Inside CBN: HSS Students Examine Digital Broadcast Practices

On 21 November, HSS organised a company visit to Shanghai Media Group and its flagship financial outlet, China Business Network (CBN). Led by Dr Tingting Hu, HSS Student Development Officer, from Department of Media and Communication, five Year 2 undergraduate and Year 1 postgraduate students gained a full-spectrum, immersive view of the operational chain of financial media, from traditional broadcasting to digital production. Through direct exposure to live-control coordination, studio protocols, new-media streaming logic, 8K systems and AI-assisted news workflows, students developed a concrete understanding of the mechanisms that sustain contemporary media production, while cultivating systematic reflections on technological iteration and career trajectories in the industry.

Broadcast Control Room: High-Density Coordination as the Backbone of Real-Time Broadcasting

The visit opened in CBN¡¯s central Broadcast Control Room, recognised as the ¡°neural hub¡± of financial news broadcasting. Walls of synchronised screens, signal indicators and timed switching operations revealed the uncompromising precision and tempo behind live news delivery.

Producers explained in detail how directors, technical operators and broadcast teams collaborate to ensure seamless execution. ¡°The control room resembled an entire constellation of blinking systems lined together. Standing behind the director¡¯s desk was the only way to truly understand the magnitude of coordination required backstage,¡± shared postgraduate student Zhenzheng Zhang. She noted that a polished broadcast relies on the flawless integration of multiple roles, including camera, subtitles, sound engineering and directing, reinforcing that the professionalism of financial journalism is fundamentally anchored in interdepartmental synchronisation.

Broadcast Studio: Professionalism as the Core Value

The next segment took students into the main studio of CBN¡¯s flagship programmes. ¡°When the lights came up, the anchor desk appeared like a black vessel, charged with technological and editorial authority,¡± recalled postgraduate student Chi Zhang.

The studio team introduced core components such as anchor and guest positions, camera configurations, lighting grids and teleprompter operations. Media student Yuru Bai highlighted a key editorial logic: ¡°Financial programming serves an audience that prioritises accuracy, analytical rigour and data clarity. This necessitates a restrained and precise production style, rather than decorative packaging.¡± The session reinforced that financial broadcast¡¯s DNA is defined not by visual spectacle but by credibility and disciplined information delivery.

New-Media Streaming: Agile Collaboration in the Digital Race

Transitioning from traditional facilities, students next entered CBN¡¯s digital streaming studio and auxiliary control bay. CBN demonstrated how it sustains leadership in linear broadcasting while simultaneously expanding into a nimble, platform-driven ecosystem.

Through analysis of live coverage of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, students witnessed how condensed but expertly coordinated crews can achieve real-time, high-quality dissemination across digital channels. The presentation clarified that within the media industry, ¡°legacy authority and digital innovation no longer operate in opposition but in productive convergence¡±, offering audiences precision content at platform-appropriate velocity.

Digital Exhibition Hall: Technology as Infrastructure, Humanity as the Source

At SMG¡¯s digital exhibition hall, students explored 8K television production pipelines, real-time editing suites and omnichannel content distribution platforms. Although advanced systems showcased efficiency at scale, the most compelling insight was the irreplaceability of human judgement.

¡°Technology can accelerate processes, but editorial responsibility, ethical interpretation and meaning-making remain in human hands,¡± reflected postgraduate student Yujia Ni. Students recognised that while the new operational base integrates AI, data systems and intelligent content engines, media talent of the future must be hybrid practitioners: technically literate yet grounded in narrative integrity and societal responsibility.

AI Enablement: Reconstructing News Workflow and Career Paradigms

AI implementation emerged as the focal point of student attention. CBN¡¯s digital human news anchors demonstrated multilingual broadcasting and identity replication, signalling a new stage of technologically assisted editorial roles.

Year 2 student Jia Yi Lau observed that the scope of AI involvement, from script generation to ultra-HD content rendering, ¡°extends far beyond our previous assumptions¡±. Chi Zhang further noted that three-minute voiceovers for short-form news are now executed by AI autonomously, altering traditional occupational divisions. A senior producer summarised industry foresight: ¡°Professional competencies are shifting from operational skill sets to learning agility and editorial discernment. AI may replace routine execution, but news judgement and value-based decision-making remain fundamentally human.¡±

From Observation to Insight: Reframing Media Futures

The visit functioned not merely as site observation but as a critical professional lens. From live-control rigor to studio precision, from agile digital streaming to AI-engineered production, students gained a comprehensive understanding of the structural and normative values guiding financial media.

Original Site of Shanghai¡¯s First Television Tower (Demolished)

As technological acceleration and media convergence reshape the sector, core principles persist: professionalism as foundation, coordination as mechanism and humanistic accountability as enduring anchor. Beyond bridging theory and professional practice, the visit illuminated pathways for future media talent: only by embracing technological transformation while sustaining editorial ethics can practitioners secure agency in an evolving communication ecosystem.

Reporter: Yiyi Gu
Proofreader: Tingting Hu