We often think about a question: why did reportage decline as a whole after it was all the rage in the 1980s and 1990s, and now it is in a state of decline? Of course, like the stock market, the decline of the broader market does not mean that there will be no high-quality stocks. For example, kapok has blossomed, and Li Lanni, a female writer in Shenzhen, recently wrote "No One in the Wilderness-Psychic Archives of a Depressed Patient", which is a good work to show contemporary people's mental illness by taking herself as a case. But there are really too few good works, there are many, and there are also many praises that are not too painful and of low quality. It is extremely rare to read exciting works.
It is predicted that reportage will face disappearance and extinction. This is certainly a bit alarmist. I prefer to call it "non-fiction literature" reportage, which always has a broad readership and its vitality is beyond doubt. But he does face severe challenges. A senior leader made a speech at the internal briefing. I remember a saying: the news report of Wenchuan earthquake is very touching, but why is it not touching when the screenwriter writes it? This is a thought-provoking question. In fact, so far, we haven't seen the shocking works of Huang Lu style. What is the reason? One of the important reasons is that the communication environment faced by reportage writers has undergone revolutionary changes compared with the 1980s and 1990s: the massive increase of metropolitan newspapers, the popularity of television, the immediacy of the Internet and the massive explosion of information have dealt a devastating blow to the function of reportage, which was once called "light cavalry". Reportage writers are almost helpless in the competition with modern media. The reportage we used to talk about is news, authenticity and literariness. As far as news is concerned, reportage has been difficult to give full play to its advantages. After the Wenchuan earthquake, reporters from newspapers, radio stations and TV stations immediately entered the scene. We can quickly learn about the events at the earthquake site through newspapers, television and the Internet, including images, sounds and words. Later, the reportage written by some writers was so pale and powerless because of the lag of information and the simple description of words.
How to deal with this brand-new communication environment? How to make reportage get a new life in the new era? The success of "Kapok Flowering" gave me the following inspirations:
The first is to find the "blind spot" of the theme. It can be said that the theme determines at least half the fate of reportage. The primary problem of reportage is "what to write"? The first question of the novel is "how to write"? The skill and vision of reportage writers are first reflected in the analysis and choice of themes. When competing with modern media, we should look for "blind spots" that the media turn a blind eye, ignore or are not in their sight at all. Because journalists are chasing real-time news, they are not interested in such a long-forgotten historical figure. It is such a number that still has strong practical significance for the present. Grasping such a theme, the writer digs deeper and good works come out.
Secondly, look for a unique humanistic angle and perspective. On the same subject, reportage writers should have their own unique humanistic perspective and show more ideological depth in the competition with modern media. In the reportage, which was all the rage in 1980s and 1990s, some works and papers were not even excellent in subject matter, but because of their sharp thinking and strong penetrating power, people ate ice cream on a hot summer day after reading them. A good reportage writer should also be a thinker. "Kapok Blossom" is about many contradictions encountered in the process of economic system reform in the early days of reform and opening up, but the author's eyes are focused on the present, which has strong practical pertinence for how to deepen economic system reform, especially how to promote political system reform. We need to be Zhong Yi, a leader with courage, tolerance and real power for the benefit of the people. On his deathbed, Ren proposed to open up a "political special zone" like a special economic zone, which was amazing. If put into practice, it may break a new path for China's political system reform.
Thirdly, in dealing with the relationship between news, authenticity and literariness, the current reportage should emphasize literariness more. Because compared with the speed of information dissemination, reportage is simply not as good as newspapers, television and the Internet. But on the premise of truth, strengthening literariness is the advantage of reportage.
Speaking of literariness, I think it is mainly manifested in the following aspects: First, it "reproduces" the reported facts, not describes them. Truth is the life of reportage. So far, there are many reportages about the Long March of the Red Army, but Salisbury's The Long March-An Unknown Story impressed me the most, because his writing attitude is very rigorous, and the materials and historical facts used indicate the source. When and where did you interview someone, or used the memory materials provided by one party in the book. The second is to focus on portraying characters and establish vivid and caring characters for readers. Most of those sensational reportages in the 1980s and 1990s were about people, such as Goldbach's Conjecture, Pulling out the Eyebrows and Sword, and The Story of Wild Goose. The names of the protagonists written in those works are familiar to us today. The portrayal of characters in reportage should be more stereoscopic and in-depth than the communication and interview of characters in modern media. Third, pay attention to the use of literary language. News pursues conciseness and vividness, and reportage should mobilize and use various rhetorical devices to increase the appeal and attraction of works.