “Warning! During the Spring Festival, these people drink and drive, causing disasters”, is to maintain public order and ensure the safety of human life and property. The publications often have the nature of social support stories, focusing on people’s lives and presenting typical characters and achievements: “Farewell to Huang Jinbo, a 24-year-old firefighting hero and martyr”, “The story behind the burial of a 16-year-old boy and an 81-year-old grandmother makes people cry…”. The news content is also designed to address the following social issues: live online fraud, travel and shopping fraud, turning farmland into landfill sites, and the competent use of medicines that use small print signatures. Thus, the constructiveness of Xinhua News Agency’s news reports lies in the direct use of the media as a social management tool necessary to fulfil the functions of prevention, countermeasures, putting forward, considering, and implementing proposals to solve said problems. In terms of the emotional colouring of news reports, they can be divided into three types: positive, neutral, and negative, as presented in Table 1. An analysis of Xinhua News Agency’s content on the official WeChat account found that neutral news accounts for 58 % of the total number of news posts. This indicates the observance of the principle of objectivity in expressing the position of the media. However, there is also a focus on positive publicity in China, which aims to bring people together, boost morale, and increase cohesion. For this purpose, the media actively uses the strategy of promoting personal stories or typical cases.

Coverage of events with positive social effect is reflected in three aspects: formation of typical characters as examples for inheritance in society, establishment of emotional ties with the audience through the description of positive moments, drawing public attention to contradictions and problems in society, and involving citizens in their solution. Examples are emotional statements such as “Like these rescuers”, “Thank you for the protection of border guards”, “People with love in their hearts, I understand your warmth”. Negative emotional colouring is inherent in news that deals with social problems and considers possible solutions to them. The purpose of the news report “More than 2,700 Accounts, Disposed!” was to draw the attention of online users to the problem of unverified information about COVID-19 spreading on the Internet.

 

Table 1. Correlation between emotional colouring of news reports according to Xinhua News Agency materials

Emotional colouring

Functionality

Number of citations

Percentage

Positive

Emphasis on evidence of experience, practice, and achievement

283

33 %

Neutral

Objective description of facts and events

499

58 %

Negative

Identifying and solving social problems

77

9 %

Total

859

100 %

 

An analysis of the genre specificity of news reporting in Xinhua News Agency showed that the following genres were most frequently used in Chinese media: news, news bulletin, news features, newsletters, and investigative reports (figure 2). News, including brief news summaries, are news stories. They have the following form: “A major traffic accident in Nanchang County, Jiangxi Province, has caused 17 deaths and 22 injuries”, “Ningxia Lingwu Notification Water supply dispute incident”, and “The township government can dry food in the hospital!”. The news genre accounts for the largest share among all genres, reaching 64 %.

 

Figure 2. Genres of news reports by Xinhua News Agency

 

The news bulletin (only 8 % of the total news reports) is mainly for publishing notices and announcements issued by the government or some commercial organisations. Reports of this kind are published by Xinhua News Agency respecting the original text without any writing or emotional expressions. A news essay is a vivid and lively report recreating a particular fragment of a character’s life. For instance, a news item titled “Women even order three takeaways, brother noticed abnormal immediate alarm!” reproduced the scene of the girl’s rescue in detail. In terms of number, this genre occupies the second position among all the mentioned genres – 14 %.

News writing is a genre that uses elements such as narration, description, lyricism, and discussion to create vivid images of typical characters. There were 78 such news articles (9 % of the total) in the sample that reflect the selflessness, solidarity, and brotherhood of the Chinese people. Based on Xinhua News Agency’s analysis, it became clear that this genre mainly aims to supervise society and serves as a warning to the government and the people. Such purposes are pursued by news items titled “This kind of app, be careful”, “Living Buddha Hall official Luo Ting Cai: Cheating over 5 million yuan of poverty alleviation funds to build a temple”, “Merchants who “reverse skim 4 cents and are fined 2,600 yuan”. This genre is represented by only 4 % of the total number of news reports.

As a kind of social networking in China, WeChat can integrate text, images, videos, emoticons, and other elements into a news report with the support of information technology. The forms of news stories in the samples collected in this paper mainly include four categories: “text only”, “text + image”, “image only”, “text + video + image” (9 %, 69 %, 3 %, and 19 % respectively). The data shows that news with pictures is the vast majority, which is mainly caused by the onset of active visualisation of any information and structuring it with pictures (figure 3).

