Relevance or Accuracy? The Importance of Relevance in News Worthwhileness on the Chinese Platform Douyin

This study investigates how users of Douyin, China’s leading short-form video platform, perceive the worthwhileness of news content, with a focus on the role of perceived relevance and its implications for journalistic accuracy. Drawing on 35 in-depth interviews and a survey of 1,025 adults in Guangzhou, this study identifies five key aspects of relevance-based news worthwhileness: users often judge the value of news based on how well it aligns with their identities (personal relevance), emotions (emotional relevance), daily needs (practical relevance), social relationships (social relevance), or civic responsibilities (civic relevance). Findings show that perceived relevance often operates as a dominant evaluative heuristic in everyday news judgment, particularly in low-attention and high-velocity media contexts, where it frequently conflicts with journalistic standards of accuracy. While various dimensions of news relevance help explain how news is evaluated, they may lower the threshold for critical scrutiny, thereby challenging journalism’s commitment to accuracy.