Chapter 29 Part IV: It is not necessary to change the department if you change your career

Dear Teacher Xu: I am a student of the Chinese Department of a university, and my dream is to become a famous TV host. The problem is, I'm in a college literature major, which doesn't seem to have anything to do with journalism.I want to transfer to the School of Journalism and Communication. But it's not that easy to change majors. In fact, I've made some efforts, and it seems to be more difficult.But the idea of ​​changing departments is very strong in my heart. I don't know if I am facing a futile struggle or an inevitable choice? I would like to meet with you for some guidance on my situation.

student, Yi Ran Dear Yiran: In the last meeting and conversation, I encouraged you to develop a career as a media person, but I did not encourage you to change departments. I am very happy to see your letter today, saying that you no longer want to change departments.I think this is a leap in your mind.In other words, you have crossed another chasm in your life. In fact, if you take a look at the experiences of great Chinese and foreign journalists, you will find that to be a great reporter or host, or generally speaking, to be an outstanding media person, it is not necessary to study journalism.I don't want to specifically say what specific majors media celebrities come from, but there is no doubt that the academic qualifications of those famous media professionals must be very extensive.People with a background in journalism and media are definitely in the minority on the whole.

There have been discussions in the Chinese media in the past. Compared with the writers who write articles and experts from all walks of life who contribute articles, who is an editor?In the end, everyone can accept the saying that editors are "miscellaneous". In fact, this is due to the limitations of people's understanding in the past era.What is an editor?Editors are editors!Editors are editors!Editing is editing.Good editors (including various media fields, from news, literature to film and television, music), from topic selection, planning, organization, coordination, integration to the final product, need very good comprehensive quality.

Now, finally, there are some suitable names to sum up these people: planners, producers, media people.Your dream is to become a leading lady who shines as a host in the field of TV media.This dream is very good, very realistic, and definitely achievable—and the only contribution I can make to your development is not to change departments. The Chinese Department where you are now is one of the best springboards to enter the media.In my opinion, even better than a journalism major.Because the soul of media lies in content, not in technical production.Technical production is only a means to realize media content.They are chopsticks, and the content of the media - topics, themes, stories, words, expressions, performances, etc. - are the greasy prawns held by the ends of the chopsticks!

It seems that you have a hundred reasons for wanting to change departments to work in the media. In fact, in my opinion, you want to enjoy the feast of life but you are addicted to chopsticks and ignore the food! So don't switch.Stay in the Chinese Department well, read more, think more, write more, and participate in various campus activities, just like what you are doing now.After graduating and working in the media, you will quickly become an outstanding media person, a voice that can be trusted by the public and resonate with people. I can understand the rationale behind your desire to change majors: many big names in Chinese media, especially the anchors of CCTV, are mostly graduates of the Broadcasting Institute.This reason is reasonable.

But let me tell you, this is actually one of the problems with the Chinese media. "New Weekly" once did a cover article with the theme of "Mentally Retarded Chinese TV".Chinese TV, do you think it can be lower in IQ?I don't think it's possible anymore.Otherwise, the only people who really love to watch it will be children like Zhou Zhou! Cucumbers in Taiwan concocted a matchmaking rose, and roses bloomed everywhere on national TV stations. In the end, everyone saw no flowers but only thorns; a happy camp appeared on Hunan TV, and producers from all over the country immediately competed to launch Boring Story; in the 1990s In the later period, talk shows began to appear in China. As a result, hundreds of talk shows sprang up all over the country. Some famous faces thought that talk shows were to show their smiling muscles and tear glands, but they closed their doors amidst the despair of the audience.

The media is mentally retarded, for many reasons.But our media people are actually among the smartest media humans in the world.It's just that due to institutional reasons, their income is the least compared to their counterparts in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and developed countries; what they eat is hay, and what they squeeze out is yogurt.The separation of production and broadcasting, which conforms to the laws of the market economy and the laws of media operation, first aroused the enthusiasm of TV workers a few years ago and then was suddenly stopped, and now it has once again entered the room amidst the sound of reform.No matter how difficult and tortuous the road of media reform is, its direction is bound to make great strides toward marketization and commercialization.

Otherwise, it is impossible to follow the fast-changing world trend; otherwise, it is difficult to keep up with the pace of global economic development. This is the spring in the hearts of media workers. Although the colorful midsummer has not yet come, this spring, when you join the media, will definitely have a refreshing change compared to today! The disadvantages of China's media system are manifold.The media education system also has serious traces of a planned economy.The division of disciplines in the Broadcasting Institute is too detailed, the "Guangyuan" student graduation distribution system, the rigidity of news media education ideas, and the lagging of news communication theory are actually the disadvantages that cause media problems!Many students who came out of the Broadcasting Institute are deeply aware of the drawbacks of this system and deeply regret it.The practice of broadcasting college students being directed to TV stations caused by the system and tradition is still an important restrictive factor affecting the competition mechanism of TV talents in China.

