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Home » Opinion » Book review
On red envelopes, junkets, and freebies worldwide
By Wan Lixin |
April 25, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TO characterize Chinese journalists as a whole is a challenge: there are journalists and then there are journalists.
The best still believe in the redeeming power of the press to change the world, or at least make a positive difference, but some never see beyond the magic red envelopes.
One of my colleagues who recently returned from a press tour in a nearby city observed that he struck some journalists from other media as being particularly genial and polite.
He had been steeped in the trade for over 10 years and had seen quite a bit of the world, but he was appalled at the pragmatism and vulgarity of some journalists.
Some of the most resourceful know how to trade favorable press coverage for official favors and connections, while the average reporters are busy attending press conferences.
A few years ago, I shared a taxi with a veteran Shanghai reporter. He took out a few red envelopes, made a tally of the day's collection, and said "not bad."
A colleague told me a few years ago that a group of local reporters grew mutinous at a sponsored feast after condemning what was contained in the red envelopes as substandard.
If you know how much of today's news reports are financed by red envelopes, junkets, press releases, or sponsorships, it's difficult to avoid being cynical.
Samuel Freedman paints a similarly depressing picture of the situation in America, where scandals of plagiarism, fabrication or favoritism often emerge.
Freedman concludes in his "Letters to a Young Journalist" that American journalism faces a crisis of self-confidence and of public credibility.
As a former journalist and author of several books, Freedman subjects the once-venerated craft to relentless critique, and prescribes a remedy.
His indictment is based on his belief that like the priesthood, journalism ought to be a noble, moral calling in this murky and disordered world.
"If anything, in the clutter and clamor of a digitized, globalized world, in the confusion between fact and opinion, in the blurring of information and entertainment, and in the shift from edification to advocacy, we journalists have never been more essential," Freedman observes.
He is less articulate in pinpointing some of the forces that make him nostalgic about the 1970s when journalism students were fired by idealism and a sense of mission.
He does point out that media mogul Rupert Murdoch offers a particularly pernicious example in using the press to promote an agenda, as well as the Bush administration's practice of paying journalists for commentaries that were presented as unbiased.
But he could have gone further in explaining these phenomena.
In a world driven solely by capital (as exemplified by moguls), the press is just another kind of business that is expected to turn a profit.
And profits are mostly generated when the press is prostituted to the service of other business clients.
Dwindling advertising revenues and competition force some media to make obeisance to the market.
This situation does not usually encourage the cultivation and retention of "humanity," which Freedman believes to be essential to a moral journalist.
As a matter of fact, journalists are fleeing the field for business schools.
But for those who still regard journalism as a meaningful trade, Freedman offers some tips on how to keep your moral compass.
"You must approach the world in your own way, deaf to cant, immune to spin, and, perhaps most importantly, immune to your colleagues and competitors," Freedman says.
But being fair and objective is not easy.
Just as statistics are often used to conceal the truth, beneath the facade of objectivity there are often excuses and hidden agendas.
Reporters should avoid being a stenographer, and seek to look beyond the obvious.
The author warns against over-reliance on online resources.
"There was history before Nexis, and there is research beyond Google," he says.
In this age of instant copying and transmission, original work is more prized.
"Intellectual curiosity, vigorous research, acute analysis and elegant prose will never go out of style. If anything, the shorter supply, the more those traits will be valued," he concludes.
The best still believe in the redeeming power of the press to change the world, or at least make a positive difference, but some never see beyond the magic red envelopes.
One of my colleagues who recently returned from a press tour in a nearby city observed that he struck some journalists from other media as being particularly genial and polite.
He had been steeped in the trade for over 10 years and had seen quite a bit of the world, but he was appalled at the pragmatism and vulgarity of some journalists.
Some of the most resourceful know how to trade favorable press coverage for official favors and connections, while the average reporters are busy attending press conferences.
A few years ago, I shared a taxi with a veteran Shanghai reporter. He took out a few red envelopes, made a tally of the day's collection, and said "not bad."
A colleague told me a few years ago that a group of local reporters grew mutinous at a sponsored feast after condemning what was contained in the red envelopes as substandard.
If you know how much of today's news reports are financed by red envelopes, junkets, press releases, or sponsorships, it's difficult to avoid being cynical.
Samuel Freedman paints a similarly depressing picture of the situation in America, where scandals of plagiarism, fabrication or favoritism often emerge.
Freedman concludes in his "Letters to a Young Journalist" that American journalism faces a crisis of self-confidence and of public credibility.
As a former journalist and author of several books, Freedman subjects the once-venerated craft to relentless critique, and prescribes a remedy.
His indictment is based on his belief that like the priesthood, journalism ought to be a noble, moral calling in this murky and disordered world.
"If anything, in the clutter and clamor of a digitized, globalized world, in the confusion between fact and opinion, in the blurring of information and entertainment, and in the shift from edification to advocacy, we journalists have never been more essential," Freedman observes.
He is less articulate in pinpointing some of the forces that make him nostalgic about the 1970s when journalism students were fired by idealism and a sense of mission.
He does point out that media mogul Rupert Murdoch offers a particularly pernicious example in using the press to promote an agenda, as well as the Bush administration's practice of paying journalists for commentaries that were presented as unbiased.
But he could have gone further in explaining these phenomena.
In a world driven solely by capital (as exemplified by moguls), the press is just another kind of business that is expected to turn a profit.
And profits are mostly generated when the press is prostituted to the service of other business clients.
Dwindling advertising revenues and competition force some media to make obeisance to the market.
This situation does not usually encourage the cultivation and retention of "humanity," which Freedman believes to be essential to a moral journalist.
As a matter of fact, journalists are fleeing the field for business schools.
But for those who still regard journalism as a meaningful trade, Freedman offers some tips on how to keep your moral compass.
"You must approach the world in your own way, deaf to cant, immune to spin, and, perhaps most importantly, immune to your colleagues and competitors," Freedman says.
But being fair and objective is not easy.
Just as statistics are often used to conceal the truth, beneath the facade of objectivity there are often excuses and hidden agendas.
Reporters should avoid being a stenographer, and seek to look beyond the obvious.
The author warns against over-reliance on online resources.
"There was history before Nexis, and there is research beyond Google," he says.
In this age of instant copying and transmission, original work is more prized.
"Intellectual curiosity, vigorous research, acute analysis and elegant prose will never go out of style. If anything, the shorter supply, the more those traits will be valued," he concludes.
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