作者：龔如仲（美國(guó)）
海外頭條總編審 王 在 軍 （中國(guó)）
海外頭條副編審 Wendy溫迪 （英國(guó)）
海 外 頭 條總 編 火 鳳 凰 （海外）
圖片選自百度
那時(shí)候的新聞工作者
作者：龔如仲（美國(guó)）
二十世紀(jì)七十年代，我正在中國(guó)國(guó)際廣播電臺(tái)當(dāng)英語(yǔ)播音員。五年工作的經(jīng)歷讓我體會(huì)到了當(dāng)時(shí)中國(guó)廣播和電視的從業(yè)者身上有幾個(gè)非常鮮明的特點(diǎn)。這些我不得不提及的特點(diǎn)是：一、相互平等、彼此以誠(chéng)相待、工作氛圍輕松愉快；二、極其敬業(yè)、潛心鉆研學(xué)問、對(duì)待業(yè)務(wù)認(rèn)真嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)；三、不求奢華、大力提倡廉潔、里里外外兩袖清風(fēng)。下面我就想說說那時(shí)候關(guān)于新聞工作者的點(diǎn)滴往事。
（一） 我先說說相互平等。
在國(guó)際電臺(tái)英語(yǔ)部（那時(shí)候叫RADIO PEKING）工作時(shí)，我的第一感覺是：無論你是大牌主播、還是小小監(jiān)聽，無論你是著名而有權(quán)威的前輩、還是一般后進(jìn)的新兵，無論你是臺(tái)長(zhǎng)主任、還是普通編輯，彼此之間絕無高低貴賤之分。大家和睦相處、齊心協(xié)力，心中只有一個(gè)目的，就是“把廣播事業(yè)搞好”。
比如在我工作的英語(yǔ)部，無論是魏琳主任還是部里一把手黨支部書記老徐，我們一律叫她們魏老太太或是老徐，沒有一個(gè)人稱她們?yōu)槲褐魅?、魏組長(zhǎng)或是徐書記的。有的年輕人干脆直呼魏老太太為魏琳，絕無惺惺作態(tài)之奉迎。而身為領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的書記老徐和主任魏琳也習(xí)慣自然地接受這種稱謂。即使面對(duì)中央廣播事業(yè)局最高長(zhǎng)官?gòu)埾闵较壬蚴菄?guó)際臺(tái)的頭號(hào)人物張臺(tái)長(zhǎng)，我們也直呼他們?yōu)槔蠌?，有時(shí)侯還親切地以“香山同志”來稱呼張香山局長(zhǎng)。據(jù)說這種平等而親切的民主作風(fēng)是從革命時(shí)期的延安帶來的。說實(shí)話，我很欣賞那時(shí)候的民主氛圍，在那樣的氛圍里工作起來心情格外輕松。
然而對(duì)比當(dāng)下的中國(guó)，人與人之間（尤其是官與官之間）存在著太多的虛假與吹捧。無論在城市或鄉(xiāng)村，人與人之間幾乎都以“官銜”相稱。無論是張三李四，只要他或她有個(gè)一官半職，那怕是小小的股長(zhǎng)、所長(zhǎng)或村長(zhǎng)，彼此之間無不稱之以官號(hào)。而在官辦或私營(yíng)的各類大小企業(yè)里，你會(huì)遇到數(shù)不清的張總、李總、陳經(jīng)理或王經(jīng)理。給我的感覺是，倘若不以官銜來稱呼對(duì)方，似乎就是對(duì)對(duì)方的不敬或不尊。更有甚者，有些鄉(xiāng)村企業(yè)的所有者，在電話中竟能坦然地告訴對(duì)方：“我是楊總啊，請(qǐng)你們的朱總接電話”。如果對(duì)方既非老板、又無官銜，則一律以老師稱之。中國(guó)幾千年來的“天、地、君、親、師”這五大尊稱，如今在中國(guó)已變了味道。僅次于天地、君王、父母的老師稱謂已被某些人無知地濫用了。
