作者：龚如仲（美国）

 海外头条总编审   王 在 军   （中国）

海外头条副编审 Wendy温迪 （英国）

海 外 头 条总 编   火 凤  凰   （海外）

图片选自百度

那时候的新闻工作者

作者：龚如仲（美国）

      二十世纪七十年代，我正在中国国际广播电台当英语播音员。五年工作的经历让我体会到了当时中国广播和电视的从业者身上有几个非常鲜明的特点。这些我不得不提及的特点是：一、相互平等、彼此以诚相待、工作氛围轻松愉快；二、极其敬业、潜心钻研学问、对待业务认真严谨；三、不求奢华、大力提倡廉洁、里里外外两袖清风。下面我就想说说那时候关于新闻工作者的点滴往事。

（一） 我先说说相互平等。

       在国际电台英语部（那时候叫RADIO PEKING）工作时，我的第一感觉是：无论你是大牌主播、还是小小监听，无论你是著名而有权威的前辈、还是一般后进的新兵，无论你是台长主任、还是普通编辑，彼此之间绝无高低贵贱之分。大家和睦相处、齐心协力，心中只有一个目的，就是“把广播事业搞好”。

      比如在我工作的英语部，无论是魏琳主任还是部里一把手党支部书记老徐，我们一律叫她们魏老太太或是老徐，没有一个人称她们为魏主任、魏组长或是徐书记的。有的年轻人干脆直呼魏老太太为魏琳，绝无惺惺作态之奉迎。而身为领导的书记老徐和主任魏琳也习惯自然地接受这种称谓。即使面对中央广播事业局最高长官张香山先生或是国际台的头号人物张台长，我们也直呼他们为老张，有时侯还亲切地以“香山同志”来称呼张香山局长。据说这种平等而亲切的民主作风是从革命时期的延安带来的。说实话，我很欣赏那时候的民主氛围，在那样的氛围里工作起来心情格外轻松。

      然而对比当下的中国，人与人之间（尤其是官与官之间）存在着太多的虚假与吹捧。无论在城市或乡村，人与人之间几乎都以“官衔”相称。无论是张三李四，只要他或她有个一官半职，那怕是小小的股长、所长或村长，彼此之间无不称之以官号。而在官办或私营的各类大小企业里，你会遇到数不清的张总、李总、陈经理或王经理。给我的感觉是，倘若不以官衔来称呼对方，似乎就是对对方的不敬或不尊。更有甚者，有些乡村企业的所有者，在电话中竟能坦然地告诉对方：“我是杨总啊，请你们的朱总接电话”。如果对方既非老板、又无官衔，则一律以老师称之。中国几千年来的“天、地、君、亲、师”这五大尊称，如今在中国已变了味道。仅次于天地、君王、父母的老师称谓已被某些人无知地滥用了。

       更令人不解的是，连一向以正直刚猛、疾恶如仇享誉社会的中国公安系统的警官们如今互相之间也是官名相呼。如果看一部有关公安题材的电影或电视剧，你就会发现，剧中的人物对局长、处长、科长这一类官员肯定会称之以张局、王处或陈科；甚至对一个小小的派出所所长或是刑警队支队长也一定是以李所或赵支来称谓。如今的中国，一本正经的“官本位”所导致的等级分明早已取代了当年民主平等所带来的自在和轻松。对此，人们的内心深处可能时时会有某种不可名状的沉重。

（二）我再谈谈极其敬业。

      回想那时候的新闻工作者，大家除了享受工作时的平等和民主外，在业务上也是极具事业心的。且不说魏老太、“巫大户”和“拎只鸡”们如何通过千锤百炼把播音技艺提高到令人惊叹的高度，就是我前文提及的英语部的“权威人物”的三位老太太，她们也是通过不断钻研技能而把英语水平发挥到了极致。

姜桂浓是一个满脸肃穆、不苟言笑的老古板，然而她有一双明察秋毫的眼睛和两只极为灵敏的耳朵。她可以在常人感觉不到的情况下，发现你文章或稿件中的任何微小的差错，还可以辩别出你读稿过程中的发音有丝毫不准或表达有欠缺的地方。老太太退休后不甘寂寞，与她在外文出版社当主编的丈夫一起，共同撰写了英文版的【周恩来传】。

