Knotting丨June: Why did you study journalism? (2023, total issue 12)

A former colleague, Yu Shan, told me that after discussing with her supervisor recently, she decided to give up the master's degree in journalism that she was about to obtain. This is her last chance to postpone her graduation, but the writing of the thesis is still inexplicably "stuck". Just give up, she pushed herself in her heart.

Why did you study journalism in the first place? Yushan's response is to change society.

Her journalism ambition was formed before she went to university, and her undergraduate major was misplaced, which made her want to take the postgraduate entrance examination across majors anyway. Naturally, she saw the gap - if the media wants to support itself, it has to make compromises; once it cannot report freely, how can it change society? And as a foothold to change society, you have to survive first-it's like a "catch-22".

Facing unexplainable frustration, Yushan left the media industry. Although another former colleague, A Cai, was still on the field, he also seemed a little weak. When I chatted with her, Ah Cai was working overtime, catching up with the classwork that was due that week. I asked her about her media complex, and she said with half hesitation that she probably wanted to meet different people.

Recalling, Ah Cai confidently brought her printed anthology with her when she was just looking for a job interview. Now, the homework of graduate students has become an irritable burden.

I think it's hard for us to relax. In June, with the end of the college entrance examination, controversy arose over whether to read news or not. Some opinions advise that a journalism major will kill you. However, I still miss the series of experiments in college, doing topical readings, public lectures, and writing practice. I don't regret that the ignorant good love brought me to the current situation.

However, it also needs to be realized that some people cannot relax from the beginning. A few days ago, my family suddenly sent me my cousin's grades, calling me the only "highly educated" in the small group in a sense, to help me see which school and major to choose. They may also believe that the college entrance examination is the most important thing. After the exam, this title will be passed on to the application form. If there is a slight mistake, life is hopeless.

Perhaps the news is to blame. The convenience of technology has objectively contributed to the flood of information, good and bad. People are like being placed in front of a screen, and they have to know three secrets of success from business celebrities a day.

If information is the basis of choice and action, I wishfully believe that I am still working hard to make this society a better place. Therefore, "Knotting the Rope" in June will mainly discuss the connotation of choosing a journalism major, focusing on how the BBC and other media expose crimes and the truth, and how our education has become a pure tool for making a living.

discuss

01丨Would rather stun people than choose news?

Zhang Xuefeng, who is engaged in postgraduate entrance examination-related work, became the target of media attention in June because of his speech in response to professional consultation on applying for the entrance examination.

According to the video released in January by the account "Yantu-Zhang Xuefeng Lectures for College Students", after hearing the consultant say that his child wants to apply for the journalism major, Zhang Xuefeng was very surprised and said that he must "hold on" (the child), even if "closed" "Eyes" is better than learning journalism. He assumed the role of the parent, claiming that if he encountered this situation, he would beat the child unconscious, and then apply for other majors. [1]

Probably near the announcement of the college entrance examination results, this video caused widespread dissemination. But it should be noted that the content of less than two minutes has obviously been edited. In other words, Zhang Xuefeng's statement may contain a more precise context.

On June 19, Zhang Xuefeng’s agent told reporters that Zhang Xuefeng’s remarks in the live broadcast room were only aimed at the questions of individual candidates’ parents, based on the comprehensive consideration of the candidates’ college entrance examination scores and family needs, “It’s not that everyone is not suitable for journalism , and it’s not that journalism is worthless.” [2]

However, we can still regard the choice supported by Zhang Xuefeng as a general topic to discuss what it means to study journalism today.

In an interview with "China News Weekly", Zhang Xuefeng believed that 80% of the students who study journalism and communication are not engaged in this industry. It is from the media. This change means that it is more difficult for graduates to find jobs. [3]

Think tank researcher Yuan Gangong also held negative views on young people learning journalism. In an article, Yuan Gangong proposed three criteria to measure the quality of professional prospects, namely, the employment rate of counterparts, the quality of employment of counterparts, and the total employment rate. The more suitable a major is, the higher the income level, and the stronger the compatibility, the more conducive it is to employment-the "poor" news communication in all three aspects is obviously not the best choice. [4]

Zhang Xiaoqiang, a professor of journalism and communication at Chongqing University, rebutted. He pointed out that "news can be civil and military", and the employment prospects are all walks of life in society. "You can start your own business if you enter, go to a large Internet company, retire to be a civil servant, and go to a state-owned enterprise." Zhang Xiaoqiang also gave examples of the graduate students he taught, and they all seemed to get good jobs. [5]

In all fairness, Zhang Xiaoqiang's example is not convincing due to the lack of quantitative analysis.