更令人不解的是，連一向以正直剛猛、疾惡如仇享譽(yù)社會(huì)的中國(guó)公安系統(tǒng)的警官們?nèi)缃窕ハ嘀g也是官名相呼。如果看一部有關(guān)公安題材的電影或電視劇，你就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，劇中的人物對(duì)局長(zhǎng)、處長(zhǎng)、科長(zhǎng)這一類官員肯定會(huì)稱之以張局、王處或陳科；甚至對(duì)一個(gè)小小的派出所所長(zhǎng)或是刑警隊(duì)支隊(duì)長(zhǎng)也一定是以李所或趙支來稱謂。如今的中國(guó)，一本正經(jīng)的“官本位”所導(dǎo)致的等級(jí)分明早已取代了當(dāng)年民主平等所帶來的自在和輕松。對(duì)此，人們的內(nèi)心深處可能時(shí)時(shí)會(huì)有某種不可名狀的沉重。
（二）我再談?wù)剺O其敬業(yè)。
回想那時(shí)候的新聞工作者，大家除了享受工作時(shí)的平等和民主外，在業(yè)務(wù)上也是極具事業(yè)心的。且不說魏老太、“巫大戶”和“拎只雞”們?nèi)绾瓮ㄟ^千錘百煉把播音技藝提高到令人驚嘆的高度，就是我前文提及的英語(yǔ)部的“權(quán)威人物”的三位老太太，她們也是通過不斷鉆研技能而把英語(yǔ)水平發(fā)揮到了極致。
姜桂濃是一個(gè)滿臉肅穆、不茍言笑的老古板，然而她有一雙明察秋毫的眼睛和兩只極為靈敏的耳朵。她可以在常人感覺不到的情況下，發(fā)現(xiàn)你文章或稿件中的任何微小的差錯(cuò)，還可以辯別出你讀稿過程中的發(fā)音有絲毫不準(zhǔn)或表達(dá)有欠缺的地方。老太太退休后不甘寂寞，與她在外文出版社當(dāng)主編的丈夫一起，共同撰寫了英文版的【周恩來傳】。
麥老太太大名麥少楣，她的最大專長(zhǎng)是英文寫作。在我工作過的幾個(gè)不同領(lǐng)域里，還沒發(fā)現(xiàn)有幾個(gè)人英語(yǔ)筆頭能力超越麥老太太的。在平時(shí)工作中，她總是幫助大小編輯們提高稿件的寫作能力。
另一位權(quán)威人士是名叫張慶年的半老太太，也就是那一位與我同訪英國(guó)的老張。老張的了不起在于她對(duì)英美文學(xué)的極深造詣，她常常指導(dǎo)我們這些播音員如何“演好”對(duì)外播出的各種“劇目”。另外，她還有一項(xiàng)旁人難以想象的絕技 ，那就是她那極快的英文打字本領(lǐng)。無論多長(zhǎng)多難的文章或稿件，無論你以何種速度讀完此文，她都可以一邊聽你朗讀、一邊打字，等你讀完全文時(shí)，她那雙快如穿梭的手已經(jīng)把你所念的文章打完，而且很少有漏打或錯(cuò)打之處。在國(guó)際電臺(tái)，老張的英文打字技術(shù)可謂天下無雙。
除了我所工作過的國(guó)際電臺(tái)英語(yǔ)部外，因工作需要，我還會(huì)和同屬?gòu)V播事業(yè)局的中央電視臺(tái)的有關(guān)人士打過交道，其中最著名的莫過于當(dāng)時(shí)的體育解說“名嘴”宋世雄先生。與宋先生的相識(shí)和合作開始于1978年冬。
因報(bào)導(dǎo)第八屆亞洲運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)之需要，宋先生和我分別作為中文和英文記者隨中國(guó)體育代表團(tuán)前往泰國(guó)。有幸的是，我與宋先生同時(shí)下榻于曼谷的國(guó)賓飯店（EMBASSADOR HOTEL）。由于宋先生和我同住一層樓，而且房間還緊挨著，這使我有了充分時(shí)間和機(jī)會(huì)全過程地目睹了宋先生如何為實(shí)況播出第八屆亞運(yùn)會(huì)開幕式及閉幕式盛況而作準(zhǔn)備的。
在常人眼里，“體育主播或解說人員都是在比賽現(xiàn)場(chǎng)邊看邊即興發(fā)揮的，事先無須作任何詳盡的準(zhǔn)備。而當(dāng)時(shí)名聲如日中天的‘宋大名嘴’在報(bào)導(dǎo)體育賽事時(shí)更是善于信口播報(bào)、隨意發(fā)揮”。但事實(shí)上，這是對(duì)宋先生現(xiàn)場(chǎng)解說的曲解和不敬。