麦老太太大名麦少楣，她的最大专长是英文写作。在我工作过的几个不同领域里，还没发现有几个人英语笔头能力超越麦老太太的。在平时工作中，她总是帮助大小编辑们提高稿件的写作能力。

另一位权威人士是名叫张庆年的半老太太，也就是那一位与我同访英国的老张。老张的了不起在于她对英美文学的极深造诣，她常常指导我们这些播音员如何“演好”对外播出的各种“剧目”。另外，她还有一项旁人难以想象的绝技 ，那就是她那极快的英文打字本领。无论多长多难的文章或稿件，无论你以何种速度读完此文，她都可以一边听你朗读、一边打字，等你读完全文时，她那双快如穿梭的手已经把你所念的文章打完，而且很少有漏打或错打之处。在国际电台，老张的英文打字技术可谓天下无双。

除了我所工作过的国际电台英语部外，因工作需要，我还会和同属广播事业局的中央电视台的有关人士打过交道，其中最著名的莫过于当时的体育解说“名嘴”宋世雄先生。与宋先生的相识和合作开始于1978年冬。

因报导第八届亚洲运动会之需要，宋先生和我分别作为中文和英文记者随中国体育代表团前往泰国。有幸的是，我与宋先生同时下榻于曼谷的国宾饭店（EMBASSADOR HOTEL）。由于宋先生和我同住一层楼，而且房间还紧挨着，这使我有了充分时间和机会全过程地目睹了宋先生如何为实况播出第八届亚运会开幕式及闭幕式盛况而作准备的。

在常人眼里，“体育主播或解说人员都是在比赛现场边看边即兴发挥的，事先无须作任何详尽的准备。而当时名声如日中天的‘宋大名嘴’在报导体育赛事时更是善于信口播报、随意发挥”。但事实上，这是对宋先生现场解说的曲解和不敬。

我所了解的宋先生是一个极其敬业、极其负责任的媒体人。为了播好亚运会的开幕式盛况，宋先生在前往泰国之前就开始了备稿工作。他不仅事先通过国家体委把亚洲各体育代表团的重要人员组成情况弄得一清二楚，而且对整个入场式的前后顺序、乃至各国体育代表团的不同特点及一些著名运动员的个人背景都熟记于心。更令人叹服的是，在亚运会开幕前的几天内，宋先生从不和我们其它记者一样一起出门逛街，而是尽可能把自己关在房间里，利用一切时间写他的“预案”。

有一回我进他房间串门，竟然发现他桌子上摆着一份长达几十页纸的解说稿。当人们看着电视里宋先生神采飞扬地用他那圆润而响亮的声音“毫不费劲”地向观众介绍一队队正入场的各国运动员的情况时，恐怕没有人会想到这位功夫了得的名嘴私下里曾花费了多少时间和心血！宋先生这种敬业精神真让我感叹和敬佩。

再看看如今的某些所谓的体育名嘴们，他们对待工作的投入和专注与那时候的新闻工作者简直相差太远了。看看现如今，有的“名嘴”在解说足球比赛时，除了把正在盘球或传球的运动员名字一一报来外，很少向观众介绍或解说双方球队所用的战术和意图；更有一位头脑发热的足球赛解说“名嘴”，有一次竟然在转播和解说足球国际大赛上忘却了自己中国记者的身分，不顾国际影响地疯狂大呼“意大利足球万岁”！结果让正与意大利国家足球队对抗的另一支外国球队的国人大为不爽。

还有一位以大嘴著称的体育记者，在体育赛事的解说中，经常云山雾照、不知所云。其驴唇不对马嘴的即兴解说常常让观众摸不着头脑。

还有一件“小事”让我至今难以释怀：现如今北京几乎所有体育主持人或“名嘴”们，当他们解说美国职业篮球赛时，几乎千篇一律地把英文字母NBA（美国国家篮球协会）中的“N”的发音发成为北京土音“恩”的，永远是“恩比爱”，而不是准确地发成英语的NBA。我在北京生活和工作过多年，当然知道几乎所有土生土长的北京人都会以汉语拼音的方式把英文字母的“N”音发为“恩”的。我觉得普通北京人如此发音无可厚非。然而身为中央电视台或北京电视台的主持人这样来念就太不应该了，因为你所报导的是美国篮球赛，当然要以英语的发音来读NBA了。