A survey on brain drain in traditional media conducted by Wu Xianghan and Zhang Hongguang in 2020 showed that 87.35% of the respondents attributed the main reason to "limited development space", and 77.71% regarded "low income" as an important reason. [6]

Compared with the above-mentioned conclusion of only 332 valid samples, at the end of 2021, Netease Digital Reading collected 10,620 data on the enrollment ratio (the ratio of the number of applicants to the number of admitted students) from 41 colleges and universities of different levels in the past three years and found that journalism and communication disciplines The competitive pressure of the postgraduate entrance examination is also not small. To put it simply, the average enrollment ratio of journalism and communication majors in these 41 colleges and universities is twice the average enrollment ratio of all majors, and only 1 out of 14 students will be admitted. [7]

As a result, the news media has fallen into a rather paradoxical situation: on the one hand, it is difficult to apply for the exam; on the other hand, the employment situation of the counterparts is poor. So, what is the significance of choosing this major?

Reporter Du Qiang wrote his own answer —the most important thing left by four years of journalism education is the longing for a personality. He admitted his sense of superiority after graduating from the Journalism School of Renmin University of China, and also witnessed the respected ability and quality of media colleagues in his practice. It is a pity that at present, behind the "Zhang Xuefeng" is "an uncool generation, who dare not dream, cannot dream, and is forced to retreat into its own world". [8]

Similar to Du Qiang's feelings, Wang Tianding, a professor at the School of Literature and Journalism at Ocean University of China,believes that "a good journalism education can become a kind of quality", and even in practice, it can "broaden your career choices."

Wang Tianding recalled that the well-known musician Guo Xiaohan was his student, graduated into the media industry, and later became an independent music manager. Guo Xiaohan told him that journalism education allowed him to "learn to observe and ask questions of the world". Wang Tianding believes that the observation, communication, analysis, and presentation skills of professional learning and practical training can help journalism students "show unique competitiveness in other fields other than the media." [9]

The Paper organized an online dialogue on June 20 to discuss the "tiankeng" controversy in journalism . In his speech, Zou Zhendong, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Xiamen University, tried to dispel the so-called "counterpart theory".

Zou Zhendong raised such a question: If you only consider employment, there are many trainings in the society, such as excavators and chefs. It may only take a few months to get a job, so why is it necessary to take the college entrance examination? The reason why we study further often points to longer-term career development. In this context, there is no need to be too obsessed with the direct comparison between majors and employment. Many jobs in the realization do not have corresponding university majors.

Another guest speaker, Zhang Fen, a professor at the School of Journalism at Fudan University, reiterated the idealism of the major from the perspective of "dissuading" students who want to study journalism.

In Zhang Fen's view, China does not need so many journalism majors, because most colleges and universities are not doing education related to real news. In contrast, China does not need so many journalism students, because most of them are not ready to take on the public responsibility as a media person, especially in the domestic environment, and those who can devote themselves to this are destined to be elite few. [10]

Why do the most talented people in society, who should have the most public responsibility, have many question marks and indifference towards the journalism profession? "The Question of Zhang Fen" resonated with Peng Yuanwen, a media person.

Peng Yuanwen, who lamented that "journalism should be the best major in the world" , commented : "Journalism is a major and doing real news is a particularly valuable choice today, because you choose to face power directly." I want to remind that this kind of The impact of power is not just a literal "reduction of media coverage space", it actually happens around the public. [11]

On June 1, the Bijie Municipal People's Government announced the results of the investigation into the incident of Jimu journalists being beaten during their interviews. According to the report , on May 30, Li Moumou used his mobile phone to take pictures of the vehicle following him, and then communicated with Xiong Moumou and others in the following vehicle. Li Moumou's face and other soft tissues were contused, and his mobile phone, glasses and other items were damaged. [12]

What is worth pondering is that this report uses ambiguous expressions, skips some details of the incident, and continues with commonplace phrases such as "drawing inferences from one instance" and "practical actions".

