Full Text: Li Datong's Memo

(3) "Outstanding fulfillment of duties in important interviews arranged by the editorial committee." Everyone knows that this is referring to classic propaganda, and mandated reports like the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conferences. Which newspaper relies on this to "increase the influence of the brand"? Why should this article enjoy status of not being subject to competition, often given a specific date of publication and important position in the paper? As to whether anyone actually read it, no one cares. (If this referred to complicated cases of watchdog journalism that require the cooperation of many people and directions from related leaders at the scene, such as the "Cao County #1 Middle School" case of fraud on the high school exam, then I wholeheartedly agree!)

(4) "Encountering relatively great risks during interview and overcoming hardship to successfully finish an assignment." Thank goodness. If this is not especially referring to car accidents, this kind of report overlaps with some watchdog journalism reports. But when taken with the above regulations it is paradoxical. Critical articles frequently rouse the ire of the leaders of monitored agencies, even their direct criticism. (The likelihood is certainly no less than 50 percent. There are also 40 percent that will be "PRed" or "shot" to death before publication.) In this case, should we give an award or "deduct points"? It goes without saying most of the time it will be the latter. Being neither rewarded nor punished would be terribly lucky! If an article receives the highest evaluation of readers and draws a reaction from society, but also receives criticism from some superior official, according to this regulation how should we deal with it? If by some act of goodwill the two set each other off, the relevant reporter and editor are still doomed to be deducted...

In this letter, I did not mean to discuss the technical issues of the regulations line-by-line. (Even though they are filled with unreasonable, impractical and inappropriate things, such as not distinguishing between a 600-700 word "news brief" and a 4000-5000 word investigative report. Many reporters and editors whose articles are all "A-level" will be necessarily unable to complete their assignments. Listing the clauses above was because they are the core and value orientation of these assessment guidelines. These clauses present a large problem: Where is the future of the China Youth Daily? Will it survive or perish?

Ever since you took a position at this paper, the sentence "We are a paper of the Party and the Communist Youth League Central organs" rang in my ears at every meeting. Our ears all grew calluses. At a section editors meeting, you even said the menacing sentence, "You should be clear about what you are doing." Perhaps in your opinion, the professional backbone of the China Youth Daily had never figured out what they were doing. They never knew that this was a paper of the Party and the Communist Youth League Central organs. Now, you want to give us an earful in class. Teaching us a class isn't enough. You want to design a set of strict "rules." Haha. It's not that I want to punish you; it's "working according to the rules."

During your speech when you first took your position at this paper, you sounded sincere when you said that the China Youth Daily was a paper with outstanding traditions, high prestige, great social influence, and a group of well-trained and high-quality editors and reporters, and that you hoped to, "quickly be integrated into this group." This was very moving to everyone, including elder editors like myself throughout the paper. We all held great hope for you. We hoped that you would quickly comprehend the strong traditions of this paper, quickly make concerted efforts with us to face competition in the market and maintain and improve the brand of the paper. But what do we see today? You are not working hard to "integrate" but rather to completely remake this newspaper. In these regulations written by you personally, the future of the China Youth Daily is already abundantly clear: It will tragically drift towards becoming another Guangming Daily, with nothing left of its social influence and its circulation falling to unbearably low numbers, half dead. That was once a paper that took the lead in the great discussion of standards of truth. In the 1980s, it was once a paper that opened people's eyes!

We are not so naïve as to think that this is a product of your personal will. It goes without saying that you are an executor, but you execute the order without any compunction, with several inventions, actively, and consolidating your moves at every step. Your goal is the rapid transformation of the China Youth Daily into the ideal institutional newspaper of the Secretariat of the Communist Youth League Central Committee. This kind of institutional newspaper has only one special characteristic: It must unconditionally create conditions for the promotion of "me". Any report that damages these conditions should be wiped out!

I came to this paper in 1979, 26 years ago. I have experienced the reform process that began with the 13th plenary session. I have personally experienced the style of the Youth League Secretaries: Comrades Hu Qili, Wang Zhaoguo, Hu Jintao, Song Defu and Li Keqiang. They all often came to the newspaper, gave speeches or walked into the editorial department to chat. When comrade Qili was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, he would come to the paper to get opinions and have an honest exchange with those of us who had spent many years doing news and propaganda work. When comrade Chen Haosu was in charge of this paper, in order to understand the entire process of printing a paper, he would work winter nights with the editors wrapped in a cotton overcoat, until the paper left the printer in the early hours of the next day. When comrade Zhaoguo took the post as the first secretary of the Communist Youth League Central Committee (I had just finished a long conversation and interview with him at the China #2 Automotive Plant) he came to the newspaper especially to see the reporters who participated in the national journalists conference. He crowded into the meeting room to charm everyone. Every New Year's Eve, comrade Jintao comes to the newspaper to see everyone and have a conversation with the department editors to get opinions. After the conference he insists on going to the cafeteria to see the kitchen staff.