我之所以这样说，是因为有一次一位访问中国的美国友人（懂汉语）问了我一个问题，他说：“为什么中国电视台的主播们都把NBA念成“恩比爱”？难道他们不懂英文字母N的正确发音吗”？我听后很是尴尬，我怎么向他说明我们那些个或许曾经留学英美、中英文造诣都颇为深厚的“名嘴”们就是习惯于以北京方言来发N音呢？

现在，想想那个时候的新闻工作者，看看如今某些“大牌”和“名嘴”们，我心里的这份感叹、遗憾、甚至惋惜，有几人能够理解？

（三） 我最后聊聊不求奢华。

议论完权威和名嘴，接下来，我还想说一说那时候新闻工作者的工作环境和有关风气。

那时候的中国，经济不够发达，人们生活依然清贫，所以我们这些新闻工作者在使用办公资源上是极其勤俭的。我们所使用的圆珠笔“原珠笔”都不是从文具店直接采购的成品。当时我们办公室只供应廉价的圆珠笔笔芯，而要把一个个笔芯变成可以写稿的笔，我们必须自己动手。办法是：用一层层涂上浆糊或胶水的牛皮纸把笔芯裹成笔状，然后就可以将其当笔使用了。我们所使用的稿纸，也是千方百计地做到充分利用。只用了一面的稿纸是无论如何也不会被当着废纸而丢弃的。

如此节约的目的倒不仅仅是因为经济困难，作为中央直接管辖的中国广播事业局财力还是很雄厚的。这样做的原因更多的是出于一种习惯。那时候的人惯于勤俭、不爱奢华、不会浪费。这几乎是一种约定俗成的风气（当然啰，那时侯的新闻人绝对没有机会捞钱）。

但对比一下如今中国媒体界的某些主播、主持、“名嘴”或“大腕”们，那时候的新闻人简直太显“孤寒”、“小气”了。现如今，不少名记者或大牌主持人，不但薪水丰厚，还有大把外快进帐。更有少数主持人的身分早已贵如歌星、明星。他们一旦“走穴”，一场主持活动下来少则几万、多则几十万，有时侯可达日进斗金。还有些美女主持人，凭着自己年青貌美即可获利颇丰。

我在北京为一家美国公司管理业务时，几乎天天都到一家五星级酒店健身（主要是游泳）。某一天，我在酒店大堂看见一“气质非凡”的丽人，正被几位男子众星捧月般走向大堂的电梯。出于好奇心，我向大堂一保安询问此女来历。该保安告诉我：她是北京某某电视台的“著名”主持人，目前正为一家“著名”的私营企业做节目，该私营公司老板出钱让她住进酒店总统套房，已经住了一个多礼拜了。我听后不觉愕然。要知道，该饭店的总统套房一天的开销至少要人民币7000多元，折合美金约1100多元，住上十天，便是万把美金。我对此私营老板如此“慷慨多金”大为“叹服”，我同时更对那位二十出头妙龄女郎敢于泰然自若地住进总统套房的气魄深深“倾倒”。

回忆那时候新闻工作者的平等、敬业和清廉，看看如今中国某些所谓的名嘴、大腕、著名主持人的浮躁、张扬和奢华，我心中不由得感慨万分。

（本文选自【岁月如重---兼谈华国锋】）之第四章“无冕之王”）

 Chapter 15: Journalists in the 1970s

Posted by R.Z. Gong

As an English announcer, as well as areporter, I worked for Radio Beijing for a total of 5 years from 1974 to 1979. The 5 years’ working experience had taught me a lot, letting me know how most of the journalists in the 1970s devoted themselveswholeheartedly to their work. And there was no corruption in terms of their integrity. The main characters of journalists at that time were fully shown in the Four Aspects of Equality & Fair Treatment, Professionalism& Continuous Improvement, Assiduity & Responsibility Commitment and Incorruption & Simple Life. 