 

Figure 3. Xinhua News Agency news reporting forms submitted via WeChat

 

News reports based on photographs evoke empathy from the audience through the inclusion of images that evoke positive emotional reactions, which is necessary to provide social benefits and build a harmonious society. This approach coincides with the positive psychology-oriented approach advocated by constructive journalism. Furthermore, the combination of images, textual elements, and video sequences also reflects the shift of news reporting towards media convergence.

Through analysing the news practices of Xinhua News Agency presented through WeChat, it was found that constructive news in China has unique features. Specifically, the use of positive psychology to stimulate social development and build individuals who take an active part in social life is fully in line with the spirit of Chinese culture.(9,10,11,12) Thus, Chinese constructive journalism consists of three basic elements that the Western cultural tradition lacks: empathy, responsibility, and solutions. Based on the theory of positive psychology, it is vital to keep in mind the social responsibility of the media and strive for the ultimate goal – the social well-being of the people. Presently, positive psychology has become a scientific-theoretical resource in the practice of constructive journalism in China, which will further enhance the scientific and professional character of Chinese journalism theoretical system.

Constructive news emphasises the importance of collective interests over individual interests. This is in line with the collectivist ideology that dominates traditional Chinese culture. Journalists who create constructive news have a high social responsibility and strive to create news stories that would help solve social problems and improve people’s lives. Thus, the analysis showed that through the principles of constructive journalism in China, universal standards and values are formed that can be applied to diverse cultural and social backgrounds. Constructive journalism also aims to uphold moral principles and professional ethics, responsibly manage the information space, and is interested in continuously improving the quality and presentation of information. The specific feature of the practical implementation of the concept of constructive journalism in China is the commonality of interests of the media and the government.

 

DISCUSSION

The beginning of the theoretical path of constructive journalism can be considered the end of the 19th century, but the active development of this area began only in the 21st century. As early as 1886, the Daily News was considered a model of constructive news in the British media space. Since the emergence of social responsibility theory in the 1940s, distinct types of news industries have expressed their commitment to serving the public interest.(13,14,15,16,17,18) In 1959, D.M. Chalmers(19) proposed the concept of constructive news but did not clearly define the term. The press was analysed from a practical standpoint, particularly focusing on the constructive measures proposed by American debutant journalists to address the problem of social corruption caused by giant corporations. After that, however, constructive news disappeared from the Western media for a long time. It is widely believed in the academic community that in 2008, Danish journalist U. Haagerup(20) was the first to formulate a clear concept of constructive news to distinguish it from traditional news reporting. Subsequently, constructive journalism began to be considered as a community-oriented practice aimed at reporting current events and news, developing options to solve problems, and assessing future prospects.(21)

S.D. Wood, editor of Positive News, provided the earliest definition of constructive news.(22) In 2014, he noted in his Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) talk that constructive news is “incorporating positive elements into traditional reporting while still striving for accuracy, truthfulness, and balance (when necessary) as well as criticism, but reporting in a more engaging and inspiring manner”. In 2015, K.E. McIntyre(23,24,25) first proposed a definition of constructive journalism: “A developing form of journalism aimed at producing productive and attractive journalism, adopting positive psychological policies in the journalism industry while maintaining its core functions”. Among the main theoretical approaches to constructive journalism are positive psychology and Buddhist philosophy.

Positive psychology, whose founder is the American psychologist M.E.P. Seligman,(26) advocates the study of positive psychological emotions beyond mental illness. The focus of this approach is on positive psychological resources, people’s unique strengths, and the mental health development of the group. Thus, the purpose of constructive journalism is considered to be not only to promote the feeling of positive emotions but also to develop positive human qualities (e.g., honesty).(23,27,28) The links between positive psychology and constructive journalism are as follows: focus on providing patterns of successful problem solving, focus on the future and perspectives, compromise in decision-making, avoiding the division of society, encouraging respondents to reflect on social problems, using credible sources, empowering the public to cooperate with media representatives, exchanging opinions, motivating the public to improve the social environment, and striving for a better life.(21,29) The contemporary news paradigm can be considered in terms of the four pillars of constructive journalism, namely solutions journalism, peace journalism, perspective journalism, and recovery storytelling. These four constructive news fields are designed to expand the amount of information provided to readers and facilitate a multifaceted understanding of public sentiment.(21,30) Positive psychology opposes excessive focus on negative emotions and illnesses, disasters, and scandals.

