Liu Xuezhou, The Beijing News and the Difficulty of Media Criticism

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The suicide of Liu Xuezhou, a young man looking for his relatives, is a huge tragedy - not only his personal tragedy, but also a social tragedy. As Yinuo wrote :

"Liu Xuezhou has gone to a dead end step by step, which is caused by a series of major illegal and invasive incidents that harm individuals. People buying and selling, lack of guardians without guardianship, molestation of minors, long-term bullying, large-scale cyber violence, suicide Tendency is not interfered with ... even if there is even one step in this, with the protection of the law and the intervention of society, this tragedy may not have happened."

In this systemic tragedy, some people have found a convenient "murderer": The Beijing News. Many people on the Internet said that the "Beijing News" killed Liu Xuezhou.

At the factual level, such an assertion needs more evidence to support: Was there no cyber-violence before the Beijing News' interview and report on the biological mother? Did the person who carried out cyber violence against Liu really started the violence after reading the report of the "Beijing News"? In the current criticism of The Beijing News, I have yet to see the existence of such evidence.

In terms of value, criticism and supervision of the "Beijing News" report is warranted, and the professional operation and ethical standards of the report are definitely worthy of review. However, I would like to remind you of three points.

First, criticism of the "Beijing News" report should not obscure the discussion of systemic issues. If you simply blame the guilt on a media, instead of reflecting on how Liu Xuezhou encountered so many hardships in his short life, why no one can intervene and help, why ordinary people are so malicious, and the platform is How to promote and amplify these malicious, then we are powerless to prevent the next tragedy from happening.

Second, we have to distinguish between "anti-media" forces and normal "media criticism." The standard of distinction is simple: the former is mainly to pursue traffic or other interests, the latter is mainly to participate in and contribute to public discussions; the former hopes that the media will die, and the latter hopes that the media will face up to and correct the problem; the solution that the former can propose is to kill the media, Stigmatized journalists have a more unified public opinion field, and the latter want more diverse and healthy voices.

Some marketing accounts and big Vs that attacked the Beijing News in the past two days can be classified as "anti-media", such as the "Hertz Lab" that once washed the manuscripts of Sichuan University Student Media . Their articles are directed at emotions and traffic, in the name of justice, and demonstrate ugly gestures.

Third, we should ponder: How did the problems reported by The Beijing News arise, and was it because the editors and reporters were "unscrupulous"? Blame it on personal qualities and abilities is the easiest and laziest way, and one that doesn't adequately capture reality. Why did a traditional paper media focus on social media and short videos? In the process of making short videos, why are you eager to broadcast unilateral claims? Today, when social media and short videos firmly control traffic, do we really have the soil to support the ideal full, in-depth, slow-step reporting? To put it more harshly, some people who are scolding the "Beijing News" online today, if there is really an in-depth report in front of them, will they read it?

This is not to defend the editors and reporters of The Beijing News. They should have higher professional pursuits and should reflect on the issue of reporting. But we all know: relying on personal will quality is unreliable, and our media needs better support conditions. It can even be said that they need a redemption, because they have been completely alienated in the world of social media platforms. The report on Liu Xuezhou is a concrete manifestation of alienation.

And this kind of support and redemption cannot be accomplished by labeling the media as "unscrupulous" and "murderers".

From my experience working in print media, what I know is that the best time for business discussion and criticism of a newspaper is when the newspaper has the most resources and the strongest troops. And when a media is exhausted and precarious, no one will have the energy to reflect on business problems and improve business levels.

Likewise, in an age when the media is at its best, "media criticism" can also be done best, and we can safely play woodpeckers and beat the tree straighter. But nowadays, it is very difficult to criticize the media, because the media is already poor and weak, surrounded by evil enemies, and anti-media voices are roaring. Does anyone still hear what we say? After hearing this, does the media really have the energy to reflect and improve?

Finally, I would like to add that in the tragedy of Liu Xuezhou, we need to pay more attention to the role of the platform. On the one hand, the many designs of the platform are objectively convenient, accommodating, and even encouraging the behavior of cyberbullyers, and promote the formation of cyberbullying culture. On the other hand, compared with the media, platform companies have strong financial resources (in fact, the decline of the media is directly related to the prosperity of the platform), and should be in a position where they can better criticize and reflect.

I myself have experienced cyberbullying. At that time, I asked the staff of Station B for help and asked if I could temporarily turn off the comment area and barrage of my video. The answer I got was: No, you can report it manually one by one. In the face of overwhelming attacks, of course, if I clicked "Report" and got a cramp in my hand, I could only finish a drop in the bucket. I think the despair I faced at that time was only a drop in the bucket compared to Liu Xuezhou, but that despair was enough to be unforgettable.

(This article is the 46th issue of NewsLab's free newsletter.Click here to subscribe to the NewsLab newsletter for free.)