Citing the victim'sself-report in the elephant news telephone interview, Xiong and others first scolded Li who came forward to inquire, and then beat him. Not long after Xiong and others left, they turned back and wiped the door handle of Li's car that they had pulled with a piece of cloth. Among Xiong and others, one was Li who had been interrogated during the interview before. [13]

Examining the notification itself, China Industry Network raised some issues that need to be discussed:

For one thing, the purpose of the reporter's visit was to follow up and report on the "drowning of two teachers caused by the release of water from the hydropower station". ... Then, what kind of relationship is there between the reporter's beating and the incidents he covered? ...

Three,...the report did not mention the event itself that the journalist who was beaten was going to follow up and interview. Does the "practical action" here also include the investigation and handling of the incident of "two teachers drowned due to water release from the hydropower station"? [14]

But a month later, the appeal that "the notification from the Bijie City Government cannot be completed" seems to have finally come to an end. We are ushering in an "informed age" of journalism.

On March 21, 2022, China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 crashed, killing all 132 people on board. On April 20 of the same year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a preliminary accident investigation report , which contained only the expected basic information. On March 20, 2023, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a progress report , stating that "the investigation is still in-depth" and that "relevant information will be released in a timely manner according to the progress of the investigation." [15][16]

Also on March 24 this year, regarding the suspected corruption of family members involved in the online speech of "Arctic Catfish", the Shenzhen Municipal Transportation Bureauclaimed that it had launched an investigation and would "notify" the situation in a timely manner. Three months later, the relevant follow-up has not yet been disclosed. [17]

The reversal of the "rat head and duck neck" incident may be regarded as one of the few breakthroughs in media supervision.

On June 1, a video about "rat heads eaten in college meals in Jiangxi" attracted attention. On June 3, Jiangxi Industrial Vocational and Technical College, a university involved, notified that the foreign object was a duck neck. In the report of Jiangxi Radio and Television Station, Jiang Xiexue, Director of Changdong Branch of Nanchang High-tech Zone Market Supervision Bureau, confirmed that the foreign object was a duck neck. Under the repeated doubts of public opinion, on June 10, the joint investigation team of "Jiangxi Vocational College '6.1' Food Safety Incident" was established, and on June 17, it overturned the above conclusion, "It was determined that the foreign object was the head of a rodent. ". [18]

Then what? Let me ask again, "the truth is revealed", then what?

Jiangxi Industrial Vocational and Technical College has deleted the notice in black and white. There is no report on what kind of force made the student "clarify the content of the video." Our future rests on "severely dealing with Jiangxi industrial Vocational and Technical College, Nanchang High-tech Zone Market Supervision Bureau Changdong Branch and other relevant responsible units” in the notification commitment.

Not to mention reports, even the scope of social expression is enough to make people pessimistic.

In early June, a teacher showed students a picture of a mouse and called it a duck to see who would object. The teacher told the students, "In the face of obvious mistakes, we must have the courage to point out this matter and delve into this matter." Not long after, the related video was deleted. [19]

From a certain point of view, perhaps only Zhang Xuefeng's "communication theory" - that news communication has more attributes in the current era - is safe and correct.

This is not only reflected in the fact that "a professor who teaches news communication in a 985 college" (Zhang Xiaoqiang)'s self-media account "number of fans and traffic" is not as good as that of Zhang Xuefeng. What is the market prospect : Among the popular headlines, there is no content that is not "heavy", and there is no announcement that is not "just". [20]

However, I still want to jump out of the framework of income and reading, and quote the famous journalist Joseph Pulitzer to describe the responsibilities of journalists: "If a country is a ship sailing on the sea, the journalists are the speakers at the bow. Watcher. He will observe everything on the endless sea, scan the unpredictable winds and clouds, shallow and hidden reefs at sea, and issue timely warnings."

A little explanation is needed. I don’t intend to encourage readers to dedicate themselves to some kind of feelings. It is really important to ensure that they survive. After all, no one wants to become the protagonist of such stories as “ the 38-year-old former media person failed to transform and has nowhere to find a job ” one day. [twenty one]

Rather, this is a deliberate detour to return to the topic of discussion.

