Oh Xinhua, sometimes you look so vulnerable I just want to smother your newly refurbished 25-storey tower (more about this next week) in cotton wool, hide you away from the harsh ridicule of those judgmental outsiders and tell you everything will be alright. But that would be a false promise and it is only right your gaffs are held up for public consumption. What’s that? You don’t care? No, I didn’t think so …
First of all, to answer a couple of suspicious text messages/emails I had nothing to do with an X-ray of Homer Simpson’s peanut brain being placed next to a story about Multiple Sclerosis on Xinhua’s website. Unfortunately the offending picture has now been removed, which I am ashamed to say, was my fault. But thanks to the wonders of screenshot technology, it is still here and here.
In fact, the English-language website is a completely separate department from my home of Dui Wai Bu (Home News for Overseas Service Department), which operates the main news wire, and is even tucked away in a different building somewhere west of Xinhua headquarters. It does not have a foreign polisher and mainly reproduces stories word-for-word from the wire service. Sometimes, it will slap in a China Daily or People’s Daily story for a bit of variety particularly when Duiwaibu has an office party and there are less stories than usual. It will often ignore the more risque (I use that term very lightly) stories and indeed the nauseating statements from the Publicity Department about “mass incidents”. There is always the name of an “editor” at the bottom of each story which is amusing given the vast majority are totally unedited.
So how did Mr Simpson manage to blunder his way onto Xinhua’s website? This afternoon, I thought I might as well phone up and get Xinhuanet’s reaction. I was put through to someone in the English department and the conversation was as follows:
Me: Hello, I work as a foreign polisher in Dui Wai Bu. I wanted to ask about a story on your website that has caused a lot of controversy on the Internet.
Female voice: Umm, what is it?
Me: Type in Multiple Sclerosis in the website’s search function
Female voice: Can you spell that?
Me: M-U-L-T-I-P-L-E-S-C-L-E-R-O-S-I-S
Female voice: It’s not working. S-G..?
Me: S-C
Female voice: Ah yes, ok … is it … Two genes …
Me: Yep, that’s the one. Can you see the story?
Female voice: Yes. So what’s the problem?
Me: The picture.
Female voice: Oh I see … what about it?
Me: Do you know what it is?
Female voice: Yes … er … what is it?
Me: It’s an X-ray of Homer Simpson’s brain.
Female voice: Ah yes.
Me: Do you know who Homer Simpson is?
Female voice: Er …
Me: He is a yellow American cartoon character.
Female voice: Ah.
Me: And he looks odd next to an article about a scientific breakthrough in the research of a serious disease.
Female voice. Ummm … ha ha ha ha … it looks like a pe …(inaudible)
Me: Looks like a what?
Female voice: Nothing, just joking.
Me: (Frustrated silence - would have loved to have heard what she said)
Female voice: Ha ha ha ha, it’s quite funny isn’t it.
Me: Ha ha ha ha. I suppose it is, yes.
Female voice: I think we should probably change it.
Me: (thinking, well you could just leave it ..) I suppose so
Female voice: Ok, thanks.
Me: No problem, bye.
Female voice: Bye
It’s a mystery that is more entertaining left unsolved. I know someone at Xinhuanet is familiar with Homer Simpson because this article about the Simpsons movie’s popularity in the US, dated July 30, 2007, was accompanied by a picture of Homer in his pants and a tiny Superman top. However, the telephone conversation would suggest that the use of the picture was done in inexplicable ignorance.
The howler was first picked by a Danwei reader and then popped up on Computerworld and a couple of other sites. I appreciated Jeremy’s (of Danwei fame) comments carried in the Computerworld article which distanced myself from the incident:
“Despite the foreign-language polishers, the writers and editors who produce English and other foreign-language content for Xinhua and other state-owned media organizations do not have the cultural awareness necessary to avoid errors like the misuse of the Homer Simpson illustration,” said Jeremy Goldkorn, editor of the English-language Chinese media blog Danwei.org.
In fact, maybe that quote means foreign polishers are inept at making anyone at Xinhua listen to them …
This post at a blog called Harvard Extended took a more detailed look at how this incident further emphasises Xinhua’s poor reputation in the media world and exposes some serious editorial deficiencies.
The New China News Agency (Xinhua, 新華社) has a credibility problem. It’s not just because NCNA is a state-run news agency that publishes propaganda alongside news. It’s also because basic editorial processes are so broken that a “file photo” of Homers Simpson’s brain can show up alongside a serious article about multiple sclerosis, and remain there for days.
Now, you may chuckle at what appears to be a one-off mistake, but it reflects major editorial problems at China’s official news agency. This is not just a harmless error (or prank) by a single employee — it’s very likely that at least two other people were involved, and the editorial processes that are supposed to catch such mistakes either failed to work or are not even in place at Xinhua.