我所了解的宋先生是一個(gè)極其敬業(yè)、極其負(fù)責(zé)任的媒體人。為了播好亞運(yùn)會(huì)的開幕式盛況，宋先生在前往泰國(guó)之前就開始了備稿工作。他不僅事先通過國(guó)家體委把亞洲各體育代表團(tuán)的重要人員組成情況弄得一清二楚，而且對(duì)整個(gè)入場(chǎng)式的前后順序、乃至各國(guó)體育代表團(tuán)的不同特點(diǎn)及一些著名運(yùn)動(dòng)員的個(gè)人背景都熟記于心。更令人嘆服的是，在亞運(yùn)會(huì)開幕前的幾天內(nèi)，宋先生從不和我們其它記者一樣一起出門逛街，而是盡可能把自己關(guān)在房間里，利用一切時(shí)間寫他的“預(yù)案”。
有一回我進(jìn)他房間串門，竟然發(fā)現(xiàn)他桌子上擺著一份長(zhǎng)達(dá)幾十頁(yè)紙的解說稿。當(dāng)人們看著電視里宋先生神采飛揚(yáng)地用他那圓潤(rùn)而響亮的聲音“毫不費(fèi)勁”地向觀眾介紹一隊(duì)隊(duì)正入場(chǎng)的各國(guó)運(yùn)動(dòng)員的情況時(shí)，恐怕沒有人會(huì)想到這位功夫了得的名嘴私下里曾花費(fèi)了多少時(shí)間和心血！宋先生這種敬業(yè)精神真讓我感嘆和敬佩。
再看看如今的某些所謂的體育名嘴們，他們對(duì)待工作的投入和專注與那時(shí)候的新聞工作者簡(jiǎn)直相差太遠(yuǎn)了。看看現(xiàn)如今，有的“名嘴”在解說足球比賽時(shí)，除了把正在盤球或傳球的運(yùn)動(dòng)員名字一一報(bào)來外，很少向觀眾介紹或解說雙方球隊(duì)所用的戰(zhàn)術(shù)和意圖；更有一位頭腦發(fā)熱的足球賽解說“名嘴”，有一次竟然在轉(zhuǎn)播和解說足球國(guó)際大賽上忘卻了自己中國(guó)記者的身分，不顧國(guó)際影響地瘋狂大呼“意大利足球萬歲”！結(jié)果讓正與意大利國(guó)家足球隊(duì)對(duì)抗的另一支外國(guó)球隊(duì)的國(guó)人大為不爽。
還有一位以大嘴著稱的體育記者，在體育賽事的解說中，經(jīng)常云山霧照、不知所云。其驢唇不對(duì)馬嘴的即興解說常常讓觀眾摸不著頭腦。
還有一件“小事”讓我至今難以釋懷：現(xiàn)如今北京幾乎所有體育主持人或“名嘴”們，當(dāng)他們解說美國(guó)職業(yè)籃球賽時(shí)，幾乎千篇一律地把英文字母NBA（美國(guó)國(guó)家籃球協(xié)會(huì)）中的“N”的發(fā)音發(fā)成為北京土音“恩”的，永遠(yuǎn)是“恩比愛”，而不是準(zhǔn)確地發(fā)成英語(yǔ)的NBA。我在北京生活和工作過多年，當(dāng)然知道幾乎所有土生土長(zhǎng)的北京人都會(huì)以漢語(yǔ)拼音的方式把英文字母的“N”音發(fā)為“恩”的。我覺得普通北京人如此發(fā)音無可厚非。然而身為中央電視臺(tái)或北京電視臺(tái)的主持人這樣來念就太不應(yīng)該了，因?yàn)槟闼鶊?bào)導(dǎo)的是美國(guó)籃球賽，當(dāng)然要以英語(yǔ)的發(fā)音來讀NBA了。
我之所以這樣說，是因?yàn)橛幸淮我晃辉L問中國(guó)的美國(guó)友人（懂漢語(yǔ)）問了我一個(gè)問題，他說：“為什么中國(guó)電視臺(tái)的主播們都把NBA念成“恩比愛”？難道他們不懂英文字母N的正確發(fā)音嗎”？我聽后很是尷尬，我怎么向他說明我們那些個(gè)或許曾經(jīng)留學(xué)英美、中英文造詣都頗為深厚的“名嘴”們就是習(xí)慣于以北京方言來發(fā)N音呢？
現(xiàn)在，想想那個(gè)時(shí)候的新聞工作者，看看如今某些“大牌”和“名嘴”們，我心里的這份感嘆、遺憾、甚至惋惜，有幾人能夠理解？
（三） 我最后聊聊不求奢華。
議論完權(quán)威和名嘴，接下來，我還想說一說那時(shí)候新聞工作者的工作環(huán)境和有關(guān)風(fēng)氣。