During the dual meetings in the early '80s, at around five or six in the evening I got an order from the paper to immediately interview representatives from the China Youth League at the CPPCC. I was asked to submit an article by 10 pm. At this time comrade Jintao, (at the time a standing secretary of League Central) lived next door to me. I knocked and was let in to explain my reason for calling on him. Comrade Jintao suggested that I interview lower-level comrades, but I told him that the newspaper selected him for an interview. "Today, whether you want to speak or not, you will have to speak." Comrade Jintao heard this and immediately accepted the interview. He understood the special nature of journalism. At that time, I was just a common reporter who had recently entered the industry. He did not resist at all this direct request for an interview.

When the Communist Youth League Central Committee was preparing to announce the first May 4th prize, they had decided on Qin Wengui of the Xinjiang oilfields. Before this, they wanted his deeds to be well-known by all. As the league's paper, the China Youth Daily was duty-bound to take the lead in reporting on this advanced character. According to relations between different levels of officials, the Secretariat of the Communist Youth League Central Committee just needed to give an order to the newspaper. But how did comrade Keqiang do it? One day, the newspaper received a surprising notice for the standing assistant editor-in-chief and I to go to the Youth League Secretariat to have a meeting. How could a common editor attend such a meeting? It was because the Secretariat thought that Freezing Point's profiles were the most outstanding. They wanted the editor responsible present to discuss how to report on Qin. On that day, the standing secretary comrade Liu Peng hosted the meeting. He said: "Datong, you are an expert. We will listen to your thoughts on how to publicize this model..." What kind of leadership style was this? Originally, as Freezing Point was in section eight, it had never taken the duty of propaganda, but comrade Liu Peng modestly was seeking advice. I could only frankly and thoroughly explain my opinions. I bluntly informed him: "The conditions for making a stir like Zhang Haidi have already passed. Readers want to read about characters that they can relate to, not 'look up to' advanced characters. As soon as you report 'tall, big and perfect' the readers will be turned off." Liu Peng indirectly asked me whether Freezing Point's journalists could support this publicity campaign. Even though I believed that this report was not my duty, I still sent the best reporter from Freezing Point. This Freezing Point report broke onto the front page as a headline. Afterwards, reports about Qin Wengui appeared everywhere. Some years later, a China Youth Daily reporter asked Qin Wengui which article made him most satisfied. He answered, "That one by the Freezing Point reporter." This was not the result of an order. Under that work style of the leadership, we were happy to do it.

Once Keqiang came to the newspaper to find the editor-in-chief. Passing by my office, he came in to say, "Datong, your Freezing Point has become quite popular!" I joked with him, "You have to attend to the affairs of state. You still have time to read Freezing Point?" "I read every issue. Sometimes I even write memos on the newspaper itself" he replied. In the current leadership of the Youth League Secretariat, has one person even once talked with editors of the paper face to face?

When League Central secretary Jiang Daming was in charge of the newspaper, he was once found in his office crying. He was reading a report in Freezing Point, and crying for the fate of a boy in the article. When I heard this described to me, I was deeply moved. This shows that the secretaries of League Central, even though they were the superiors of the paper, still read the paper and were moved by its articles as ordinary readers were. This is a reflection of human nature, not "official nature."

Which of the old editors can't tell a few stories like this about the old Youth League Central secretaries? The editors-in-chief know even more. Comrade Ji Bingxuan was once in charge of this paper. Even after he took the post as Vice-Minister of Propaganda, when the old editors in chief would often seek his advice he would always immediately let his secretary find time and never declined a request. When comrade Hu Chunhua was in charge, a very influential report in Freezing Point suffered a counterattack from a certain provincial committee. The provincial committee first secretary personally signed and sent a report indicting this paper to three party central ministries. This newspaper seemed to face an extinction crisis, but after looking at the full and accurate materials handed in by our reporter, comrade Chunhua declared, "It looks like we have to fight to the finish!" And this was his home province! After several encounters, no matter whether it was within the party or brought to the courts, the paper never lost. If comrade Chunhua had even the slightest consideration for his "official fortune" or if he didn't trust and respect the professional standards of this paper's reporters, would he have such an opinion?