  When I started my English announcercareer at Radio Beijing (for your information, when I just joined this radio station, it was named as “Radio Peking”, and changed into the name of “Radio Beijing”), my prime impression was that the people working for Radio Beijing, no matter who might be high ranking officials or just normal editors and/orannouncers or even ordinary workers,  were all equal. At that time, the people like us seemed to be very simple. The only thing we were thinking of was how to do our work well in order to develop China’s broadcastingindustry. And all the people who were handling mass media work ought to be equal, and we must be living and working in harmony and amity with each other. In one word, in the 1970s, we did not have the concepts of “rank, position, power or right”. To give you a further explanation on this matter, I wish to present the following examples:

Example One: Madam Wei Lin was our Department Superior, as well as my direct boss, but we never called her by using suchhigh ranking titles of “Superior”, “Director”and/or even “Boss”, we just called her Madam Wei. And some youngsters at our Department even directly called her “Wei Lin”. Madam Wei always happily accepted whatever her colleagues called her. She never had negativefeelings because her subordinates “did not show enough respect” to her.  

  Example Two: Madam Xu, another over fifty-year veteran revolutionary with a high ranking, was our English Department’s Party Branch Secretary (for your information, in China, the Party is always above the Government at all levels. For instance, in anyprovince of China, the Provincial Party Secretary is always the Number One leaderwho controls all provincial affairs while the Governor of the Province is only the second high ranking official). In other words, Madam Xu’s position was even higher than Madam Wei’s, but we never called Madam Xu as“Secretary Xu”. And we just called her Lao Xu (Old Xu). Madam Xu, too, always reacted naturally when her subordinates and colleagues called her this way. 

Example Three: The amazing thing was that Mr. Zhang, XiangShan was the Number One leader of China Central Administration Bureau (Radio Beijing was only one sub-organization under the Bureau), and his rank was as high as a Cabinet Minister, Even such a high-ranking official, he did not allow himself to enjoy any special treatment when his name was mentioned. We all just called him “Lao Zhang” (Old Zhang), or cordially called him “Comrade XiangShan”. He was never angry when his high ranking title was not mentioned at all. On the contrary, he felt it was very natural and dear to him when his name, not title, was directly called.

From what I mentioned above, you can see clearly how equal and close our relationshipwith our leaders were at that time. I was told that this kind of good and democratic tradition was brought up from 1940s’ YanAn, a revolutionary basis before the Chinese Communist Party took over the state power in 1949. To be honest with you, I felt verycomfortable when I worked in such a democratic atmosphere. 

But things have changed completely since China started to adopt the new policy of “Economic Reform & Door-Opening to the Outside World” in early 1980s. It is true thatrapid economic development was achieved, but the personal relationship has also been dramatically altered. You just look at the present situation in China, you will find out a very strange phenomenon. When the people met with each other, they no longer naturallycall each other by names directly. Instead, they always call people by using their titles --- no matter his or her rank or position is high or low. For an example, if your neighbor, Mr. Zhang, has a working title of “Director” or a very high-ranking title of “Minister”, you have to call him by his title as “Director Zhang” or “Minister Zhang”. Otherwise he would be feeling very unhappy. Even a person who has a very low position as of a “Section Chief” or a “Sub-Section Chief”, you are not supposed to call him or her by names directly. You must call him or her \as “Section Chief Wang” or “Sub-Section Chief Li”. Otherwise, he or she would be annoyed and think that you are not showing enough respect to him or her. 

As far as the owners of private enterprises or companies are concerned, those private owners are even more eager to get enough decent “respect” or “honor” from others. They always feel happy when you call him or her as “General Manager Wang” or “Chairman Zhao”. Never call them by their names directly! One funny thing was that many years ago when I visited one factory in a poor rural area of Hebei Province. The ownerof this factory happened to be in a phone conversation with his customer when I walked in. I heard him introducing himself to his client over phone by saying:” Hello, I am General Manager Yang”! Do you feel strange or funny when you experience the similar situation as I did? How could a person use his title for a self-introduction? 

Suppose you were about to visit a village in the countryside, and your old acquaintance Mr. Fang was the village-head of this place. Upon hearing the news that you were coming to visit his village, he would feel happy and then stepped forward to greet you upon your arrival. At this moment, you must respectively call him “Village-Head Fang”, not call himjust by his surname of “Fang” or “Lao Fang”(Old Fang). If you did so, he would definitely think that you did not show enough respect to him. Do remember that an official’s title or rank, no matter it might high or low, is always this guy’s honor. That kind of vanity situation has become a common phenomenon throughout China.

