Chapter 56 Prime Minister Wu Wuzhou taught me how to be a good journalist

In the banquet hall of the Beijing Hotel, the lights were brilliant.Cheers erupted in the crowd that formed a large arc—government dignitaries and social celebrities lined up to welcome the distinguished guests.Suddenly, the laughter froze, and Premier Zhou Enlai walked in accompanied by President Ho Chi Minh.After a while, laughter suddenly erupted from the crowd and echoed in the hall.It turned out that Premier Zhou accompanied President Ho Chi Minh towards the "big arc" and introduced each of the distinguished guests.People exclaimed in low voices: "He seems to be familiar with everyone." "He knows everyone!"

In front of Wu Lengxi.Premier Zhou turned to Chairman Hu and said, "He is the president of Xinhua News Agency, China's largest news agency." "Oh, smell, Xinhua News Agency is quite famous in the world!" Chairman Hu said in Chinese, "We also have Xinhua News Agency reporters there." "However, some of their reporters always write in the same old way, formulaic, and conceptual." Premier Zhou's hearty laughter was laced with seriousness, and his humorous tone was full of criticism, "It's finalized." I listened on the sidelines, and my face turned red all of a sudden, all the way to the roots of my ears.I feel that Premier Zhou is not talking about others, but criticizing myself.Because just a few days ago, Premier Zhou pointed out to me that the foreign affairs news we wrote seemed to be made out of the same mold, and there was almost no change except for changing the name.He wants us to think differently.

Chairman Hu looked up to the sky and laughed. "It's the same in our place, the reporters are too mechanical." When President Hu was exchanging greetings with Wu Lengxi, Premier Zhou turned around and asked me: "When did you start and who set the rules? When writing banquet news, you must say 'conduct in a warm and friendly atmosphere' ?” "I don't know," I said sheepishly. "We just do it routinely." "Conventions can also be broken." Premier Zhou paused, and then said: "Of course, the change must be done step by step. Every time you write that the atmosphere is 'warm and friendly', if you don't write it all at once, people will become suspicious instead. .If readers have seen it a lot, they will get used to it if you don’t mention the atmosphere.”

I immediately asked him for instructions: "Then, can we change the news about tonight's banquet? For example, through the on-site activities, we can bring out the list of attendees, and at the same time reflect the atmosphere." He looked happy and nodded: "That's good!" This happened one summer in the 1950s.At that time, I was engaged in political and current affairs interviews at the Xinhua News Agency. He gave many profound, kind and pertinent teachings to our interview and report work.Take this small scene at the banquet where he entertained Chairman Hu as an example. In Premier Zhou's busy and busy life, it is just a very ordinary little thing, but it is indelibly engraved in my memory. heart.

Premier Zhou was very concerned about cultivating journalists. He often used various opportunities to talk with reporters. He set strict requirements on politics and business, encouraged journalists to be popular and professional, and cared about the growth of journalists.His conversations with reporters were often about a report, a manuscript, or a specific issue.Although it is not a long speech, and the conversation time is generally not too long, it is incisive, profound, concise, targeted and inspiring. It left a deep impression on me and taught me a lot.He placed great expectations and taught the most, which was about improving the political and professional quality of journalists.Among them, he is particularly concerned about the improvement of writing style.He often criticizes the old-fashioned, formulaic, over-the-top, copy-and-copy, lack of creativity, dull writing, lack of vigor and lack of vocabulary in our news reports.I still clearly remember that in the summer of 1955, before the Indian cultural delegation came to visit China, Premier Zhou criticized our foreign affairs reports, except for a large number of lists and "conducted in a warm and friendly atmosphere", there was no plot of live activities and any changes.In order to make a breakthrough in the work, he also specifically instructed the relevant departments to take some measures while the Indian cultural delegation is visiting and performing in other places: 1. The song and dance troupe and dance school should send some actors or students to accompany the group for activities , so that you can not only accompany Indian actors, but also learn some dance programs from them; second, Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily and other central news organizations should send reporters to accompany the group for interviews, so that they can write vivid, lively and lively Reporting, rather than always the same set of dry.Later, when the delegation went to Dalian and other places to visit and perform, all relevant units followed the Prime Minister's instructions, and I was ordered by Xinhua News Agency to accompany the delegation for interviews.It was only after that that our foreign affairs reports began to greatly reduce the list, remove the "air", and focus on the scene and the words and deeds of important people, so that the foreign affairs news became somewhat readable.Even so, my thinking was still limited at the time, and I felt that the activities of the party and state leaders such as Premier Zhou's banquet for Chairman Hu were "very serious matters" and should not be "nonsensical".In the end, it was Premier Zhou's above-mentioned words that gave me strength and opened the floodgates for my ideological emancipation.