I urge the media to rejuvenate and recruit talents in an eclectic manner. Chinese media used to emphasize the role of "mouthpiece".Although today's government's view of the media has changed from absolute control over the mouthpieces to an acknowledgment that the media is also a business and needs to respect business rules, this has led to the relative prosperity of today's media.The government's supervision of "content" will continue to exist.As for the control of media content, all countries are the same, but the degree of leniency varies from place to place.For example, in Canada, where I am writing this letter, the monitoring of media content, including the requirements for "Canadian Content", is much stricter than that of the United States.

Those media celebrities who became famous in the era of media mouthpieces and have survived habitually until today, without exception, all grew up in the era of "mouthpieces", were educated in the "mouthpiece" system, and engaged in media work under the requirements of "mouthpieces".The body part they work with the most is the mouthpiece, not the brain.The mouthpiece is the sound-producing device, and the brain is the organ of thought.It is indeed a characteristic of that generation of media people to speak out and not to think.As for ideas, independent thinking ability, and the content that has been ground by one's own brain--sorry, according to the regulations, it is not the business of media people.

This phenomenon, already a thing of the past, is rapidly fading.The people need thoughtful media that can guide and stimulate their thinking!The trend of the times is unstoppable. In the past few years, the hosts who rely on their faces and vocal cords have been driven out of the media by those who rely on their heads and sharp teeth. .Cui Yongyuan - he graduated from the Broadcasting Institute, he is considered an outstanding talent - in his autobiography, he repeatedly ridicules and humors his appearance (it seems that there is a chapter dedicated to apologizing for his image), in fact, he became the first talk show host People, just announced the arrival of the era of media brains! Is Cui Yongyuan ugly?It's not actually ugly.But why does he repeatedly emphasize that he is ugly?Because, his ugliness is compared with the selection standards of those traditional media - eyes should be round, like a golden bull; . The appearance of Cui Yongyuan announced the beginning of the end of the "mouthpiece" era.It is not easy for him to survive to this day with his sense of humor that avoids the important and ignores the trivial.But the audience is ruthless, they don't care how much control and censorship you have, they only care how you use China's national conditions to provide content that the Chinese people like to hear and see, and the Chinese government gives the green light!Therefore, Cui Yongyuan was speechless, not because he suffered from insomnia and exhaustion, not because he changed jobs, but because Chinese TV still has a long way to go to be open and tolerant of content! The needs of the times for media and the public's desire for content are harsh and urgent.Under the premise of social stability and national security, the era of media content blooming and colorful, and the era of competing with the world's media is exactly the dream that the national government and people are trying to foster.When we look back at the Chinese media in the first few years of the 21st century in a few years, you will marvel at the mountain-building movement of the media, just like we look at China's economic activities in the early 1990s, and it turns out that it is running rapidly under your feet! The essence of the mountain-building movement of the media is that it requires a large number of media people with independent thinking, thinking ability, spiritual connotation, rational logic, ability to analyze, compare, and judge.These people will surely become the peaks of the Chinese media industry rising in the hearts of Chinese and world audiences. Those who stand firm and find the right mountains will become the three mountains, five mountains, and lofty mountains in various industries in the future media field.The Chinese department you are studying has produced and will continue to produce successful and mature media professionals.You, no matter whether you change departments or not, are the lucky ones of this era, and you may become the spokesperson of this era-say what everyone wants to say, talk about what everyone wants to talk about, and let the public get their spirit and spirit from you. Cultural needs, to find the sustenance of their thoughts and emotions. I think this may be one of the most attractive places in the media. What you have to do now is to read a lot, study hard, and strive to establish your own way of looking at problems and the world—that is, the so-called outlook on life and values, and become a person who can think, think, and express , an attractive person (you are already very attractive, but not enough), a person with a critical spirit, independent personality, reflection ability, and comprehensive quality. Such a media person must still have a clear mouthpiece, but his thoughts must be able to shine.Such people, Chinese Department, Philosophy Department, Biology Department, Physics Department, and Journalism Communication Department...are actually hotbeds that can be born!Those who are interested in dedicating your future to a media career, no matter which department you are in, are you ready - get excited! Finally, tell a story that summarizes your problem.Comrade Mao Zedong came to Peking University to study with his father-in-law who was a professor at Peking University.However, Mao Zedong only found a job as an administrator in the Peking University Library, which was actually a doorman.Here, I firmly believe that the old man wants to transfer to another department—as a young man with great ambitions, how could he not want to receive formal education?However, fate prevented him from becoming a Peking University student like Luo Zhanglong, a returnee from studying abroad like Feng Youlan, and a Peking University professor like Li Dazhao—thus, he completed his understanding of modern thought systems through extensive reading and formed He expressed his own unique thinking on China's way out.If he didn't change his department, he became Mao Zedong! congratulations! Xu Xiaoping