This dissertation investigates the evolving relationship between journalism and artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on the case of China within a broader global context. Drawing on a critical interpretivist and neo-institutionalist approach, the study explores how AI technologies are transforming journalistic roles, practices, organisational structures, and governance systems. The research conceptualises AI not merely as a set of tools but as a sociotechnical phenomenon that reshapes power relations among key institutional actors—news organisations, technology companies, and the state.

The study employs a multi-method, multi-level research design across five interlinked articles. At the micro level, it examines how Chinese journalists perceive and adapt to AI, and how these perceptions are reflected in their professional role and reporting practices. At the meso level, it analyses the platformisation of news and how algorithmic distribution systems—particularly those developed by major Chinese tech firms—restructure the economic and institutional foundations of journalism. At the macro level, it interrogates the legal and regulatory frameworks governing AI and journalism, comparing developments in China with those in the US and EU to understand cross-national institutional dynamics and normative shifts.

The research highlights a trajectory from institutional adaptability to reinstitutionalisation, showing how the traditional norms of journalism are reconfigured by both market-driven platform logic and state-led political imperatives. The Chinese case, while shaped by its unique media system and historical entanglements, offers insight into broader global tensions between technological innovation, media autonomy, and institutional control. By integrating journalism studies, science and technology studies (STS), political economy, and legal analysis, this dissertation contributes to a transdisciplinary understanding of AI’s impact on the future of journalism.

AI, News, and the State: Reinstitutionalising Journalism in Global China’s Algorithmic Age explores global power shifts and institutional struggles arising from AI’s integration into news production and distribution, with a focus on China and comparative insights from the US and EU. Bridging journalism studies, science and technology studies (STS), political economy, and legal analysis, this dissertation examines how AI is embedded in journalistic practices, media governance, and legal frameworks across divergent political systems. Adopting a critical political economy perspective, the work investigates how AI reconfigures power dynamics between media actors, tech firms, and the state. Focusing on journalism labour, media texts, platformisation, and copyright regimes, it analyses the adaptation of journalists to AI tools and the global race to govern generative technologies. This study provides a multi-level critique of journalism’s reinstitutionalisation under algorithmic conditions, shedding light on its implications for editorial autonomy, democratic values, and public accountability. It provides critical insights for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers seeking to understand the intersections of media, technology, and power in the algorithmic age.