Another approach to news coverage is Buddhist philosophy. Australian scholar S.A. Gunaratne et al.(13) presented to the world community a theory of the relationship between constructive journalism and Buddhism. This theory reflects an academic stance that involves incorporating Buddhist ideas and principles into news practices and balancing Western ideas with Eastern ones in a global cultural paradigm. Since media coverage of war and conflict has only led to an escalation of violence, news reporting should focus on humanity in war, not bloodshed, and finding solutions to military conflicts.(31,32,33) Based on Buddhist philosophy, the principles of conscious journalism were formulated: separating physical happiness from spiritual happiness, avoiding excessive individualism, self-interest, determinism, harmony between people and nature, criticism, and ethical standards like the “golden mean” to avoid extremes and provide clear, complete reporting without offense.(8,34,35) The Chinese journalism community was the first to pay attention to constructive news from the perspective of public opinion control, specifically they considered public opinion surveillance as one of the constructive forms of control.(36,73,38) Generally, the Chinese concept of constructive news in terms of the focus of positive publicity is the same as the Western concept but has broader goals of benefiting the welfare of citizens and society, the party, and the government.

This study analysed the theoretical path of constructive journalism in the world and presented the practical implementation of constructive news concept in China. The study of practical experience was based on the analysis of such criteria of Chinese media space as genre, theme, emotional colouring, and form of information presentation. Most of the news content was aimed at fostering social responsibility, objective assessment of the situation and understanding of the need for social inclusion.

As the media environment is constantly changing, there is an urgent need to find new ways to cover events. A. Mäder and L. Rinsdorf(39) explored the following issues related to constructive news on digital resources: partial loss of the mediating role, evaluation of the arguments presented, lack of coherent criticism. The author believes that the main goal of constructive journalism is to reflect the productive media discourse often concealed in digital media. It is also emphasised that constructive journalism should refuse to be negative and should not be restricted by the authorities. A study of the practical experience of journalism in China has shown that constructive news develops under the control of the media by state authorities, which is not in line with the conceptualisation of the researchers. At the same time, the concept of forming a productive media discourse and presenting options for resolving social conflicts is close to the Chinese media field.

Climate change can be considered as one of the global problems of humankind today. A study by Indonesian scientists L.C. Theodora and A.M. Prestianta(40) focuses on content analysis of 123 articles on climate change published in 2020. They were investigated in terms of the six components of constructive journalism. The author concluded that most of the articles were not constructive, and their emotional colouring was negative. There were rare injections of constructive news to counterbalance the negativity. The findings of the study of Chinese media discourse showed that 32,6 % of the total news had positive emotional colouring, 58 % had neutral emotional colouring, and 9,2 % had negative emotional colouring. Thus, unlike the researchers, most Chinese news can be considered constructive.

Global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic have greatly increased the level of concern, rejection of public health recommendations, and racial bias. C.S.B. Overgaard(41) considered the concept of constructive news under deep crisis. Specifically, the public’s reaction to 492 social media news items was investigated. The analysis found that constructive headlines and graphic elements were used to reduce anxiety and aggression on the part of readers. The present study paid special attention to analysing headlines from Xinhua News Agency presented through WeChat, specifically, the genre specificity of constructive news was also defined through them: news, news bulletins, news essay, newsletter, investigative report. The correlation between the forms of news stories was also analysed: “text only” (9 %), “text + image” (69 %), “image only” (3 %), “text + video + image” (19 %). K. Ariestyani(42) investigated the news content related to the health sector. The author pointed out that a constructive approach to news can anticipate negative consequences. Negative reporting leads to stress and depression, and therefore the study aimed to show Indonesian journalists a constructive approach to news. The findings of the study of the theoretical path of Chinese news have suggested that this concept to the coverage of events is not new at the present stage but has been actively developed since the beginning of the 21st century in two primary areas: positive psychology and Buddhist philosophy.

Y. Le(43) provides an overview of the practical experience of Chinese constructive journalism standards. The author explored the interrelationships between the constructive model of journalism, media, and public response to changes in media space in the context of Sino-Western dialogue. It was noted that Chinese constructive journalism had deep roots and quite a lot of practical experience in realising the concept of constructive news since the beginning of the 21st century. The researcher found that Chinese media has made considerable progress in social governance through a constructive approach to news content, with current topics such as people’s livelihoods, aid, questioning officials, and construction being highlighted.

