Media Convergence from the Perspective of Knowledge Production: Core Values and Communication Characteristics

Yang Guoxing1,2
(1. Editorial Department of Jiangsu Higher Education, Jiangsu Education Press Group, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210036;
2. Graduate School of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871)

Abstract

[Purpose] Examining the development logic of media convergence from the perspective of knowledge production helps restore the foundational status and essential functions of knowledge value in information dissemination and promotes innovation in media convergence models. [Method] This paper analyzes the theoretical evolution and practical characteristics of knowledge production, and synthesizes the core values and communication features of media convergence within this conceptual framework by examining the knowledge logic of information communication. [Results] The study finds that knowledge production and information dissemination share a close relationship: information dissemination constitutes the central link in knowledge production, while knowledge production represents the core value of information dissemination. The knowledge logic of media convergence is deeply embedded in the knowledge transformation of information communication. Current evolutionary trends in media convergence manifest as: participant subjects shifting from multi-agent collaboration to human-machine interaction; core functions transitioning from information dissemination to knowledge innovation; and communication impact moving from determinacy to indeterminacy. [Conclusion] Highlighting the knowledge logic in media convergence processes helps enhance the discourse power and communication capacity of converged media and expands the core value of information dissemination. Under the new knowledge production paradigm, media convergence exhibits new communication

Keywords: knowledge production; media convergence; information dissemination; core value; communication characteristics
CLC Number: G223
Document Code: A
Article ID: 1671-0134(2025)05-52-04
DOI: 10.19483/j.cnki.11-4653/n.2025.05.010
Citation Format: Yang Guoxing. Media Convergence from the Perspective of Knowledge Production: Core Values and Communication Characteristics [J]. China Media Technology, 2025, 32(5): 52-55.

In 1983, renowned communication scholar Ithiel de Sola Pool proposed the concept of "media convergence" in Technologies of Freedom. In his view, convergence represented the future trend of media development, wherein "large communication organizations operate in multiple modes simultaneously in an interconnected fashion" [1]. Through media convergence, media production elements can be rationally allocated to stimulate internal innovation vitality. As General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out, "Promoting media convergence development and building all-media has become an urgent task before us" [2]. In 2020, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Accelerating the In-Depth Development of Media Convergence, further promoting accelerated integration between traditional and emerging media across institutional mechanisms, policy measures, process management, talent, and technology. Influenced by transformations in knowledge production, information communication patterns have undergone multi-dimensional reshaping, triggering new developments in media convergence. Media convergence actively responds to trends in digital-intelligent, segmented, differentiated, and personalized knowledge dissemination, optimizing media's information communication functions and promoting knowledge production and innovation. Therefore, exploring the core values and communication characteristics of media convergence from the perspective of knowledge production holds important theoretical significance and practical relevance.

1. Theoretical Evolution and Practical Characteristics of Knowledge Production

The transformation of knowledge production is first reflected in the expansion of knowledge categories. For a long time, knowledge was regarded as ideological and cultural content existing in the form of information carriers [3]. With the rise of the knowledge economy, particularly under the influence of generative AI and other emerging technologies, knowledge today encompasses not only static knowledge itself but also the mechanisms and capacities for producing, inheriting, disseminating, and innovating knowledge. Based on this, knowledge production activities have extended beyond knowledge producers' search, organization, and analysis of knowledge information to include the integration, innovation, and application of knowledge information.

As knowledge innovation becomes more comprehensive and social problems more complex, knowledge production patterns are transitioning from Mode I and Mode II to Mode III. In the early 19th century, Germany's Humboldt University incorporated scientific research into the university system, establishing Mode I of knowledge production based on specialized disciplinary inquiry. Mode I is dominated by academic interests and emphasizes "producing knowledge for knowledge's sake," representing a rigid structure with universities as the primary knowledge production subjects. Due to the information technology revolution, knowledge production demands and contexts have become more diverse, giving birth to Mode II. Mode II emphasizes interdisciplinarity and applicability, breaking through disciplinary barriers to collaborate with other disciplines and institutions in knowledge production activities to jointly explain and solve practical problems. After entering the knowledge economy society, the role of the public in knowledge production has become increasingly prominent, leading to Mode III. Characterized by innovation networks and knowledge clusters, Mode III emphasizes collaborative innovation among the public, universities, industry, and government, thus spawning a batch of transdisciplinary, integrated, and collaborative organizational forms [4].