Regular readers of this blog will recognise these points. The entire organisational structure of Xinhua is flawed to the core. Each department within Xinhua exists independently, each scoring performance points for the release of reams of often meaningless words, or losing points for an individual’s mistake eg writing China and Taiwan in a headline. The departments compete with each other to secure as high a place as possible in the end-of-year league table which ensures there is absolutely zero cooperation between them. It is each for himself which means that if Xinhuanet uses a picture of Homer Simpson’s brain to illustrate a MS story, and in doing so tarnishes the reputation of the whole news agency, no one cares. As long as it doesn’t affect our department. Which is why it took a phone call from a foreign polisher, whose pay and reputation is not affected by the points system, to cause the removal of the picture. Many of the Xinhua “leaders” do not read English or simply regard the non-Chinese services as trivial. As a result, Xinhuanet is not really accountable to anyone for inspiring headlines like “Xinhua caught with Homer’s brain”, as on this website.
Nor will Xinhuanet punish the person responsible. The picture has been removed and that is that. No harm done. No point in attracting attention. A departmental performance point may be deducted otherwise. And why did no one from Xinhuanet notice the attention the story received on English-language websites? Because it is no one’s job to check. Pick story off wire. Paste it into software program. Upload to www.chinaview.cn. Why would you need to check any English-language websites? Ian Lamont, of the Harvard Extended blog, asked if anyone at Xinhuanet checked the english@xinhuanet.com inbox. I very much doubt it.
Ian Lamont | 04-Aug-07 at 3:37 am | Permalink
Hello Chris. Thanks for the insight into Xinhua’s inner workings. It doesn’t sound much different than the environment at Taiwan’s Central News Agency back in the 1990s (when I worked there as a copy editor) — except back then we didn’t have to worry about bloggers pointing out our mistakes!
michael | 04-Aug-07 at 6:15 pm | Permalink
It’s odd that a news service can have squillions to pay for a spanking new office building and yet can’t find a few thousand yuan a month t pay for an English polisher. It’s also odd that they [you?] can spot references to the three T’s and the evil clut from a mile away and yet miss really obvious blunders like this. I thought the Chinese really cared about face, but here they are parading how gormless they are to the whole world - and they don’t care.
zhwj | 04-Aug-07 at 10:19 pm | Permalink
Reminds me of this revealing look inside the Xinhua editing apparatus, uncorrected for two and a half years.
Luke | 05-Aug-07 at 2:37 pm | Permalink
As the rest of the world is fast learning - China is not Japan. And despite superficial similarities, in most cases the two countries are worlds apart.
Shanghaiist | 05-Aug-07 at 4:53 pm | Permalink
More on Xinhua and Homer Simpson’s brain…
Remember we told you about how Xinhua had mistakenly illustrated a story on the causes of the debilitating…
Imagethief | 06-Aug-07 at 10:12 am | Permalink
Last week in China PR and communication……
There is a lot going on now that I want to write about but I’ve found myself a bit busy to go in-depth…
Chris O'Brien | 06-Aug-07 at 11:29 am | Permalink
Just to clarify Ian from Harvard Extended blog has the surname of Lamont, not Renton. It has been changed - sorry Ian! Couldn’t for the life of me work out why I used Renton - googled the name and it turns out he is involved in the British horseracing industry (I was a racing journo for two years). The mind is strange.
Michael, it is indeed ridiculous. People have to pay fines if they make political gaffs but Homer Simpson does not come with a price tag. I certainly don’t go out of my way to point out political sensitivities but I did once change “China and Taiwan” to “the Chinese mainland and Taiwan” as the writer was new to the job and I didn’t want one of her first experiences to be a trivial fine and a ticking off.
zhwj: Great!
John | 06-Aug-07 at 2:37 pm | Permalink
This is a rather hilarious look into local news scene in China. I don’t merely find it entertaining that they didn’t catch that Homer is a well known figure in western media but that they didn’t realize the picture of a guy with a brain the size of a golf ball was fake. Perhaps the writer of the initial story thought that Multiple Sclerosis in fact shrinks your brain.
Bi | 08-Aug-07 at 11:43 am | Permalink
Hey Kelisi… Hello from Niagara Falls where I continue to be amuzed by your musings.
Are you sure this is not a foreign conspiracy? The XH website did advertise for a foreign expert some time ago. Maybe some big nose there was looking to get fired, which of course should happen. Keep an eye and ear out to see if there isn’t someone who is seriously punished for the prank.
The Toronto newspaper here mistakenly used a picture of Lei Fang in place of the latest winner of China’s Super Boy. Who here knew? Who’s calling into question the local rag’s credibility.
Oh the burden of XH eh?
Miss ya, buddy.
Bi
Sophia | 08-Aug-07 at 2:53 pm | Permalink
Hi,Chris!I am Sophia. My cellphone was stolen and I lost all the contacts. I got your website from Wang Cong, and I was a little shocked by the ’simpson accident.’
I got the internship in shanghai office of China Daily this July, and currently I am working for them.