The constructive approach to news in China from 2013 to 2020 involved active cooperation between government agencies and the media, setting common goals that could ensure effective joint work. Y. Zhang and L. Meng(44) argued that constructive journalism can be a means to overcome poverty through three main tools: agenda setting, monitoring, and public interest orientation. Thus, constructive journalism has been proposed as an alternative to professional and partisan journalism to address social problems. As the analysis in the present study has shown, the concept of constructive journalism in China, specifically the positive psychology-oriented one, was formed in inseparable connection with the government and was aimed at achieving common goals. Positive psychology offers journalists a systematic strategy for enriching the news, consisting of the following components: providing solutions, diversity, and context. However, constructive journalism is not limited only to positive news stories but is characterised by a more profound analysis of events and the search for possible solutions. Thus, “time, efficiency, mastery of proportionality” are shifted towards adding some “heat” to the news (coverage of pressing social issues).

The specifics of journalism in China are related to the six forces that control the Chinese media space. G. Ditlhokwa et al.(45) used a compressed thematic analysis method to determine the impact of the regulatory framework on the practice of constructive journalism. The findings of this study showed that the effective interaction between the Chinese government and the media has developed a mechanism of constructive journalism aimed at professionalism and patriotism. It was also noted that special file verification programmes have been launched to avoid fake news in news reports. Upon investigating the practical experience of implementing constructive news in the Chinese media field, it was found that its success lies in the harmonious work between the media and government agencies. Thus, by identifying any social problems, options for their solution, already approved by the authorities, were proposed, and therefore the system clearly regulated by the state significantly influences the genre specificity and form of news.

The Chinese media system, according to L. Willnat and Z. Tai,(46) used constructive strategies in news coverage, particularly to engage audiences on health issues. The analysis results showed that 905 survey participants are committed to the idea of increasing prosocial behaviour and self-efficacy when constantly reading news reports in Chinese media. The present study identified the main areas in which constructive journalism has a major impact on their readership: rule of law, cultural life, education, social care, travel, healthcare. As reported by the researchers, the Chinese community takes an active part in solving social problems through constructive journalism.

Thus, the study of constructive journalism has been reduced in modern research to the transfer of best practices in applying this concept, e.g., from China to other Asian countries, and to the consideration of the impact of constructive coverage of events related to the COVID-19 medical crisis, climate change, and other social problems.

 

CONCLUSIONS

Constructive news is a vital area of the global news industry. Although this news paradigm came from Western countries, it has also developed strongly in Asian countries, particularly China. Constructive news’ main purpose is to promote positive news, discuss and solve social problems, which provides balance and regulation of people’s psychological state. The beginning of the theoretical path of constructive linguistics dates to the end of the 19th century, in the 1940s the theory of social responsibility appeared, and in 1959 the concept of constructive news was proposed. But in the academic community, it is believed that a clear definition of constructive news was given in 2008, and the earliest definition of the term “constructive news” was formulated in 2014. Constructive journalism, based on positive psychology and Buddhist philosophy, aims to solve social problems, use objective information, and involve the public in social issues.

In China, it serves both public interest and government objectives, as evidenced by the analysis of Xinhua News Agency’s WeChat account, which revealed a focus on rule of law, cultural life, and education, with predominantly neutral (58 %) and positive (32,6 %) emotional tones. Genres included news, news bulletins, news essays, newsletters, and investigative reports. Among the forms of news reporting, the following were presented: “text only”, “text + image”, “image only”, “text + video + image”. The findings of the study of the practical experience of constructive journalism showed that it has three basic elements that are lacking in the Western European tradition: empathy, responsibility, and decision-making. Future research should focus on effective media-society communication, media literacy, diverse national media practices, and digital innovations in media communication. Such research can contribute to creating a more ethical and responsible information space, improving news quality and public welfare.

 

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FINANCING

The authors did not receive financing for the development of this research.

 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

 

AUTHORSHIP CONTRIBUTION

Conceptualization: Lin Jiang.

Data curation: Lin Jiang.

Formal analysis: Aina T. Duyshekeeva.

Research: Aina T. Duyshekeeva.

Methodology: Lin Jiang.

Project management: Lin Jiang.

Resources: Aina T. Duyshekeeva.

Software: Aina T. Duyshekeeva.

Supervision: Lin Jiang.

Validation: Aina T. Duyshekeeva.

Display: Aina T. Duyshekeeva.

Drafting - original draft: Lin Jiang, Aina T. Duyshekeeva.

Writing - proofreading and editing: Lin Jiang, Aina T. Duyshekeeva.