When I recall how closely and equally I had been working together with our leaders at Radio Beijing in the 1970s, my heart is alwaysfilled with happiness and warmth. On the contrary, when I face the present realistic situation, I would feel heavy-hearted becauseI understand that the democratic past wouldnever come back and nowadays the people are so poker-faced and they always use the official status as the sole judgment of a person’s social worth. What a pity!

  I still remember that as journalists in the 1970s, we not only enjoyed the equality and democracy while working, but also fully concentrated our efforts and energy on our job duties. I do not want to repeat how Madam Wei, the most experienced veteranEnglish announcer at our Department, displayed her announcing skills so amazingly. Neither should I mention how the broadcasting technique could be brought up to such a high level because of theirprofessional ethics which was displayed by the two top announcers of Mr. Z. C. Wu and Mr.Z. J. Lin. You must understand that both Mr. Wu and Mr. Lin were the overseas Chinese, and the former was born in Jamaica while thelatter came from Australia. Even though English was their mother tongue, and yet they spent a lot of time everyday on practicing and further improving their English reading skills. In their minds, the assiduity was a professional announcer’s basic requirement because Radio Beijing was shouldering the country’s responsibility for letting the outside world know China better. 

But today I would like to use a bit more time describing how Mr. X. M. Chen, one of the best announcers at our English Department, kept on reading one word or one foreign name for nobody knows how many times. For your information, when we did announcing work, sometimes it was extremely difficult for us to read some foreigners’ names or foreign countries’ toponyms correctly because the local pronunciation did not matchthe English pronunciation rule. For instance, when we read the news or special reports about a certain country in Southeast Asia or in the Arabian world, sometimes we did face such an awkward situation. In other words, we might have to suffer from staccato in the process of reading the script. In order to guarantee a smooth broadcast session, Mr. Chen would not stop reading and practicing one difficult word or name until he could master it fluently and smoothly. If need be, Mr. Chen could keep on reading one word or name for over a hundred times just for the purpose of avoiding any slight negligence in his professional announcing. You must know the fact that Mr. Chen was a very experienced broadcaster who enjoyed a good reputation asa first-class announcer. Nevertheless, he was so devoted to his work, and therefore his diligent behavior set a good example for us all. 

  Now let me say something more about our English Department’s “Three AuthoritativeSeniors” whose names were Madam Jiang, GuiNong, Madam Mai, ShaoMei and Madam Zhang, QingNian.

  Madam Jiang, over fifty years old, was an old-fashioned and inflexible lady who was serious in speech and manner. But she had a pair of sharp eyes which were perceptive of the minutest detail. And she also had a pair of sensitive ears which could distinguish any slight pronouncing mistakes from the announcers’ on-the-spot reading or tape recording. None of any other people working at our Department could match with Madam Jiang’s capability in this respect. This kind of “extrasensory perception and psychokinetic power”, which were shown by this old lady, did give us a lot of help. And it also guaranteed our broadcasting quality. Besides, she was a good English writer. I was told that after she got retired, she worked together with her husband (another good English writer)and finished writing of an English book which was named “Biography of Zhou EnLai” (for your information, Mr. Zhou EnLai was China’s most well-known and outstanding Premier who was regarded as the right arm of the late Chairman Mao ZeDong). The book was one of the best sellers in the year when it was published in Beijing, China. 

  Now let me say something about another Authoritative Senior, Madam Mai ShaoMei.

  Madam Mai, a skinny and over-fifty-yea-old lady with a pair of glasses, had a very strong point which was her perfect English written work. At our English Department, almost no other people who could compare with her in terms of scripts writing and correcting.Besides, she was such an unselfish lady who was always ready to help others raise up to their writing level. And she also repeatedly advised her colleagues to concentrate their efforts while working, making sure that there would be no mistakes in scripts writing. In a word, she was a lady who deserved our great respect.

  Last but not least, I must spend a little bit more time telling you a story about the third “Authoritative Senior” whose name was Zhang QingNian.

