The future of information

Delegates from about 100 media organizations attend the China Global Television Network (CGTN) Global Media Summit and the Global Video Media Forum 2017 in Sanya.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Qu also said China Daily's American journalist Erik Nilsson's video clips on the Belt and Road Initiative, called the Belt & Road Bedtime Stories - in which he explains to his daughter the meaning of future globalization - have been viewed over 50 million times on Chinese and Western social media.

Brian Carovillano, vice-president and managing editor of The Associated Press, highlighted the significance of investigative journalism these days. Shi Anbin, a scholar from Tsinghua University, called for establishing an unbiased and balanced communication system.

Some participants say one of the biggest challenges today is figuring out the truth when dealing with an information overload.

John Pullman, global head of video and pictures of Thomson Reuters, says statistics show around 30 percent of readers were skeptical about media reports' credibility. The agency has adopted various methods to improve that, such as releasing background stories to show how interviews were done.

Lyu Ningsi, director of news and editor-in-chief of Phoenix InfoNews Channel, echoes such views, saying that spreading facts and values are more important than just pursuing viewership.

On the progress of digital platforms, Zhu Fusheng, chief technology officer of the wireless products division of ZTE Corp, speaks about 5G networks.

He says 5G will be ready for commercial use in China in 2020, which will make surfing the internet much faster than now and allow journalists to bring viewers closer to stories with the help of virtual reality.