We have gone through the many situations of being a media person today. Among them, the income of the news profession is not satisfactory, personal safety is threatened, and the heart may often fall into "restraint and a high probability of mediocre response" and "exaggeration and easy breakthrough of 100,000 readings". Pulling... after all you've seen, are you still interested in journalism?

This questioning style can also be used in other fields of knowledge seeking. As the media person Liang Wendao said when he introduced the important speech of Max Weber " Academia as a Vocation ", "A real scholar and a real scholar should know that what you are doing is something more than You want something bigger.” [22]

focus on

01丨BBC: People who sell sexual assault candid videos

In Japanese, the term "mole" is used to refer to sexual assault in public places, and also to describe the perpetrator of the obscene act. These assaulted victims may appear in videos, which are often sold online.

On June 8, the BBC international channel investigation team "BBC Eye" released a report, exposing the behind-the-scenes manipulators who profited through sexual violence. Based on more than a year of investigation, "BBC Eye" finally produced a documentary about 50 minutes long, titled " Tracking the 'Moron': Who Is Selling Secret Videos of Sexual Assault ".

This documentary revolves around the tracking of "Can't Stand", "Street Shooting" and "Moron Club" websites. The three related sites are filled with a large number of secretly shot videos on subways and buses, filmed in Japan, South Korea, and China, and most of the films are from mainland China.

The Chinese who goes by the pseudonym "Mao Mao" claims that he manages a team of 15 people, 10 of whom make videos in China under the name "Uncle Qi". Every month, "Cat" receives 30 to 100 clips from them. Two other Chinese nationals, Noctis and Lupus, both worked as administrators for the sites. [twenty three]

The investigation ended with questioning and condemnation of "cat" and others. During the interview, reporters Feng Zhaoyin and Chen Shanshan who participated in the filming responded to questions such as why they did not call the police directly. In short, the accused has the right to respond, which involves journalistic ethics; while arresting criminals is the job of the police, journalists are usually only responsible for exposing crimes, and too close cooperation with the police will damage the credibility of the media. [twenty four]

After the documentary was released, the topic of "BBC undercover reporter uncovers a gang operating sneaky videos" briefly appeared on Weibo. But soon, the content of the topic was not displayed . [25]

02丨What is the impact of the discharge of Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the sea?

If the discharged water is safe, why doesn't Japan discharge it domestically? If the waste water is okay, why don't the Japanese dare to drink it?

Similar statements are full of discussions on the Chinese Internet about the discharge of waste water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean. In June, Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company tried to run the equipment for discharging nuclear contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea, which aroused strong condemnation.

On March 11, 2011, a major earthquake occurred in Japan, causing a leak at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. After 10 years of hoarding nuclear wastewater, in April 2021, the Japanese government held a meeting and decided to use more than 30 years to treat the nuclear wastewater close to the storage limit and discharge it into the ocean. On June 22, an article published by Nature explained from the perspective of scientists that the risks brought about by the discharge of nuclear wastewater are controllable. [26]

However, many professionals expressed doubts. Science is of course debatable. The question is, can the public clarify the facts of the issues it focuses on? A few in-depth articles that are not from professional media pointed out confusing information, such as equating past nuclear leaks with nuclear wastewater to be discharged today (some professional media made mistakes instead). [27]

Fact-checking reporting in China is still a minority. As far as the dimension of traceable source hyperlinks is concerned, I have seen several recent reports that are relatively readable outside mainland China, such as those published by Asia Fact Check Lab and MyGoPen . [28][29]

03丨Zheng Yajun: The Mystery of Differentiation in the Future of University

If you study hard, you can be admitted to university, and you can find a good job after you go to university—this may have been the life logic of the post-90s and post-00s groups, but it is a struggle that will be falsified with a high probability creed. With the expansion of enrollment in colleges and universities, the "depreciation of academic qualifications" has become a cliché, and the impact of going to college on class mobility seems to be weakening day by day.

In January of this year, "After the Gold List Title: The Mystery of the Differentiation of College Students' Future" received a lot of attention as soon as it was published. Zheng Yajun, a scholar born in the 1990s, tries to understand why college students of different classes are becoming more and more differentiated. On June 8, the "Beijing News" published an interview , and talked with Zheng Yajun about some related topics.

