What is the “unusual” “continuing” of the reporting process in a case of juvenile sexual offencesRumorsCan you do it or notThe truthWhat? These issues deserve in-depth reflection by journalists。
On 7 march, central television released information that “li and others have been arrested by the beijing municipal prosecutor's office in accordance with the law on suspicion of gang rape”. This report, although written in only 20 words, is the shortest in a series of reports on the "the sons of lee's biang" case, but it has been heard on the ground, leaving many of the rumours that are raging。
Just after the spring festival, the singer li biang, son of li, was detained on suspicion of gang rape, causing social attention, online fire, and traditional media were too eager to report and comment, sometimes in vain. In response, some media have argued that “the rumours have forced the truth”. The implication is that, because the truth is deliberately concealed by the authorities, rumours, particularly those against the authorities, should be allowed to fly in order to force them to bring the truth to light。
Weibo's rumor is "continue." rumor is that it's a fake
On 22 february 2013, wang fong-scmp, an online friend certified by his name as editor of the south china morning news website in hong kong, announced: “the beijing haidian public security bureau detained a person on the night of the 21st of the day for criminal charges of gang rape. Young man of lee or something...” boven attached a web link to li's son li, who implies that the man involved is li. In the afternoon, the beijing police confirmed that li's son li, the son of biang, had been detained。
Media coverage of the case began immediately, and the topic of “the son of lee's twin river” continued to ferment, with various tweets spreading wildly over the internet and between communities. It is not clear whether it is some journalists who can't handle some sort of temptation to reveal new tactics, or whether it is the media that deliberately engages in the “linking” of tweets and the “back-to-back stories” that emerge from the case are increasingly being reported。
One: “victims withdraw their complaints”. On the fourth day of his detention, the wife withdrew her complaint, after li and the parents of four other suspects had fled to reach a settlement. Following media follow-up reports, the incident was rejected by the police, who stated that the criminal case was prosecuted by the public prosecutor's office and not that the victim was free to withdraw it. In the report, the public continues to question this rumour, despite the media's “false handling”。
Two: “encumbered on remand”. The rumours of the “victim's withdrawal” have yet to fade, and a “update” has been published by netizens: “li cai has been granted bail and is now returning home.” this explosion continues to be of great concern to the public and public opinion. The police then rumoured that their subordinates “have been placed on bail”. Nevertheless, media coverage has added to the public's suspicion that she will not “be in trouble”。
Three: “age fraud”. Following the alleged gang rape, a member of the internet infers, on the basis of a previous statement by li biang, that li was born in 1992 and is 21 years old instead of 17 years of age reported by the police. Especially since beijing's haidian district attorney's office is concerned with li chi's involvementJuvenile delinquencyThe case was dealt with by the juvenile prosecutor's office of the public prosecutor's office, where the news of the arrest of one person was released。
Four times in a row: “li biang was hospitalized with a gas disease, and then he was actually at work”。
Five: li has a previous record. Then one of the principals came up with rumours that 40-year-old female teachers were so good and decent..
