The Challenges and Opportunities of Moderators in Converged Media

With the continuous development of the Internet, the birth of new media and we-media has had a subversive impact on traditional media, the latter beginning to gradually merge into a new type of media, called "converged media". In such an era of blurred boundaries and extreme integration, the challenges that the moderators of traditional media are facing are tremendous. Based on an extensive literature review, as well as direct observation and a thorough analysis of case studies in China, the aim of the paper is to present the essential dilemmas the moderators of traditional media will have to encounter, such as how can they seize the opportunity in an intensively competitive environment or how can they self-improve to face the challenges of the current environment. For achieving the stated aim, the paper uses the anthropological methods of direct observation and analysis of visual social documents. Based on relevant case studies of successful converged media shows in China hosted by former announcer of traditional media, the main conclusion of the paper is that, in spite of the emergence of new online media, the oldstyle moderators still have a chance of adapting to the new environment granted that they build on their skills.