The Development Path Of News Magazine In The New Media Ecology

New media technology has caused great changes in mass communication. Accordingly, the environment of traditional media, including news magazine, has altered to some extent. What are the challenges that news magazines are facing? What approaches should be taken to tackle those challenges? To answer these questions, the present study takes China Newsweek, an important news magazine in China, as an example. Its status quo, the challenges and the development approaches of this news magazine were analyzed through mixed methods, including participant observation, document research, in-depth interview and content analysis.The theoretical frame of this research is media ecology theory. Based on the basic concepts related to media ecology, the characteristics of new media ecology were examined, including the interaction and integration of news producer and consumer, the integration of different news producers and the fragmentation of food chain in the ecology. Simply put, the new media ecology reduced the amounts of audience and advertisement, and exerted negative effects upon in-depth reporting.As an example, the development approach of China Newsweek was analyzed. First, China Newsweek sticked to the media niche of in-depth reporting, vowing to keep producing high-quality in-depth stories, including investigative stories. Second, China Newsweek tried to connect in-depth reporting to new media platform, elongating the food chain of the magazine. Third, the magazine started a new media project whose content and operation were independent, aiming to suit the new media ecology.The case study showed that, under the challenge of new media ecology, news magazines should maintain their strength of in-depth reporting, and adapt it to new media platform so as to improve its production and communication. Besides, new projects based totally on new media platform should be encouraged.Adopting the theory of media ecology, the thesis studies the co-existence and competition between paper magazine and new media project of China Newsweek, providing new proof for the evolution of new media ecology regarding news magazine. The research provides a new analysis frame and decision-making reference for the managers of news magazine.