In the new knowledge production mode, four main practical characteristics emerge: First, the diversification of knowledge production subjects, with universities, government, industry, and civil society forming a knowledge innovation community that promotes a more open and inclusive knowledge production ecosystem and enhances the collaborative innovation capacity of multiple subjects. Second, the expansion of knowledge production scope, which emphasizes transdisciplinary and even post-disciplinary approaches, constructing knowledge clusters and innovation networks across multiple disciplinary boundaries and non-disciplinary fields, unlike the application of single-disciplinary knowledge. Third, the socialization of knowledge production purposes,致力于解决复杂化的社会实际问题、维护公共利益和实现社会价值，满足政府、产业和公众的实际需求. Fourth, the contextualization of knowledge production environments, emphasizing the interactive relationship between science, market, and society, transforming disciplinary knowledge into applicable knowledge, and expanding collaborative research in knowledge production to various fields including government, industry, academia, research, and application.

2. The Knowledge Logic of Information Communication

In a knowledge society, knowledge constitutes the primary resource for information communication. The technology revolution centered on information technology has accelerated the reconstruction of society's material foundation. As the "quadruple helix structure" for collaboratively advancing knowledge production and application innovation takes shape, transformations in knowledge production have expanded the knowledge logic of information communication.

2.1 Multi-Dimensional Coexistence of Communication Methods

With the advent of the knowledge economy era, massive amounts of knowledge information have become fundamental elements of information communication, and the problem of insufficient communication power in traditional information communication methods has become increasingly prominent. The development of intelligent technology and virtual reality technology promotes the integration of the real and virtual worlds and the fusion of daily life and virtual space. Particularly in virtual network spaces, the scale of knowledge information communication continues to expand, time continues to shorten, and precision continues to increase [5]. Under the new knowledge production mode, knowledge forms have transformed from static linear knowledge to dynamic networked knowledge, greatly enhancing the speed of knowledge dissemination and accelerating the overall transformation of information communication methods. New information communication methods such as social media communication, virtual reality communication, and artificial intelligence communication possess advantages in information capture, analysis, and interpretation, enabling knowledge information to more accurately and rapidly meet readers' personalized reading needs. Based on this, information communication methods have become more contextualized, mobile, video-based, intelligent, personalized, and socialized, better aligning with the multi-level, multi-form, multi-node system requirements of knowledge production.

2.2 Dynamic Interaction in Communication Relationships

With the development of knowledge production transformation, personal and professional knowledge is shifting toward public knowledge. Consequently, the relationship between information communicators and recipients has transformed from "one-way information transmission" to "information sharing and co-creation." Information sharing refers to the exchange and common use of knowledge information among information systems at different levels and departments. Information co-creation refers to multiple information communication subjects generating new knowledge and creating new value through interaction and cooperation, utilizing each party's knowledge and resources. Due to the introduction of public subjects after knowledge production transformation, full participation has promoted social information interaction, reduced the communication distance between humans and knowledge, and gradually dissolved the intermediary role of traditional media in information communication. According to Marshall McLuhan's view, the medium is the message: "Any medium (that is, any extension of man) has an effect on individuals and society because it introduces a new scale" [6]. With the emergence of new media, information nodes have become increasingly diversified. The "Internet of Everything" has triggered "Everything as Media." New media are human-centered, where everyone can disseminate information, thereby triggering transformations in relationships between people and information, people and platforms, and people and machines.

