BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- News organizations should take a people-centered approach and better serve people's needs by providing more diversified news products, according to Xinhua News Agency President Cai Mingzhao.
Cai published an article in Qiushi Journal, the flagship magazine of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, reviewing Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech on the media work in 2016.
On Feb. 19, 2016, Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, visited the People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and China Central Television, the nation's three leading news providers. Later that day he presided over a symposium on the media work.
According to Xi, the mission of the Party's media work is to provide guidance for the public, serve the country's overall interests, unite the general public, instill confidence and pool strength, tell right from wrong and connect China to the world.
Cai said in the article that news organizations should give correct guidance to the public, always place social benefit in the first place, and encourage the whole society to strive for excellence and to develop stronger virtues.
He asked journalists to improve investigative reporting, report innovative and creative efforts made by the people, and reflect the people's wishes and voices.
The article also underscored the importance of truthfulness.
"Truthfulness is the life of journalism, and the facts must be reported based on the truth," Xi said in his speech in February 2016. "While accurately reporting individual facts, journalists must also grasp and reflect the overall situation of an event from a broad view."
Xi urged media outlets to confront problems emerging from their work and social ills head-on, spreading the good and condemning the bad while practicing critical journalism based on accurate facts and objective analysis.
Cai called for accelerating the development of new media with the push of 5G telecommunication technology, so that the country could make use of the new media's edge in modern communications.
Xinhua has recently unveiled an artificial intelligence platform called "media brain" and announced the building of an intelligent newsroom.
"The agency aims to build an intelligent newsroom, featuring human-machine cooperation, and focusing on increased production and communication efficiency," Cai wrote.
Cai said Xinhua News Agency would speed up its efforts in building a new type of first-class global news agency, setting up a world-leading system of news gathering, editing, and release that covers the globe.
"The country's international communication capacity should be improved to match China's national strength and international status," Cai wrote in the article.