Premier Zhou also always encouraged reporters to "be active", "Reporters need to inquire and understand the situation." Before the mission, I spoke with another writer and photographer.He asked reporters what difficulties they had in reforming news reports. We told him frankly that reporters often encounter some obstacles in interviews. For example, some units are not open to interviews with reporters and dare not talk about them.He nodded and said that this was caused by many reasons.For the units interviewed, “There are historical reasons for this, and there are also ideological problems.” He said humorously, “They are too nervous, and they are afraid that reporters will mess around. Some people are afraid that reporters will get things wrong. It is impossible for a reporter to be good at all. As long as you pay attention to improvement, problems can be solved.” On the other hand, “Reporters themselves also have problems. In the past, reporters themselves were timid, afraid to act boldly, dare not ask boldly, and dare not write boldly.”

"You must keep improving your style of writing and be bold. However, you must be cautious in content." He reminded us, "Reports on the struggle against the enemy and foreign relations must not be done badly." When Premier Zhou encouraged us to "innovate", he actually wanted us to "create excellence" so that our reports could achieve better social benefits, rather than innovating for the sake of innovation.In another conversation, he warned reporters that they should carefully consider and make choices about everything they report, "especially when it comes to diplomatic reports, they must be cautious, understand policies, and consider its international impact." He emphasized: "There is no 'controversy' about diplomatic reports, because it is not a conflict among the people."

On May 25, 1957, at the reception given by Peng Zhen to the former French Prime Minister Faure, Premier Zhou said a lot to our reporters. At this reception, he was supposed to sit and talk with Faure.A few of us reporters sat near them and listened.When they talked about the Taiwan issue, Fuhr suddenly said: "If there are no reporters present, I would like to discuss this issue with you in detail." Premier Zhou pointed at us and said: "I have many reporters here!" , the two of them left their seats and went to the side to talk.The reception was held in the open air.With only one interpreter, they stood far under a tree and exchanged views cordially.

After a while, their conversation ended.Premier Zhou came over specifically and told us: "You don't want to report on the Taiwan issue we just talked about." At first, we were all a little disappointed.Because, just the day before, on May 24, an anti-American demonstration happened by compatriots in Taipei.This incident shocked the world at the time, so it was the topic that people were most concerned about and talked about the most.Reporters who encountered these two important figures talking about it were, of course, reluctant to let it go. At this time, a reporter couldn't help asking the Prime Minister: "Is it okay to write about it in general terms? For example, you mentioned the phrase 'the conflict between the United States and Chiang Kai-shek has intensified'."

The Prime Minister waved his hand and said, "I was afraid that you would write this sentence, and you just wanted to write this sentence!" The conversation is sparked from here.He taught us to report facts logically.That is to say, things must be explained clearly and well-organized, or they must not be far-fetched, or they must not mess up the society, and they must make people look reasonable.Premier Zhou said, "However, we must not turn it into metaphysics." Premier Zhou further pointed out seriously, "We must also look at the problem dialectically." "As a reporter," he said, "you can't see a phenomenon and just record what you hear, but you should make a choice." This is because, "many things are simple in appearance, but they are But it often contains many very complicated issues and many subtleties.” Then, still using the Taiwan issue as an example, he asked us: “Do you want to liberate Taiwan peacefully?”

