Pop star Wang Fei narrowly escaped a Princess Diana-style tragedy on Saturday
when her car, chased by paparazzi, was forced to speed on the wrong side of the
road.
The pregnant pop singer's car almost hit another car head-on after the driver
took the wrong way in a haste to lose the photographers tailing behind.
Before getting into the car after having dinner at a restaurant, Wang, whose
due date is quickly approaching, had to "run hell for leather" to dodge
reporters.
Anyone who saw the photo of Wang with a big belly trying to get into the car
would have worried about her, for a miscarriage could have occurred. They also
would have been angry at the gouzai - the Chinese term for paparazzi, which
literally translates as "son of a bitch."
A reporter from Hong Kong, who was among the paparazzi that day, said later
that he was sorry for the chase but he "had to for the sake of work."
These fellows are so unscrupulous.
It is not wrong to be loyal to one's job but all professions have their
ethics. Concern for human life is the minimum requirement.
Chasing a woman on the verge of delivery and forcing her to run fast is a
cruel thing to do. What would these reporters and photographers think if their
pregnant wives were placed in the same situation?
Many ordinary citizens have expressed their wrath on the Internet against the
gouzai and the media outlets they represent.
The entertainment media always defends such behaviour by saying it satisfies
audiences' curiosity about celebrities' lives. It is undeniable that many people
want to know at the earliest possible time what kind of a baby (a boy or a girl)
Wang will give birth to. But how many of them would be interested in what dishes
Wang ordered at the restaurant the other day (as the paparazzi reported)?
And how many of them would tolerate the tormenting of their beloved singer?
Personally I have no particular like or dislike for Wang, for I do not care
much about pop songs. But I admire the grace she showed in her car before the
cameras of the paparazzi. She even smiled a little. She is much more noble than
the gouzai, I think.
Most of the above-mentioned paparazzi members are from Hong Kong and Taiwan
media outlets. I do not know if my fellow journalists in those capitalist
societies believe that media has a responsibility to society. But I do believe
that what media reports influences audiences, especially youngsters, greatly.
In recent years, some mass media organizations on the Chinese mainland,
including Internet portals, have somewhat resigned themselves to degeneration by
giving more coverage to social gossips, sex-related cases and epicurean
lifestyles.
The excessive coverage of material and carnal pleasures have led to a fairly
large part of the younger generation seeking selfish pleasures in blatant
violation of social norms or without the slightest sense of shame.
Chat rooms run by some Internet portals have played a particularly bad role
in this regard. The moral standards are sliding among our younger generation, at
least a considerably part of them, whether they are university students or rural
migrant workers.
Members of the media should reflect on their role in the development of such
a social trend.
All media outlets rely on raising the rate of reading or watching or
mouse-clicking to increase revenue.
But the strategy of increasing the number of audiences by meeting vulgar
tastes and disregarding social ethics represents the loss of the most basic duty
a journalist should honour to society. The paparazzi, and their bosses, should
give a serious thought to this duty.
Email: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 05/17/2006 page4)
