5. Findings
5.3. Analysis of “desperate crimes”
out of three stories does not include either this strategy. That is also the case with regard to “open end”. Since all of the three stories focus on educational institutions it could be rather dangerous for journalists to express criticism in some of their stories.
Being the proclaimed beneficiary of the reforms and Party policies, students are not meant to suffer from any kind of abuse or restriction. Thus, in order to remain under the radar, journalists dealing with news stories in “abuse in education” might rather stick to the plain facts. They might also refrain from including any kind of
interviewee opinion. Since universities and schools are institutions with a clear number of students and faculty, interviewees might risk their educational career if the critic should be identified.
5.3. Analysis of “desperate crimes”
For the third, “desperate crimes” category three stories were collected for analysis:
Table 5.3.
Strategies of news stories of “desperate crimes”
Stories *Strategies
Impr CoV IOF OE
The case of “Yang Jia” (17.07.2008) Yes Yes Yes No (http://www.infzm.com/content/30113 accesed on June,
6th, 2011)
Observations on the case of “Deng Yujiao” (16.06.2009) Yes Yes Yes No Who is “Zhang Yunliang”? (9.07.2009) Yes Yes Yes No
*1. Improvisation (Impr.)
2. Circumvention of Values (CoV) 3. Interviewee Opinion Formation (IOF) 4. Open End (OE)
“The case of Yang Jia”, the first story in this category of “desperate crimes”, is considered to be one of the most widely known and most controversial cases among the 15 selected stories. “Yang Jia”, a young man from the Hebei Province kills six and
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
insures five police officers with a knife in the year 2008. After being harassed several times by the police without any provocation, “Yang Jia” decides to take revenge.
“Yang Jia” was prosecuted and sentenced to death. He was executed on October 13th 2008.
In the aftermath, “Yang Jia” became a symbol of the “underdog” who rises and resists against a corrupt and arbitrary government institution. The journalist of the story mainly employs “interviewee opinion formation” and “improvisation” to portray the background of this case. According to the profile of “Yang Jia” that the journalist manages to create with the help of interviews, “Yang Jia” seemed to be a decent citizen who valued order and loyalty: “Already in his childhood Yang Jia developed a special character trait. He always paid particularly attention that everything had to be orderly. He never just crossed the road without obeying the traffic laws. When his parents would randomly throw away their garbage, he would run over and pick it up.”
“Yang Jia” also came from an economically disadvantaged background.
According to the journalist, he was not able to afford the expensive treatment for his psychological illness. All in all, the “Yang Jia” is not portrayed as the villain but as a hero of the people and a victim of the system.
The journalist utilizes quotations of “Yang Jia” to describe the logic behind the killing and to create understanding for the sympathy that he enjoyed among the
population. During his trial “Yang Jia” argued that: “for everything you do to me, you are obligated to provide me with an explanation. If you do not provide me with any explanation for your actions, then I will provide you with an adequate reason for these actions.” What “Yang Jia” meant in this regard is that he condemns the illegal and arbitrary routine of the Chinese police. “Yang Jia” perceived his killing not only as an
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
act of revenge, but also as a drastic measure to remind the authorities that even they have to obey to the law.
The story of “Yang Jia” can be considered as politically higly explosive. Since the “ordinary” character of “Yang Jia” makes it easy for any average Chinese citizen to identify with, the story appeals to the “ordinary man” in general who struggles with the police and other powerful institutions.
“Observations on the case of Deng Yujiao” is a story that revises the story of the hotel servant at an establishment in Hubei that killed a local Party cadre out of self-defense to prevent an attempted rape-crime by the official. As a consequence,
“Deng Yujiao” was later charged with murder and found guilty. Yet, due to public pressure of the netizens, the case was revised and “Deng Yujiao” was rehabilitated.
The journalist employs “interviewee opinion formation” and quotes Deng Yujiao’s attorney who stressed the delicacy of this case and appropriateness of the harsh defensive reaction of the accused.
The case is considered as potentially sensitive due to the constellation of the protagonists. “Deng Yujiao” is but an ordinary girl from rural China gets abused by Party officials. In the eyes of the public, the case reflects the struggle between the powerless and the powerful. As a matter of fact, the Party did not only fail to fulfil its mission of protecting the people, on the contrary, it turned out to be the source of social misconduct itself. Similar to the case of “Yang Jia” “Deng Yujiao” is
considered as a symbol, a “champion” of the people. Due to the delicacy of this case, the story of “Deng Yujiao”, because of its wide dissemination on the internet and the reversal of verdict can be regarded a leading example of the category of “desperate crimes”.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
The third and last story in Category 3, “Who is Zhang Yunliang”, deals with the unemployed “Zhang Yunliang” from Suzhou who killed himself and 27 other people by setting a blaze on a bus in Chengdu. The journalist uses mainly
“interviewee opinion formation” to explore the personality of “Zhang Yunliang”. In this regard, the journalist digs into the past of “Zhang Yunliang” to find reasons for his killing. As to the insights of the journalist, “Zhang Yunliang” had been dismissed from his job by a state-owned company. After that he gradually seemed to lose track.
He did not maintain an intensive relation to his family and friends alike. Probably due to his perceived loss of dignity and due to being fed up with life in general he decided to end his life and defuse his anger by killing 27 innocent passengers with him.
With the story of “Zhang Yunliang” the journalist touches on another sensitive issue pertaining to the reform era. In the wake of the reforms, the number of state-owned companies significantly decreased and many workers lost their jobs and had to survive in the new market-economy over night. The old avant-garde, the proletarians, a relict of the socialist era of state-owned enterprises were not longer needed. “Zhang Yunliang” represents this mass of people who could not adapt to the new era. The former “champion of the communist state” suddenly became meaningless. With no support or appreciation from the government, “Zhang Yunliang” started to resign. The journalist introduces the fate of “Zhang Yunliang” to deliver an example of one part of the population that has been left behind prior the reform era.
The major difference between this case and the stories of “Yang Jia” and
“Deng Yujiao” is that “Zhang Yunliang” did not become a “champion of the underdog”. His anger did not turn against government institutions or officials, but against the innocent bus passengers, i.e., the new Chinese society in general.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
As for news stories of “desperate crimes” all strategies except “open end” are used by the journalists. Journalists dealing with these stories employ their whole arsenal of investigative “weapons” in order to disclose social tensions. This might be possible because the journalists might be able to perform more high-profile than usually. News stories of “desperate crimes” are extensively covered by the media.
That exacerbates the chances of official hardliners to identify single scapegoats. In addition, the protagonists of these stories often enjoy the reputation of being
“champions of the underdogs” and therefore receive the support of the vast Chinese
internet community. Another rather plain reason for the exclusion of “open end”
might be that the protagonists of “desperate crimes” in news stories are often executed as a punishment for their crimes. Overall, news stories of “desperate crimes” form the most delicate and most sensitive category among the three
categories of social tensions being disclosed because the protagonists have resorted to extreme violence aimed at the authorities or the general “common” population at large.
The responsibility of reporting theses social tensions is thus obvious to both the CCP, the journalists and the media that employ them.
Investigative journalists that report news stories of the three analyzed
categories seem to have adapted to the degree of sensitivity and the overall conditions of certain stories. As observed in each analysis of the three categories, the strategies
“circumvention of value” and “interviewee opinion formation” have been applied most. Avoiding direct criticism and employing third-person interviews appear to be the most powerful tools of journalistic work analyzed in this thesis. Chinese
investigative journalists employ a multitude of strategies to disclose social tensions.
Although those strategies sometimes differ from each other, they all serve the same goal, to disclose social tensions in China.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學