那時(shí)候的中國(guó)，經(jīng)濟(jì)不夠發(fā)達(dá)，人們生活依然清貧，所以我們這些新聞工作者在使用辦公資源上是極其勤儉的。我們所使用的圓珠筆“原珠筆”都不是從文具店直接采購(gòu)的成品。當(dāng)時(shí)我們辦公室只供應(yīng)廉價(jià)的圓珠筆筆芯，而要把一個(gè)個(gè)筆芯變成可以寫稿的筆，我們必須自己動(dòng)手。辦法是：用一層層涂上漿糊或膠水的牛皮紙把筆芯裹成筆狀，然后就可以將其當(dāng)筆使用了。我們所使用的稿紙，也是千方百計(jì)地做到充分利用。只用了一面的稿紙是無論如何也不會(huì)被當(dāng)著廢紙而丟棄的。
如此節(jié)約的目的倒不僅僅是因?yàn)榻?jīng)濟(jì)困難，作為中央直接管轄的中國(guó)廣播事業(yè)局財(cái)力還是很雄厚的。這樣做的原因更多的是出于一種習(xí)慣。那時(shí)候的人慣于勤儉、不愛奢華、不會(huì)浪費(fèi)。這幾乎是一種約定俗成的風(fēng)氣（當(dāng)然啰，那時(shí)侯的新聞人絕對(duì)沒有機(jī)會(huì)撈錢）。
但對(duì)比一下如今中國(guó)媒體界的某些主播、主持、“名嘴”或“大腕”們，那時(shí)候的新聞人簡(jiǎn)直太顯“孤寒”、“小氣”了。現(xiàn)如今，不少名記者或大牌主持人，不但薪水豐厚，還有大把外快進(jìn)帳。更有少數(shù)主持人的身分早已貴如歌星、明星。他們一旦“走穴”，一場(chǎng)主持活動(dòng)下來少則幾萬、多則幾十萬，有時(shí)侯可達(dá)日進(jìn)斗金。還有些美女主持人，憑著自己年青貌美即可獲利頗豐。
我在北京為一家美國(guó)公司管理業(yè)務(wù)時(shí)，幾乎天天都到一家五星級(jí)酒店健身（主要是游泳）。某一天，我在酒店大堂看見一“氣質(zhì)非凡”的麗人，正被幾位男子眾星捧月般走向大堂的電梯。出于好奇心，我向大堂一保安詢問此女來歷。該保安告訴我：她是北京某某電視臺(tái)的“著名”主持人，目前正為一家“著名”的私營(yíng)企業(yè)做節(jié)目，該私營(yíng)公司老板出錢讓她住進(jìn)酒店總統(tǒng)套房，已經(jīng)住了一個(gè)多禮拜了。我聽后不覺愕然。要知道，該飯店的總統(tǒng)套房一天的開銷至少要人民幣7000多元，折合美金約1100多元，住上十天，便是萬把美金。我對(duì)此私營(yíng)老板如此“慷慨多金”大為“嘆服”，我同時(shí)更對(duì)那位二十出頭妙齡女郎敢于泰然自若地住進(jìn)總統(tǒng)套房的氣魄深深“傾倒”。
回憶那時(shí)候新聞工作者的平等、敬業(yè)和清廉，看看如今中國(guó)某些所謂的名嘴、大腕、著名主持人的浮躁、張揚(yáng)和奢華，我心中不由得感慨萬分。
（本文選自【歲月如重---兼談華國(guó)鋒】）之第四章“無冕之王”）
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?
龔如仲：生于上海，中國(guó)對(duì)外經(jīng)濟(jì)貿(mào)易大學(xué)英語(yǔ)系畢業(yè)，畢業(yè)后奔赴非洲任鐵道部援建坦贊鐵路工作組總部英語(yǔ)翻譯，中國(guó)國(guó)際廣播電臺(tái)英語(yǔ)部英語(yǔ)播音員、記者，外貿(mào)部中國(guó)輕工業(yè)品進(jìn)出口總公司出口二處業(yè)務(wù)員、副處長(zhǎng)，外貿(mào)部輕工業(yè)品進(jìn)出口總公司駐美國(guó)公司總裁（處長(zhǎng)）。
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作者現(xiàn)為中華詩(shī)詞學(xué)會(huì)會(huì)員、中國(guó)經(jīng)典文學(xué)網(wǎng)特約作家、臺(tái)灣采薇出版社資深顧問、奧地利英文網(wǎng)Sinopress特聘專欄作家、北美北斗星文學(xué)社副社長(zhǎng)、副總編輯。
