Media “Seventy years ago, the Chinese scholar Lin Yutang proudly proclaimed that China, like so many ancient civilizations, was blessed with the absence of newspapers. Gone are the good old days! China, like the rest of the world, has been inundated with media gimmicks, one of those being television. If Mr. Lin had lived to see China’s blossoming TV industry, he would surely have advised the central authorities to nip it in the bud.

Mr. Shuhua Zhou City: Guangzhou Province: Guangdong Birth: Oct 8, 1962 Map of China (29KB JPG)

“Fate so dictated that I was one of those who nourished that ‘bud.’ From 1988 to 1993, I was an active participant in the media industry. Before my entrance into that profession, TV to me was nothing but sacred and glamorous. As I departed, I still cherished part of that old fascination, but with a knowing smile.

“The time I was involved in the TV industry was the most politically fermented period in China’s recent history. Our primary concern at the time was ‘news reform’ and ‘moonlighting.’ The former called for the loosening of the tight leash the government held on all news media. This was brought to an abrupt halt after the incident at Tiananmen. The leash was substantially shortened again. Then came the wave of ‘moonlighting.’ This seemed natural: when the pursuit of ideology fails, people go after monetary goals. At the time, moonlighting was limited: MCs hosting outside shows for an extra buck, reporters covering ‘paid’ stories, and engineers fixing a TV set for a friend’s friend. This, as you can imagine, did not generate a whole lot of money, but at least, life for the TV people was easier than that of others.

“I returned to China twice, first in the summer of 1995, and most recently in December of 1995. The changes I witnessed were truly amazing and absolutely newsworthy. Although I did not see any major improvement in terms of programming, major reshuffling has taken place in response to the commercialization of all the news media. Many of my former colleagues in the news department have moved to sales and advertising positions. The whole TV station now operates in a completely different way. Programs are contracted to individual teams who are responsible for their own financial well-being. The advantages are obvious; now that people have their ‘own’ shows, they try harder to produce quality programs since the most appealing ones attract the most advertisers. There are more newscasts, more variety shows, and more sports coverage.

“The disadvantages of the contracting method are also hard to ignore. Abuse of power is abundant. Some people think they own the programs, and they can do whatever they want. ‘Paid’ stories are still rampant. Talents without much talent also get into shows because of guanxi (connections). Producers and directors find every means possible to utilize advertisements. This includes the use of props such as a trademarked can on the anchor’s table and certain lines trumpeting a brand in a drama dialogue. Most noticeable, however, is the income disparity. When I was in Guangzhou in 1995, the talk of the town was that a certain MC now owns a Mercedes, while a few years ago all he had was a Five-Ram bicycle. That Mercedes cost more than a million renminbi (RMB) or about US$130,000 (China levies a tax which doubles the price of any import). Many others, however, still earn a meager US$150 per month.

“One of my reporter friend is now a proud owner of a Pentium 100 computer (RMB 31,000 or US$3,500), which he uses for word-processing and games, and a 1989 French Peugeot (RMB 92,000 or US$10,000). I told him that I had to use the Indiana University computers (since I did not have my own computer), and I could only afford a 1986 Toyota Corolla (US$2,000). He chuckled. Everytime I think of that chuckle, I rejoice more in the potential and the vitality of China’s media rather than lamenting my present financial status.