Zheng Yajun proposed the concept of "cultural toolbox" in the book to describe the cultural capital that college students use to set goals for their own way out. Children from advantaged families tend to take the initiative to deal with university affairs in the "goal-control mode"; students from the bottom tend to be in the "intuition-dependent mode", and they "are more likely to follow others or be at a loss".

At the same time, Zheng Yajun reminded that the aforementioned distinction is not clear-cut. In fact, as far as everyone is concerned, finding the "map" of oneself during college is the most important and not easy thing. She also hopes that social evaluations will be more inclusive, for example, not to directly associate the "goal mastery model" with "exquisite egoists". Behind these choices, there are many other reasons behind them. If the society favors the rich, it is difficult for us to criticize why college students want to be celebrities instead of social workers.

In response to differentiation, Zheng Yajun emphasized the need to rebuild the self, a process that relies on mobilizing one's own intellectual resources and knowledge. Students at the bottom who lack advantages can go back to their growth experience and reconnect their past and present life together, which will help to establish a positive cycle. [30]

Zheng Yajun also gave suggestions for improvement on a more grand level. However, some content was criticized by readers. A book review published on Douban lists in detail the shortcomings of the book based on Zheng Yajun's master's thesis, including the selection of interview samples and research ethics. [31]

04丨The high school entrance examination is the selection that determines success or failure?

In addition to students taking the college entrance examination, in June, younger junior high school students are also facing their own important node, the high school entrance examination. In fact, in recent years, there has been a saying among parents that the importance of the high school entrance examination is even higher than that of the college entrance examination.

In 2017, the Ministry of Education and other four departments jointly issued the "High School Education Popularization Plan (2017-2020)", which mentioned that "the enrollment scale of ordinary high schools and secondary vocational education is roughly the same." This goal was interpreted by the outside world as "half of the students cannot go to ordinary high schools." Although the media at the time made corresponding clarifications , the anxiety of the parents has not completely dissipated. [32]

A report published by Sixth Tone on June 26shows that there are many parents who regard the high school entrance examination as the "first exam" of students. In order to ensure that everything goes well for their children during the exam, they do not hesitate to ask for leave to accompany and take care of them.

The government has always wanted to balance higher education and vocational education, specifically, to increase the number of the latter's workforce. However, the lack of a coherent and effective policy reinforces the negative social evaluation of vocational education, making the widening of the job market mismatch more apparent.

From the data point of view, parents' concerns are not groundless. The overall admission rate of college entrance examination students has risen sharply from 58.9% in 2001 to over 90% in 2021. At the same time, the admission rate of high school entrance examination students has only increased slightly from 58.25% in 2001 to 64.92% in 2021.

The pressure of junior high school students may also come from teachers. In June, students at a middle school in Jiangxi gave up their exams under the hint of their teachers. This is speculated to be related to the increase in the enrollment rate.

Unsurprisingly, these minors faced enormous psychological pressure. In the case interviewed by Sixth Tone, a student asked his parents to buy sleeping pills. When he was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, "all he could think of was the exam questions." According to data from a study, about 15% of the 10- to 16-year-old group in China suffers from depression to varying degrees. In late March, seven teenagers in Tianjin committed suicide within five days, and several were said to be due to poor academic performance. [33]

Reference notes:

• Title image: Photo by Marc Kleen on Unsplash

• How to spot a rumor? How to verify the information? In today's information flood, such media literacy is especially necessary for the public. The domestic independent fact-checking program is "well-founded", focusing on checking international information in the Chinese-speaking world. Recently, it produced a "Fact-Checking Manual", which shows the corresponding process in detail: https://chinafactcheck.com/?p= 11465

• Out of interest, I did a news topic reading a few years ago: Book List | News is like the roar of Highbury

• Looking back at my writing attempts during college, I feel a little strange, but it is actually hard to call it a news report in the strict sense. But it is also understandable that young people in their early twenties who feel unable to control themselves after reading a few books and feel that they have found a career for life and death do not really need to expect too much. At the level of trying to find information sources and verify facts, this assignment is still readable: How do I view the "3.22" incident

• "Knotting" series email subscription and update address on Substack: https://yuliqing.substack.com

• "Knotting" series is updated in Matters: https://matters.town/@ysmwryx