Both me and other journalists replied: "Hope." He followed up with a question: "If the United States controls Taiwan more tightly, will it help us liberate Taiwan?" We all shook our heads. So far, we have all begun to understand the intention of the Prime Minister's question. He pointed out, "Now the United States has sent three additional divisions to Taiwan, and the fleet has stepped up its activities. If we continue to shout here that the conflict between the United States and Chiang Kai-shek has intensified, wouldn't it add fuel to the fire? Wouldn't it prompt the United States to step up its control over Taiwan?" After hearing this, we suddenly realized that we all nodded in agreement. "Today's People's Daily editorial on this issue is right. This is an anti-American movement by Taiwan compatriots, and it is the intensification of the contradiction between the people and the United States and Chiang Kai-shek." Then he said to us with concern: "Of course , your subjective wishes are good. You always hope to solve the Taiwan issue at once, and you always hope that the United States and Chiang Kai-shek will fall out at once. You always take the problem too simply, and you are always impatient. The development of objective reality is delicate , twists and turns, but you see it very straight, like a straight tube.” Having said that, Premier Zhou came to his seat to toast some foreign envoys stationed in China.After the toast, he saw that our reporters were still gathered in a circle and were talking in a low voice, so he walked over to us and said: "Your heart is good and your wish is good, but you don't know how to speak dialectically. Look at the problem, so," he said meaningfully, "many things are often, as the old Chinese saying goes, 'backfired', and the results are contrary to your subjective wishes." He warned us not to "get excited and irritable when we see something important happens", and we have to talk a lot, making us very nervous." He instructed us with earnest words to keep a calm head when encountering problems.Because only when the mind is calm can we deeply and thoroughly observe and analyze whether the timing of our propaganda is appropriate, and whether the weight and proportion of our propaganda are just right.Only in this way can foreign affairs reporting serve the current political struggle more favorably. Regarding how to observe and deal with problems dialectically, Premier Zhou not only taught us in words, but also taught us by example.For example, he both let go and held tightly to reporters' reports about him.He once said to me: "I am afraid that the most recent newspapers have reported my activities, but I have not read them beforehand except for particularly important news." As long as he finds mistakes in the reports, he will definitely point them out seriously.He repeatedly stressed that journalists should neither shrink back nor be self-righteous; they should be bold and responsible, think independently, not rely on others, and ask others for advice when they get what they have.In particular, "When encountering important policy issues and diplomatic issues, you should ask relevant parties for instructions. In this way, you can avoid making mistakes that are hard to find yourself. And once such mistakes happen, the impact will be great." Once, I made a mistake in reporting a foreign news.Premier Zhou specially brought the leaders of Xinhua News Agency Wu Lengxi and Zhu Muzhi, the deputy secretary-general of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhang Su, the secretary of the Prime Minister's Office Wei Ming, Marxism-Leninism, and me to his office in the Xihua Hall of Zhongnanhai for a meeting. Reported as "Sparrow", dissected and summed up lessons learned.He talked for an hour on the reporter's interviewing, writing, work attitude, thinking style and other issues.Among them, he specifically expounded on the dialectical relationship between journalists' strengthening of asking for instructions and independent responsibility.He pointed out, "The issues that journalists need to interview and report on are broad and subtle, and the situations they face are complex, and many unexpected things often happen. In this way, journalists have to ask others for advice. For example, for this foreign-related news, whether to How to report, you should ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for instructions, or you can ask me directly." He paused for a while, changed the topic, and said: "However, the reporter's request for instructions is to clarify the matter, not to make mistakes and shirk responsibility." He took my erroneous manuscript as an example, although he It was reviewed and signed by others, and "it is complete in terms of procedures", but mistakes will not disappear just because someone signed it.Because others can only judge from the manuscript itself, whether the situation is correct, whether the facts are inconsistent, whether the content conforms to the spirit of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, etc. As for issues involving diplomatic relations, what impact will it cause in diplomacy after the report is published, etc. , it is impossible to be very thoughtful.It is up to the reporter to think and grasp it. "Therefore, journalists must consider issues very carefully, and reporters must be independently responsible for each manuscript they write." He also said with emphasis: "Even if you want to publish my speech, you have to read it carefully. Are there any mistakes. If you find any mistakes, you should also point them out.” The analysis of his words is very incisive and to the point, but the meaning of the words is sincere and moving, so that everyone feels that although they have been criticized, they feel comfortable and benefit a lot.His earnest teaching will always be a spur to me personally.During the "Cultural Revolution", when I was dealing with the copy of the congratulatory speech delivered by Kang Sheng on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to the upcoming Congress of the Albanian Labor Party in the International Department of Xinhua News Agency, I found that Albania, which is located on the north coast of the Adriatic Sea, was said to be located on the south coast.Although this article has been reviewed by Chairman Mao, I am reminded of Premier Zhou’s teaching: No matter what documents are processed, no matter who edits or distributes articles or speeches, and no matter who signs the final draft, journalists must be responsible independently.So, I immediately called the relevant department, and the relevant department immediately notified that I had arrived in Tirana and told Kang Sheng who was about to speak at the conference, thus preventing a joke that should not have happened. During my interviews, I have repeatedly heard Premier Zhou teach us this way: Journalists should learn more from society, because the world of journalists' activities is society.He believes that our journalists must first be politically firm.However, this is not enough, but also sharp thinking and excellent business.To engage in foreign