  Madam Zhang was the lady who went to England together with me for covering Chairman Hua GuoFeng’s UK visit (please see  Chapter Fourteen: “Hua GuoFeng, A Low-Profiled National Leader”). This over-fifty-year-old lady was not only an outstanding reporter, but also a very good teacher, a “drama director” as well. It was due to her profound English knowledge and intensive understanding towards the European and American literature, she wasalways ready to teach us on how to fully express our feelings while we were reading scripts. Besides, she was an experienced “director” who would like to show us on how to play radio dramas well (for your information, Radio Beijing sometimes did broadcast some drama programs. When that happened, as announcers, we would play different roles for the drama). But the most unusual skill she could display was her English typing. You may not believe that she was so fast and accurate at typing that when you had just finished reading an article, she would end the entire content simultaneously. You could hardly find any spelling mistakes in her typing. Madam Zhang’s typing skill was number one among all of us. Or I could proudly say that her typing speed and accuracy were unsurpassed at Radio Beijing.

3) Assiduity & Responsibility Commitment

  When it was needed by some important events or activities, we Radio Beijing people did have very close cooperation with our fraternal unit --- China Central TV station (in short, we called it as CCTV. At that time, both CCTV and Radio Beijing were under the same jurisdiction of China Central Broadcasting Administration Bureau). Before the 8th Asian Games started in December of 1978, I was selected by Radio Beijing Authority to go to Bangkok, Thailand for covering the 8th Asian Games. As a bilingual reporter, I was asked to not only send English scripts or tapes back to Radio Beijing, but also write a few Chinese articles or reports which would be sent to China Central Broadcasting Station (another fraternal unit which was under China Central Administration Broadcasting Bureau) for their usage. After I got to Bangkok and was assigned to stay at a 5-star hotel which was named Ambassador Hotel, I was so lucky that I shared the same hotel floor with a very famous sports reporter from CCTV, whose name was Song, ShiXiong (we stayed in different rooms, but on the same floor).

In 1970s, Mr. Song’s name was known to almost all the Chinese regardless of age or gender. And he was regarded as China’s Number One sports commentator at that time. When he commentated on an international volley ball match (for your information, in late 1970s, China’s women volley ball team had become one of the best in the world, winning three world championships in 1980s), almost 90% sports fans all over the country were watching TV and following his excellent narration. People liked him a lot. I felt very excited upon hearing the news that I would be staying with this celebrity in the same hotel. 

It was just because of the fact that Mr. Song’s room was next to mine, and therefore it made me possible to visit him frequently after we got to Bangkok (I came to know him long time ago, but I came to know him betteronly after we came to Bangkok for the 8thAsian Games covering). Besides, it was due to another fact that he was a Chinese reporter while I was an English correspondent and our common purpose was to cover the 8th Asian Games, and therefore he and I did need some cooperation in terms of the coverage of Games activities interviewing and reporting. To tell you the truth, I did not know how Mr. Song would handle his narrating work before and after the Games until one night I occasionally stepped into his room and had a long talk with him. 

Firstly I said to him very frankly that as a very experienced and well-known reporter, it must be very easy for him to do his narrationor presentation work. It would not be necessary for him to get preparation done in a very serious way (I thought that he was not like me because I was only a less-experienced reporter, I had to get all things readybeforehand). I believed that he must be a guy who would casually and freely report to the Chinese TV viewers on the 8th Asian Games Opening Ceremony by using his talent of improvising on the spot. But to my surprise, Mr. Song’s answer was “No”.

Mr. Song told me that in order that he could do the Opening Ceremony reporting well, a few days ago prier to arriving in Bangkok, he visited the Chinese National Sports Committee (China’s higherst government organization for managing all sports activities administration for the whole country) for an investigation. He talked to the departments concerned under the Committeejust for the purpose of getting all neededinformation regarding the Asian games participating countries. For instance, he wanted to find out how many countries would send their sports delegation to the Games, and which Asian top sportsmen or sportswomen would attend the Games? Who would be the heads of those delegations so on and so forth. After Mr. Song got to Bangkok, he did not choose to have a good rest in the hotel room or immediately had a quick tour of the metropolitan city of Bangkok (most of us did so). Instead, he made a full use of the time for visiting the 8th Asian Games Information Center. The purpose was the same: gettingmore information on the Games participating countries concerned and the sportsmen and sportswomen whom would be dispatched to Bangkok by those countries.

