From Newsroom to YouTube

Chapter 3 examines how five Chinese-speaking journalists—Wang Zhian, Fan Chi-Fei, Wang Jian, Terrence Shen, and Vivian Wu—have adapted professional newsroom practices to YouTube’s creator economy. Based on in-depth interviews, this chapter explores their different production routines, organizational structures, and self-perceptions of journalistic identity. Wang Zhian and Wang Jian mirror newsroom setups through teams and editorial processes, framing their channels as “news services.” Fan Chi-Fei combines thorough fact-checking with conversational presentation to connect professional credibility with digital engagement. Terrence Shen works as a one-man band, balancing independence with the uncertainty of daily uploads, while Vivian Wu reinterprets her work as a “knowledge platform,” distancing herself from the journalist label but maintaining verification standards. Across these cases, journalistic principles—verification, impartiality, autonomy—are maintained, adjusted, or compromised depending on available resources, audience pressures, and platform demands. This chapter concludes that YouTube journalism exists in a “permanent tension” between professional norms and algorithmic logic, creating hybrid roles that blend reporting, commentary, entrepreneurship, and personal branding within the newsfluencer model.