President Xi Jinping talks with villagers from Chixi village in Ningde city, East China's Fujian province, at People's Daily studio on Feb 19, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

"The core of news reporting is the people. Positive reporting should also focus on them," said Long Min, a reporter with the China News Service southeast China's Fujian Province branch.

Long said that reporters should profile ordinary people and their "true and touching deeds."

Positive reporting does not mean avoiding problems, said Tang Ji, a senior reporter with Xinhua's Inner Mongolia branch. Tang covered the wrongful conviction of an 18-year-old man named Huugjilt who was found guilty of rape and murder and executed in 1996. His reports contributed to the conviction being quashed.

As the president noted, public supervision and positive publicity are two compatible functions of media outlets, reporters should be good at finding and exposing problems and pushing society to improve, Tang said.

Reporters were inspired and encouraged by Xi's visit to the media outlets and his acknowledgement of their diligence.

During the media tour, Xi also stressed that journalists should make more in-depth investigative reports in grass-roots communities.

At Xinhua News Agency, Xi talked with a correspondent reporting from a village in Lankao County, Henan Province via Xinhua's remote news reporting command system.

Xi asked the correspondent how local people saw the work style of cadres. Xi said that reporting work styles of grassroots cadres is quite meaningful as the information gathered could help the central authorities to prescribe tailored measures to improve work styles.