2.3 Systematic Reconstruction of Communication Order

The new knowledge production mode emphasizes a quadruple helix structure of "university, government, industry, and civil society" to achieve positive flow and growth of knowledge. Consequently, linear and stable information communication order has been impacted, establishing a new holistic and interactive information communication order. On the one hand, the new information communication order emphasizes customized information services matched to user needs. Information flows more freely, requiring more verticalized information supply and more contextualized information services. In an era of information overload, paying attention to diversified information needs can help people filter and identify the most valuable information for them, thereby improving information usability. On the other hand, the new information communication order emphasizes safeguarding information authenticity, fairness, and diversity. First, strengthening data and information protection by building robust data security mechanisms to enhance user information security and avoid information leakage incidents. Second, optimizing algorithmic recommendation mechanisms to mitigate the impact of "information cocoons" and promote diversity and comprehensiveness in information delivery. Third, strengthening intellectual property protection by conducting content similarity calculation, monitoring, and comparison to advance reprint copyright cooperation [7].

3. Expanding the Core Value of Media Convergence

Media convergence is not only a media transformation and industry transformation but also an important component of knowledge society reform and development. Knowledge production transformation has not only changed information communication paradigms, content analysis methods, and communication models but also expanded the core value of media convergence.

3.1 Expanding from Information Center to Knowledge Center

Mainstream media constitute an important information release platform and mainstream public opinion position for the Party and the state. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The key to convergence development lies in integration into one entity" [8]. Through media convergence, efforts are made to build a batch of new mainstream media, thereby strengthening and expanding mainstream public opinion. The new knowledge production mode, characterized by innovation networks and knowledge clusters, has spawned a composite system of knowledge production, knowledge diffusion, and knowledge application. Based on this, mainstream media have formed a knowledge center through media convergence that is mutually complementary, harmonious, and resonant. Through this knowledge center, mainstream media can disseminate transdisciplinary and post-disciplinary knowledge information to the public, thereby enhancing the communication power and influence of mainstream ideology. The expansion of mainstream media into a knowledge center reflects a transformation in the relationship between media and society. "The essence of media convergence is the structural integration of media and society" [9]. Media platforms have become important nodes in the knowledge society and key links in social governance. Only by continuously meeting the public's diverse knowledge needs and building social consensus can we further enhance the governance capacity of the knowledge society and improve social operational efficiency.

3.2 Expanding from Information Dissemination to Knowledge Production and Innovation

Media convergence is a process of disseminating human knowledge and, more importantly, a process of knowledge production and innovation. On the one hand, media convergence promotes regulated knowledge information production. Mode III of knowledge production requires the knowledge production process to be regulated to ensure knowledge quality and innovation effectiveness. Influenced by knowledge production transformation, media convergence emphasizes "content is king," following certain regulated processes and standards in media content production to ensure content quality and effectiveness. Relying on media convergence, knowledge producers conduct deep processing of data and information, transforming it into messages and knowledge while enhancing communication efficiency [10]. On the other hand, media convergence promotes knowledge network construction, knowledge resource collection, knowledge mining processing, and knowledge integration innovation. In an era of knowledge explosion, knowledge in various forms such as UGC and AIGC is widely disseminated. Relying on emerging technologies, media platforms strengthen information screening and knowledge aggregation. Through refining and systematic processing of information, knowledge information is endowed with more added value, thereby forming innovative knowledge groups and innovation networks adapted to the new knowledge production mode.

3.3 Expanding from Information Supply to Knowledge Service and Social Service

Mode III of knowledge production emphasizes interaction and cooperation among different innovation subjects, breaking the boundaries between knowledge producers and knowledge audiences. The public is both a key subject and an important audience of knowledge production. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: "Wherever readers are, wherever audiences are, the tentacles of publicity and reporting should extend there, and the focus and foothold of propaganda and ideological work should be placed there" [11]. This requires media convergence to play an important function of knowledge service. Under the new knowledge production mode, media convergence pays greater attention to user experience, adopting methods such as segmented customization, intelligent mining, and personalized algorithmic recommendation to increase the supply and service of high-quality original knowledge products and enhance user stickiness [12]. In fact, media convergence concerns not only knowledge production and knowledge service but also social service and social governance. By providing government service platforms and channels for public demand expression, media convergence enhances interaction between government and citizens. Simultaneously, by effectively meeting people's knowledge and information needs, it can eliminate social injustice caused by the "information gap," facilitating the modernization of social governance.

