Best of times, worst of times

Chinese newspaper circulation has hit a total of 1.2 billion, I learned today. But, as in the United States, newspaper executives are deeply pessimistic about the future.

Wu Haimin, president of the Beijing Times, told the 7th World Media Economcis Conference on Tuesday that his country's newspaper industry is in a decline that "cannot be reversed."

In many industries what's happening in China is a precursor to what will be happening to Western industries in a few years' time.

But not all of China's media leaders are as pessimistic as Wu. Jin Zhiwei, a senior researcher in the marketing department of CCTC, gave an impassioned speech in which he painted a more positive picture for mainstream media, although he called on journalists to adopt a new definition of news because "the traditional definition of journalism is out of date."

In his definition, news is something that attracts mass attention and can arouse recipients to action. In the United States, journalists generally adopt a more dispassionate attitude and say they do not attempt to exert direct influence.

That's part of the code of objectivity, but many nonjournalists (and some journalists) view such detachment as a fiction.

Overall, after listening to a dozen Chinese media officials, I was struck by how much their views are similar to those that prevail in the United States. The media industry is certainly in a turmoil, and while the best minds are able to describe the dynamics of the situation, no one is coming forward with solutions.