Article,
Stories of bad journalism
danwei.org, (20071107)
Abstract
Zeng Pengyu, managing editor at Beijing Youth Daily, writes in a recent
blog post of some experiences he's had with reporters who aren't
as conscientious as they could be:
Sketchy Reporters
by Zeng Pengyu
In the past I found it pretty hard to stomach other people saying
bad things about reporters: I thought that it was no different from
them saying things about me. So I'd often get into arguments. But
later, when I encountered some of my colleagues while wearing a different
hat, I gradually discovered that there really are lots of sketchy
individuals and affairs in this profession.
A few days ago, a large quantity of everyday garbage was for some
unknown reason dumped at on the grass at the entrance to our community.
No one know who dumped it at the gate or at what time it was dumped,
and the writing on the packing material and torn plastic bags was
all in a foreign language. Everyone was extremely puzzled. While
looking for the sanitation people, someone probably called up a newspaper
tip line.
That was when I came home, where I found lots of people surrounding
the gate, so I went up to have a look. I saw an old woman from the
community being interviewed by a certain newspaper. The young reporter,
who looked about 24 or 25, asked the old woman, "When did you find
this pile of garbage?" The old woman said, "I go out for a walk every
day, and today when I went out I saw it. There was this pile of garbage
on the nice green space, really affecting the environment. Usually
there's a sanitation truck that goes by here...."
The reporter asked, "So then you gave the government a call?" The
old woman paused. "No, I didn't make any calls. I just thought it
was odd...." The reporter said, "If you didn't call the government,
then how do you know that this pile of garbage wasn't dumped here
by the sanitation department on purpose..." The old woman began to
be less sure of herself: "....it's not really clear. But who in their
right mind would dump garbage here...."
After exchanging a few more words, the reporter left without even
entering the community. Afterward, I began to pay attention to that
newspaper; on the third day, I noticed the report. The headline read,
"Foreign Garbage Stuns City," and the text went along these lines:
"...The sudden appearance of a pile of foreign garbage in a neighborhood
near Chaoyang Park caught the attention of most residents. One old
woman who often goes out for walks told the reporter that she usually
sees sanitation trucks pass by, but she wasn't sure why the sanitation
department had not taken away this pile of foreign garbage...."
I read the article twice, but I couldn't figure out what the reporter
was saying, or where the foreign garbage had come from, or why it
had appeared at the gate of the community—why had the reporter even
gone there? He left without finding out anything, and then wrote
an article in which nothing was clear....
In the evening, Beijing TV broadcast the same news item. It turned
out that the sanitation department had been clearing out everyday
garbage from the Dongzhimen embassy district that evening, and on
its way to the disposal plant, it had gotten into an accident at
the gate to the community; the garbage had fallen out onto the roadside.
The crashed truck had been towed away, but the sanitation department
was temporarily unable to sent any other truck over to haul away
the garbage. It had to leave it at the side of the road, but it also
left a notice. The notice board was later removed by some unknown
person, and as a result, the residents argued over it....two minutes
of news cleared up the whole matter. After I watched it I thought
really must be easy being a reporter for that newspaper. You can
earn your work points without thinking or making any effort. Heh,
there'll eventually be trouble if things go on like that.
But reporters are people, too. Reporters have the same sorts of bad
habits that common people have, like laziness, taking shortcuts,
showing off, and so forth. When they are exposed, it becomes a joke.
In 2001, shortly after Beijing's successful Olympics bid, the Universiade
was held in Beijing. At the time, I was pulled to be a reporter at
the games. Not long after the opening ceremony, the American delegation
and the Universiade committee held a press conference. Because there
were many officials there from the American sports world, the host
introduced them in English. Let me say in passing that the host,
W, who was already older than sixty at the time, had excellent English.
He was one of the officials tapped for the Olympics bid.
Afterward he opened the floor to questions. Typically, a large-scale
session of this sort would have simultaneous translation; questions
can be asked in one's mother tongue, and after they are translated
the opposite party can respond immediately. You'll hear the Chinese
version of the answer in your earphones. So the first few questions
went very smoothly. Then one young man stood up and, very pleased
with himself, gave his introduction in English: "I am a reporter
with XX, my question is..." and then he asked his question in English.
Listeners could tell that he had majored in English, but perhaps
because he was nervous—that day's press conference was held in the
main hall and had a large attendance—the more he spoke the more confused
I became. At the end, I had no idea what he was trying to say.
I expect that the people sitting around me had the same impression.
People became restless. The guy probably wanted to show off a little,
but then got confused; the more confused he was, the more jumbled
his words became. He spoke for at least a minute, but no one knew
what it was he was asking.
Finally W, the moderator, could no longer take it and cut him off:
"Could you ask your question in Chinese?" The reporter's face turned
red, but he still tried to continue in English. W cut him off again,
this time not as politely: "I'm sorry, I see that you have a decent
level of English, but we want to understand your question. Please
ask it in Chinese."
The guy had to switch to Chinese, and in two seconds we understood
what he meant.
Even though many years have passed, I still recall that episode. Everyone
has their strengths, but every profession has its peculiarities.
Sometimes, when you substitute your strengths for those peculiarities,
they can easily become deficiencies.
The past two years I haven't worked as a reporter, but I have gained
a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the profession. I
also frequently run across slightly sketchy affairs. For example,
I've been interviewed by a number of media outlets in regard to financial
topics, two of which made a particular impression on me. One was
a young woman who had just entered the profession. She took vacation
time to travel from far off to do an interview. She was fully prepared
and the resulting article was clear and understandable. The second
was also a young woman who had found me through someone else. She
arranged a time but then didn't follow up. Later, I found her online,
and she said that she had seen my blog, which she felt had all the
information she needed for an "interview." No need to meet in person;
she could just write up an article from the material on the blog.
I thought it over and then agreed, with the one request that she let
me read the manuscript after she finished it. When the manuscript
arrived, although it was all taken from blog posts, although it had
been edited to look like a face-to-face interview, and although there
were no errors, to a reader it seemed like it was lacking something—there
was no spark.
Later, I grew to understand why certain interview subjects have such
a poor impression of reporters. Bait-and-switch tactics and lack
of preparation occur quite frequently in this profession, and many
people feel that those are the keys to success. But they actually
show disrespect to others and an underestimation of oneself. I predict
that those two young women will travel utterly different roads in
the future.
Links and Sources
Zeng Pengyu's blog (Chinese): Sketchy Journalists
http://xiaofeidao.bokee.com/6508449.html