“Having gathered up all the information I need, I now have a ready plan in mind on how to report the Games from A to Z”, he said to me. “We must understand that to come to Thailand to deliver the 8th Asian Games reporting work is not at all our own personal affairs. We are representing our country, China. Whether or not we could do our reporting work well will mean a lot to our country’s image and reputation”, he went on to say to me. I was deeply moved after hearing what he had remarked to me. He was not only a hard working journalist, but also a man who was with full of responsibility commitment in his mind. 

It was due to his good preparation work, he did an excellent job on his 8th Asian Games reporting and narrating, particularly on the two important ceremonies for opening and closing. When the Chinese TV viewers were watching the 8th Asian Games special programs , no one could realize that Mr. Song,China’s Number One sports-cast reporter, had spent so much time and energy fulfillinghis duty preparation work. Mr. Song’s hard working spirit and his sense of responsibility taught me a lot. Mr. Song was one of the most typical assiduous and devoted journalists in the 1970s.

But when I watched the current sports-reporting industry and recalled some “great actions” which were shown by a few so-called famous sports-presenters, I would sometimes feel awkward or even disappointed. 

For an example, a few years ago when an international soccer match was being held between two team, Italy and the other country (I do not want to mention this country’s name in order to show my respect to this country), the Italian team luckily got one goal. There was no doubt that It was good for the Italian team. But to all our TV viewers’ surprise, that well-known sports-cast reporter from CCTV suddenly shouted out a sentence of “Long live the Italian Soccer Team”! This guy forgot his position as of a third-party’s sports presenter, and he was not supposed to be partial to Italy. This stupid act might bring bad consequences if the other country’s soccer team or even this team’s home country feel unhappy and unfair (this country’s embassy in Beijing might lodgea protest against CCTV or even against the Chinese government). 

Another example was that a noted sports presenter from CCTV got a nick-named of “Big Mouth”. He always talked rubbish while presenting some sports programs. His extravagant and baseless talk sometimes made the TV viewers unable to understand what it was all about. From a journalist’s point of view, I do think that this “Big Mouth” never did any preparation work before he stepped into the TV studio for presenting. He was not a responsible newsman! How could he compare with Mr. Song, a senior and much more assiduousjournalist?

  In China’s 1970s, our life was still poor and the country was neither rich nor advanced. As far as our English Department was concerned, all of us understood how to save the money for the country. In terms of the offices’ stationery and paper consumption, we tried our every best to practice conservation. For instance, we never bought complete ball pens from the market. We just purchased some ball-pan cores, which were much cheaper than brand new ball pens. If we wanted to make those ball-pen cores into finished pens, we must do a kind of “paper wrapping or rolling-up work”. We used some brown or white packing paper to wrap or roll over the ball-pen cores respectively. After several layers of paper were wrapped or rolled up, we would paste the wrapped ball-pen cores by glue. After all this were done, finished ball pens were “produced”. All the pens we used that time were turned out this way. We saved a lot of money for Radio Beijing. 

  When paper was used only on one side, those paper (except for the important documents or reserved scripts) would not be thrown into the waste-cabin. We would use the other side of the paper for the writing purpose because that side paper was still blank. 

  The purpose of our practicing economy was not just for the aim of saving. As a matter of fact, Radio Beijing was one important national organization which was under the government direct jurisdiction. Financially, Radio Beijing was very strong，The true reason for doing so was a kind of habit. We called this habit as “YanAn Spirit” (YanAn is located in Shannxi Province, and it was the prime revolutionary basis before the Chinese Communist Party took over the state power.). It was true that we, the people in China’s 1970s, were generally hard-working and thrifty, and we did not run after anyextravagant life (off course, that relatively poor living condition did not give people chances for seeking luxury and waste). In a word, we lived a simple life that time. 

