Transformation of professional qualities of a journalist in the context of media convergence and globalization in China

the article examines the transformation of the professional qualities of Chinese journalists in a new media era characterized by media convergence, globalization, and the complex interaction of political and economic fields. It is proved that the traditional role of a journalist as a "gatekeeper" of information is being blurred, which requires a radical rethinking of the concept of professionalism. The purpose of the work is to identify the current structure of professional competencies, identify existing deficits and identify ways to optimize them to meet the challenges of the modern media landscape. The study is based on a mixed methodology that includes a questionnaire survey of 500 Chinese journalists and 30 in-depth interviews with editors and experienced media staff. Professionalism was assessed on three key dimensions: traditional skills, digital competencies, and ethical attitudes. Statistical processing methods, including t-test and correlation analysis, were used to analyze the data. The analysis revealed a significant imbalance in the structure of professionalism: with a high self-assessment of traditional skills (writing) and ethical attitudes, there is a significant deficit in the field of digital and multimedia competencies. A "digital generation gap" has been established, where young journalists demonstrate a significantly higher level of mastery of new media, while work experience negatively correlates with digital skills. It is concluded that there is a structural deformation in professionalism that must be overcome through the integration of traditional values and new technologies. Optimization should be carried out by modernizing the journalism education system with an emphasis on the development of hybrid, universal competencies, where the ethical core is combined with fluency in modern digital tools.

transformation of professional qualities, Chinese journalism, media convergence, digital competencies, journalism education