Arresting people and saving people: the dilemma of news commercialization, track selection and saving people

When Diana fell in a pool of blood, should the reporters who caught up from behind hurry to save her, or should they hurry to capture this scene? The answer seems self-evident, but in fact, journalists chose the second way. The whole world is condemning them, and Britain has also banned their photo agencies from reporting Diana's funeral and preparing for a lawsuit. Over the years, journalism itself has finally become the focus of public attention.

Is it to save people? Is it a snapshot? Almost all journalists have been exposed to this kind of argument. In fact, this is also a dispute between social ethics and professionalism. Social morality requires saving people first, and professional ethics requires truthful reporting first. Here, the reason why professionalism dares to challenge social ethics is first for the benefit of the industry, not for personal gain. In this case, a reporter will instinctively raise his camera and think that this is an opportunity for fame and fortune. At this time, he is a career first, and then he is himself. A person in a professional state will have less remorse on his conscience: because I am working, my work can be blameless.

During more than ten years of "caring" for Dianfei, several British tabloids have been very active. This is the market. Since some buyers are willing to pay a high price, some people will flock to it. They carry the most advanced "cannon bag" and follow the royal family wherever they go. One vote is almost enough for a lifetime. In fact, they are not strictly journalists, but a group of professional photographers. This is the case with the perpetrators of Diana's tragedy. They ruined the reputation of journalists, and the real journalism took the fall for them.

But at the same time, the conscience of most journalists is increasingly squeezed by the pressure of survival competition, and they will envy the extreme practices of their peers.

Less will also express understanding in my heart. This is actually the beginning of the decline in the atmosphere. In the early days of news marketization, we will make a fuss about services. At present, many tabloids here do this. But it is untenable to rely solely on service, so we began to pursue the so-called "exclusive news". Policies and meetings are routine reports, which are not easy to make tricks, and may cause trouble. Ordinary people don't want to watch them, so they are bound to spy on celebrities' private lives and even murder pornography. But it is generally impossible to get this kind of information through conventional channels, so we began to encourage the use of various means, even illegal means, as long as we can achieve our goals. This has really formed a so-called tabloid style, which is a style of fearing chaos in the world. Due to news discipline and professional self-discipline, the tabloids here have not yet reached this stage, but with the further fierce news competition, this situation should be prevented.

There is an American movie "Hero", which begins with a plane crash and passengers are in urgent need of rescue. The first person who rushed to the scene was a reporter from a TV station. Instead of rushing to save people, they set up cameras and broadcast live excitedly. One of them muttered, "I'm sure I'll win the lottery." Later, in order to better show the scene of the hero saving lives, they even spared no effort to recreate a "scene" and performed the whole process from beginning to end. At this time, news has lost its original meaning and become a commodity, which is what we often call "hype". The effect of "hype" is undoubtedly powerful, but it betrays authenticity and readers.

As a reporter, I will naturally consider what I would do if this happened to me. I will save lives, but at the same time I will regret giving up the opportunity to catch news. And I know that as long as I have the slightest idea, I won't rule out the possibility of choosing the latter. Then what should I say?