4. New Characteristics of Media Convergence from the Perspective of Knowledge Production

Media convergence from the perspective of knowledge production represents a systematic reshaping of the media industry's organizational structure, operational models, talent pool, content production, and communication methods. It is also a joint practice of government, industry, academia, and civil society, aiming to promote the overall progress and development of the knowledge society through knowledge collaboration and knowledge innovation. Therefore, media convergence from this perspective has evolved the following new characteristics.

4.1 Communication Subjects: Multiple Subjects in Media Convergence Exerting Comprehensive Advantages

Influenced by knowledge production transformation, media convergence development is also the result of interaction and cooperation among multiple subjects including government, enterprises, media practitioners, scientific and technological workers, and the public. Under the overall deployment of the Party and government, mainstream media have actively strengthened integration and connection between traditional and emerging media. Today, traditional and emerging media have formed close collaborative relationships, such as cooperative topic planning, coordinated agenda setting, joint editorial work, and all-network knowledge distribution. Traditional media channels are more authoritative, editorial talent more professional, and editorial processes more standardized, possessing content resource advantages. Emerging media have driven the expansion of media categories, forming new communication forms through the integration of news media, social media, and intelligent media. As of June 2024, China's internet user population reached nearly 1.1 billion, with mobile internet users accounting for 99.7% and internet penetration reaching 78.0% [13]. Emerging media provide the convenience of mobile internet, enhance interactivity between communicators and receivers, and possess advantages in instant reception and information dissemination [14]. Traditional and emerging media complement each other's strengths and develop in an integrated manner, strengthening deep integration in content, channels, platforms, operations, and management to further advance knowledge production and knowledge innovation. Media convergence constitutes an open integration ecology of multi-subject interaction. In fact, mainstream media and commercial internet platforms have a symbiotic relationship. Mainstream media leverage commercial internet platforms' advantages to expand the influence of mainstream public opinion, while commercial internet platforms need mainstream media's content advantages to expand platform credibility. Consequently, media have further engaged in cross-boundary integration with entertainment, e-commerce, logistics, high-tech, and other industries, driving the depth of convergence with new knowledge demands and expanding the industrial value chain of media convergence to provide the public with full-industry-chain knowledge products.

4.2 Communication Process: Full Chain of Media Convergence Focusing on Public Interest Realization

Mode III of knowledge production emphasizes safeguarding social public interest and promoting sustainable social development. Therefore, the entire chain of media convergence, including knowledge acquisition, knowledge production, knowledge distribution, knowledge feedback, and knowledge service, focuses on realizing public interest. First, emerging technologies such as AI and VR/AR drive knowledge acquisition and production while balancing media interests and public interest. Emerging technologies integrate into the entire process of news production, user experience, and product operation, forming an intelligent media reporting form of human-machine collaboration that transforms media collection, editing, operation, promotion, and management systems, improving the efficiency of knowledge acquisition and production [15]. Simultaneously, media convergence remains vigilant against the proliferation of instrumental rationality, blind technological worship, and disorderly capital expansion, guarding against new media ethics issues brought by emerging technologies. Second, in the knowledge distribution process, public interest serves as the goal. Algorithms and platforms form the foundation of knowledge distribution, and media convergence promotes autonomous control of public platforms and public algorithms to ensure the security and reliability of knowledge communication. Knowledge dissemination can enhance public cultural literacy and knowledge levels, promote social innovation and cultural diversity, and strengthen social cohesion and creativity. Media convergence adheres to mainstream public opinion guidance, safeguards online ideological security and national security, and promotes transnational exchange and cooperation through the distribution of public knowledge to jointly explore solutions to global issues. Third, based on public feedback, communication content is customized to provide precise knowledge services. Media convergence integrates information communication with social public services, constructing a new media ecosystem [16]. In this new media ecosystem, content and its derivatives also largely come from users themselves. Therefore, media convergence has established a user-centered knowledge service model that emphasizes interaction between knowledge service providers and users by immersing in user environments, providing users with full-process knowledge transmission, feedback, and re-transmission to improve knowledge service quality and user experience.