But things have been greatly changed since China adopted an open-door policy in early 1980’s, China’s economic reform had gained great achievements. Now the whole country is looking entirely different. Chinese people now love to enjoy a luxury life, and money seems to be the number one target for some Chinese people’s living orientation. People no longer believe in communism or Mao Zedong Thought, neither believing in God. Quite amount of the Chinese people have no faith at all, and they only want to earn more and more money. Look at nowadays journalist field: announcers working for CCTV or China Central Broadcasting Station or Radio Beijing do enjoy a very high pay of monthly salary. Besides, it would be very easy for them to earn big amount of extra money if they were invited by outside companies or private rich families to be presenters for company opening ceremonies or family birthday parties or weddings. 

At present, there are two very popular Chinese words which are pronounced in Chinese as “Zou Xue”. “Zou Xue” means that singers, movie stars or TV or Radio presenters were invited to perform for outside salary income without approval by their own units where they belong to. The Chinese government does not have control or constrain against this kind of illegal actions. As a result, the above-mentioned beneficiaries have easily become millionaires or even billionaires. Those people are so rich that they spend the money at random. For an example, one Chinese veteran TV announcer, who used to be the best narrator for the special TV program which was about wild animals, just retired some years ago. But his own private house is worth of over RMB one hundred million (roughly about USD14,700,000.00). Displaying inside this mansion are a lot of valuable antiques, famous paintings and expensive Chinese calligraphy works, Those “good stuffs” could be easily valued to more than RMB one hundred millions (another USD14,700,000.00). Just imagine how much extra money this guy had earned just for his “Zou Xue” before he got retired?

In addition to the above mentioned, I wish to say something very unusual. In China, some young and pretty female journalists can use their beautiful appearance and “noble profession” (for your information, today in China, TV or radio announcing profession can be regarded as a kind of “noble profession”) to earn extra money. Let me tell you something I personally experienced about ten years ago. At that time, I ran a commercial office in China as a Chief Representative for a big American whole-sale company. For many years, I had cultivated a habit of swimming in a hotel swimming pool every day to keep physical fitness. One afternoon after my daily work was over, I got to a five-star hotel nearby for swimming (this hotel had an indoor swimming pool). While I was waiting at the hotel elevator area, for trying to get up to the top floor where the pool was available, Suddenly, I saw a very pretty young lady walking towards the same elevator area where I was standing at. And this beautiful young lady was gracefully walking up to the elevation area. And she was being crowded round by several “noble and dignified” gentlemen who were wearing decent suits and with ties on. The young lady looked like a “moon” which was being surrounded by all “stars”. I did not follow the girl into the elevator since there were so many people were with her. After they got into the elevator and out of my curiosity, I asked one hotel service boy: “Who is this young lady? Why this young lady is showing off so much”? The boy told me that she was a “famous” TV presenter working for TV Beijing. At the invitation by a very big and well-known private company boss, she was going to host at the wedding ceremony for the boss’s only daughter. The boy told me: “She was arranged to stay at our hotel’s President Suit, and she has spent more than 7 nights already at our hotel up today” (she would at least stay at the hotel for at least 10 nights because she must do her presentation work later). After hearing what the boy told me, I was totally shocked. It was and is known to all that this five–star hotel was a very decent and expensive one. Even a customer would use the corporate rate for checking in, he or she must pay at least RMB 8,000 per night (about USD 1,200) for the President Suite. The cost for this young lady’s 7 nights’ stay would be more than RMB 56,000, or USD 8,400. It was only for her hotel accommodation. She would definitely get a decent pay for her service. I guessed that her service fee would be easily RMB 200, 000 to RMB 300,000, which were equivalent to USD 30,000 to 46,000. I was totally “subdued” by this young “counterpart” who seemed to be just little bit over twenty years old! How easy for her to earn such a big money just because of her beautiful face and “noble profession”!

I would sill feel warm-hearted whenever I recalled how equal-treating, assiduous, thrifty and hardworking and simple we were in the 1970s. And I would feel very frustraeted when I see how high-profiled and money-seeking those “well-known” or “big”TV or radio presenters are at present! I had realized that China has changed completelyand China is entirely different now! What could I say more?

 龚如仲：生于上海，中国对外经济贸易大学英语系毕业，毕业后奔赴非洲任铁道部援建坦赞铁路工作组总部英语翻译，中国国际广播电台英语部英语播音员、记者，外贸部中国轻工业品进出口总公司出口二处业务员、副处长，外贸部轻工业品进出口总公司驻美国公司总裁（处长）。

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