affairs reporting, one must be familiar with major events in the world, and be able to understand and grasp the intricate laws of international affairs. At the reception for Faur, when he talked to our reporters about how to do a good job in diplomatic reporting, he said, "Reporters must have a wealth of knowledge and analytical skills." However, "It is very difficult to do this. Difficult." The Prime Minister imagined for the reporter and said: "Because you are exposed to a lot of things, if you understand this today, you may not understand that tomorrow." "So you have to learn more and drill more; Learning from other aspects.” Premier Zhou said with a smile: “This is the experience life of journalists.” The words are short and the meaning is long.These words are indeed very profound and important to us reporters who report on foreign affairs. In this regard, I not only have personal experience, but also have personal pain. Not long before this conversation, that is, on May 21, 1957, Premier Zhou took time out of his busy schedule to invite me and a person in charge of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have a conversation.He pointed out, "To be a good reporter, you have to do what you do, learn what you do, and be good at what you do." It turned out that on the evening of May 20, the ambassador of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) held a banquet for Premier Zhou.While the banquet was in progress, someone from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent Premier Zhou a joint statement issued by the prime ministers of India and Ceylon on the 19th.After reading it, Premier Zhou temporarily added the following paragraph in his speech at the meeting: Today we saw the joint statement issued by Prime Minister Nehru and Prime Minister Ceylon during his visit to Ceylon.We appreciate their mention of international affairs in China and other Asian countries, as well as their emphasis on the importance of the Five Principles of Pancasila.This shows that the spirit of the Bandung Conference and the spirit of unity have been shown everywhere and at any time. In my opinion, Premier Zhou's remarks are very newsworthy and should be the focus of the banquet news, and be highlighted in the introduction.However, it would be too long to copy it into the introduction, so I discussed with the person in charge of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and summarized his words into one sentence in the form of paraphrasing: "Premier Zhou Enlai expressed his support for India today. The joint statement of the prime ministers of the two countries." The details are on the second page of the message. After Premier Zhou saw the news in the newspaper on the 21st, he immediately summoned the person in charge of the Asian Department and me.He said: He did not say to "support" this statement, nor could he "support" this statement.Because there are two points in this statement that we cannot support. One is that it severely condemned Pakistan on the Kashmir issue; The Soviet Union's nuclear tests were compared with the nuclear tests of the United States and Britain.And said to me, "I approve of you breaking the rules and putting the latest and most important things in the introduction. The problem is that the introduction got the spirit of my speech wrong." He also praised the way that the person in charge of the Asia Department and I worked together to study the manuscript. "The problem is, you shouldn't easily add weighty words like 'support' to my remarks. You never thought that if the statement is the same as ours All the same, would I not use the word 'support'? Why should I just say 'notice it', 'thank you' for it?" He turned to me and said, "This incident shows that you still lack international knowledge and are not well aware of world events. A thorough understanding of the current situation should be possessed by foreign affairs reporters." He earnestly taught, "What do you want to interview? What to learn", "When encountering complex problems, you should always discuss with experts." Then, he enthusiastically encouraged me: "You are engaged in current affairs interviews, and you are also engaged in diplomatic work, so you must understand the art of diplomatic work and make contributions to diplomatic work. Contribution. Of course, diplomatic work and news reports have their own rules, but both must be subject to our country’s foreign policy.” I listened to him at the time and understood what he meant. Foreign affairs journalists should always be aware of their responsibilities and serve my country’s foreign policy through reporting, but foreign affairs reporting should not be equated with diplomatic work.To master this art, one must be familiar with domestic and foreign political situations, be good at observation and independent thinking, and cultivate a keen sense of smell. On the eve of "May 1" in 1956, Premier Zhou was at a reception for foreign guests. The head of a Japanese non-governmental delegation once said to Premier Zhou, "When I come to China next time, I will definitely bring the Japanese government's desire to establish diplomatic relations with me." Come.” When writing this article, I thought of the Prime Minister’s teachings, and based on the current situation of Sino-Japanese relations, I reconsidered that if this person’s speech was published, it would have adverse consequences for him.I told the prime minister my thoughts through the prime minister's secretary. He appreciated that we considered the situation of the guests and asked us to ask the guests for their own opinions.So, I discussed with the Japanese person through the reception staff, and eased his tone, that is, changed "definitely" to "hope."He was very grateful for that. Premier Zhou also often created interview and study conditions for reporters. Once, when he wanted to meet foreign guests, he saw that I left after writing the message, and immediately notified the secretary to call me back.After seeing off the guests, he said to me earnestly: "You can listen from the sidelines, and you can learn more about the situation, so that you can do a good job in reporting." Another time, when I went to the Prime Minister’s office to submit a manuscript to him for review, he and Liao Chengzhi were discussing with some comrades from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee how to sign a treaty with Indonesia on the issue of dual citizenship.At that time, it was my first contact with the issue of dual citizenship, and I was both unfamiliar and interested.However, I think they are studying "secret matters of diplomatic work", and I should "actively avoid". Unexpectedly, just as I turned to leave, Premier Zhou stopped me and asked me to sit and listen after asking me that I had no other urgent matters to do.He even briefly explained the ins and outs of the dual citizenship issue for me and two other later comrades. ——Premier Zhou’s trust, care, cultivation, and sincere friendship with a reporter working beside him made it difficult for me to calm down, as if there was a huge warm current rushing and galloping!