4.3 Communication Talent: Transdisciplinary Talent Leading the Media Convergence Process

Mode III of knowledge production has spurred the development of transdisciplinarity, whose characteristics align with the development goals of media convergence. Transdisciplinary talent possesses the subjective consciousness and participation awareness to solve major economic and social problems, as well as the ability to integrate, reconstruct, and innovate knowledge networks [17]. In the process of media convergence, transdisciplinary talent builds upon collection, writing, editing, and commentary capabilities while simultaneously possessing competencies in technology development and system maintenance, big data analysis and statistics, all-media product production, and multi-channel distribution. They can produce high-quality all-media products. Today, media convergence attaches great importance to introducing and cultivating all-media talent with transdisciplinary literacy. On the one hand, by optimizing talent introduction policies and work environments, mainstream media enhance their attractiveness to transdisciplinary young talent, introducing high-level transdisciplinary talent proficient in knowledge production, technology application, and operation management to build transdisciplinary talent echelons. On the other hand, by improving human resource systems and mechanisms and smoothing promotion channels for transdisciplinary talent, more outstanding talent with transdisciplinary literacy is encouraged to assume key positions, fully stimulating the vitality and creativity of transdisciplinary talent. In the vivid practice of media convergence, the professional capabilities of interdisciplinary talent are continuously improved, enabling them to grow into all-media talent. Based on this, transdisciplinary talent has advanced the rapid development of media convergence. By integrating knowledge and skills from different disciplines, transdisciplinary talent has driven the digital-intelligent transformation of mainstream media, strengthened the specialization, video-based production, and intelligence of media content, and significantly enhanced the communication power and influence of mainstream media content. Furthermore, transdisciplinary talent organically integrates media resources and social resources, expanding mainstream media's functions in government services, social services, business cooperation, and public support, enhancing mainstream media's market competitiveness and self-sustaining capacity, and providing a solid foundation and conditions for deepening media convergence.

4.4 Communication Pattern: Media Convergence Constructing an All-Media Communication System for Knowledge Fusion

Mode III of knowledge production has created an innovative ecosystem for knowledge fusion. Knowledge fusion refers to the process of integrating knowledge from different sources, fields, and forms to form new, higher-level knowledge systems. Knowledge fusion requires media convergence to provide platforms and channels for widespread knowledge communication and application. Media convergence organically integrates various media resources and production elements to form a three-dimensional, diverse, and integrated all-media communication system. First, mainstream media at all levels have formed a new pattern of "integrated planning, one-time collection, multiple generation, and diversified communication." For example, the "central kitchen" applied by mainstream media such as People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency has become an all-media platform that integrates organization, planning, coordination, processing, and sharing of knowledge products through rational resource allocation in the cloud [18]. Today, the all-media communication system has connected the vertical axis of four levels of mainstream media: "central media, provincial media, municipal media, and county-level converged media centers." Second, online and offline integration has formed a new pattern of integrated knowledge communication. "Cyberspace has become a new space for people's production and life, and it should also become a new space for our Party to build consensus" [2]. Therefore, media convergence extends from offline space to cyberspace, insisting on knowledge fusion across different spaces to further broaden knowledge communication space. The integration of online and offline knowledge production and communication channels breaks down barriers between traditional media channels, achieving real-time transmission, rapid retrieval, and interactive communication of knowledge. Third, internal and external communication forms a new pattern of coordinated knowledge communication. While building an independent Chinese philosophical and social sciences knowledge system, media convergence has strengthened the construction of international communication capacity to comprehensively enhance international communication effectiveness. By building an all-media communication system that integrates Chinese and foreign elements, it tells China's stories well and disseminates China's voice, enhancing the international communication power and influence of China's knowledge system.

Funding Project: Jiangsu Province Journal Association 2024 Journal Publishing Research Project "Research on Digital Intelligence Empowering High-Quality Development of Academic Journals" (Project Number: 2024JSQKB13).

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Author Biography: Yang Guoxing (1986—), male, from Shuozhou, Shanxi, is a senior editor at the Editorial Department of Jiangsu Higher Education and a doctoral student at the Graduate School of Education, Peking University. His research focuses on higher education governance and institutional innovation in editing and publishing.
(Responsible Editor: Li Yansong)