Since the case is still under investigation, more details have not yet been disclosed, and some media reports continue to be based on anecdotal facts that have been described as “explained” “discovered” by “blogging” as “intellectually known”, mostly without specific persons, no specific location, no specific time and place, and in fact speculation. Anecdotal news is immediately becoming a major news story for major websites, but the negative news is equally red, and, both positive and negative, speaks of an eye-to-eye, detail and description, and it is true and false, and it attracts public attention。
It is true that traditional media, using microblogging information as a source of news, present news behind news or news stories, following in-depth research, groundbreaking interviews and rational analysis by journalists, is a new mode of communication that is now popular. However, in the lee case, some unverified tweets were written into the news by the media as authentic material, prompting a tweet to “turn” into false news. Today, it is common for events to be played on the internet, because hits are the life of the network, making it a “fashion” for getting hits, while traditional media often draw on web-based stories as their own news flashpoints for lack of fast access to information. It is important to remind the traditional media that, for whatever reason, there can be no “whatever he says” about the tweets, because false reports lead the public to misjudge. If false and watery news reports continue, the resulting public opinion will naturally lead to bias and emotionalization, and some audiences will use a particular detail to pursue them as an export of their frustration。
Thus, when a sudden event occurs, the media should do nothing in the face of uncertainty, not only in the faithful practice of the principle of objectivity in the news, but also in order to effectively avoid social risks. In follow-up reports, the media should effectively integrate information, not only by taking care of “measurement” perceptions, but also by adjusting “measurement”, with less superficial and misreading reports and more rational reflections and emotional resonance。
Re-emphasizing the celebrity effect, ignoring the ethical bottom line
Almost all media outlets, in their coverage of li, have been given the title of "the son of li biang". The “upgrading” of the case was the cause of the headlines in the major media, not only the “nobility effect”。
Most disturbing is the fact that the report gives full exposure to the identity of the person concerned. The media's hot work almost made it known to the whole world that li yai's name had been labeled "the star of piggy" and that someone had revealed his family's life. – born with gold keys; someone turned his “bad deeds” — fighting, playing cars, drinking alcohol; someone recalled his re-education through labour — and handed over his “prison pals” ... All of this quickly triggered a carnival on the internet, for those who were happy, for those who were sarcastic and for those who were shadow-hunting. A number of websites have synthesized photos of li and his father, drawing attention to the logo's gang rape case, in which 17-year-olds are inevitably beaten。
The author shares the view of a lawyer, who referred rationally to the bottom line of the media, which could easily have been ignored in the incident, and wrote in his tweets: “it is deplorable that the fact that lee is the son of a celebrity, but that the case involves both the privacy of the victim and the crimes committed by minors, and that the information in this case was so leaked and led to the media and the internet being so hot that it has seriously harmed the legitimate rights and interests of minors.” it should be said that the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of minors, the privacy of the person in question, is the professional conduct and journalistic ethics that media personnel must uphold。
It follows that those reports that ignore the ethical bottom line are largely the result of the poor quality of the media and the lack of human awareness. As the american writer jeffrey meyers put it, “we have paid too much attention to the values of journalism, not to moral values”. In this case, for example, the social impact of media coverage and exploration is certainly more generally positive when the attention of the audience is not focused on the individual, if the media, starting with the good will to save and protect “problem adolescents”, conceals the specific origins of li, gives only a brief account of his name, and reports and explores issues from the point of view of enlightenment and corrections。
"entertainment" stories, de-rational thinking
One criminal case, a social issue that was originally of in-depth value, was transformed into an entertainment carnival. A video taken by a famous chorus actor at lee's biang family during his show was quickly circulated online after the lee one case. If it is not removed by legal means, the retrograde video will always follow the family and the children, with immeasurable consequences。
Following the criminal case involving the son of a celebrity, the news audience was eager, on the one hand, to know the truth and the past and present of the person concerned and, on the other hand, to send sympathy to the victim. Therefore, when reporting on such events, the media must take into account the truth of the news and the “pity” colour, and must resolutely reject the practice of entertainment, especially by pursuing, hunting for and reproducing indiscriminately. For the media, the best view of the news is to respond to the general concerns of the reader from the point of view of the concerns of the reader and to answer the questions that the reader wants to know and does not know. According to the author, in the traditional concept of “childless fatherhood”, li is suspected of having committed a crime and must be said to have failed in his own and his family's education. But the growth of any one person is closely linked to the environment of the family, school, society and so on, and every link can cause a tragedy similar to that of li. However, public opinion has emerged as a “one-sided”: a celebrity。
Indeed, li biang, who is also an ordinary father and who is also faced with “crimes committed by minors”, a social “growth problem”, is common. Unfortunately, excessive recreationalization has considerably reduced the seriousness of the case, leaving many people with little or no time to think deeply about the events. While some media are concerned about the exposure of social problems, on the other hand, the search for solutions has been diverted from “recreation to death”. (the authors are: the youth times, heining daily)