How is your life going now?
Chris O'Brien | 09-Aug-07 at 9:33 pm | Permalink
Lao Bi, good to hear from you. Yet again experience tells - you were right about the Xinhuanet foreign expert (see most recent post). We shall see …
So, enough of the X(inhua)-Files nonsense, please do share what it is like to be filming next year’s major television hit. How is Ni Ping adjusting to being overshadowed?
Gareth W. Dodd | 14-Aug-07 at 8:22 pm | Permalink
I’m the foreign polisher who will have worked with my Xinhuanet colleagues for a year Aug. 15, attempting to right many of the wrongs you mentioned when it comes to lack of organization, censorship, petty interdepartmental squabbles and the lack of professionalism and concern displayed by the upper level of Xinhua News Agency and Xinhuanet management.
But, hey, it’s a state-controlled media, what else can one expect?
My biggest challenge has been convincing my department head we shouldn’t be forced to post the poorly written, poorly edited stories sent us by Xinhua News Agency and departments within Xinhuanet.
Two weeks after my arrival, after copy editing every story on the homepage five days a week, I suggested every foreign polisher be fired because it was obvious to me they either were not qualified copy editors or took no pride in their performance.
I feel you fit snuggly into either category. I can only judge from your blog that you don’t take yourself seriously, hoping to grow up to be a journalist when you should grow up first.
Taking to task and ridiculing my colleague who made the mistake of using Homer’s X-rayed head did not take courage, only a mean spirit. I’ve seen much worse mistakes in my 30 years as an award-winning American journalist.
At least my colleague is trying to do a good job and shouldn’t be crucified because he’s not emersed in American culture, if you want to call “The Simpsons” culture. Personally, I prefer re-runs of “All In The Family.” Or Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Robin Williams or Whoopi Goldberg if I desire “yellow” humor, as you call it. Benny Hill ain’t too bad, either.
And your vapid recounting of a telephone conversation with one of our editors (she’s a nice girl who has a master’s degree from Oxford University) did nothing to enhance your character.
I’ve renewed my contract with Xinhuanet for another year (I should probably have my head examined), hoping I can prepare my colleagues to be contributing “free press” journalists, if and when the time comes, despite the restrictions placed on me.
I know I have my colleague’s respect for my honesty, forthrightness, belief in a free press and more than 30 years of experience.
You could make my job a lot easier by doing your job well, instead of sitting on your ass making a few grammatical changes because you don’t feel well — poor baby. I’m sure I’ve had to correct some of the stories you’ve “polished.”
Perhaps if you can find respect for yourself, you will not have to resort to ridiculing others to make yourself feel relevant.
Try being part of the solution, instead of part of the problem. Probably be a new experience for you.
You really deserve more than a slap on the wrist for being inaccurate in your statements and because you’re a flat-out jerk. But after serving in Vietnam as a U.S. Navy SEAL, I’m no longer into war or violence. Lucky you.
John Macdonald | 14-Aug-07 at 10:51 pm | Permalink
Gareth W. Dodd, As a former member of the US armed forces, you should be aware of their lamentable record for “friendly fire” incidents. It seems this is a practice you’ve chosen to bring into journalism.
Speaking as the sole English-language colleague of Chris, I can say that every single judgement in your posting was wrong — and I say that with 20 years experience in journalism in both New Zealand and Britain.
You should be thanking Chris for ending a week of international mockery of the website you work for.
The evidence is there — if you google “Homer Simpson” and “Xinhua” — that the rest of the world was “ridiculing” Xinhuanet days before Chris stepped in and had the embarrassing item removed. Given the temptation to sometimes let Xinhua learn things its own hard way, this was an immensely responsible thing to do.
You failed to explain in your posting why you were unable or possibly unwilling to end the ridicule yourself. I’ve worked in news organizations where you would have been fired for that act of negligence.
We’re all aware of constant uphill struggle to improve the quality of Xinhua’s services and just trying to garner the occasional spark of enthusiasm for “real” journalism under the political constraints and other restrictions. You’re not the lone hero you make yourself out to be on that count.
Chris, with all his youthful vigor, is one of the best, most responsible, most professional journalists I have ever had the pleasure to work with.
After watching him at work for the last 16 months, I can say he is certainly qualified and takes a great deal of pride in his work.
Self-deprecation is a long-standing humorous tradition in Britain, and Chris frequently uses it in describing his work on this blog. However, at work he takes himself and his work very seriously — frequently to the annoyance of writers who fail to meet his standards.
His efforts to improve quality and help journalists here experience the satisfaction of doing a proper job, by our standards, frequently extend into his own time and involve many of his own initiatives. He could never be described as mean-spirited.
What’s more, he would never dream of pontificating about the “free press”, preferring instead to try to make each story properly attributed, balanced, comprehensive and accurate — the qualities any good journalist in any country should strive for.
He would never be satisfied with “a few grammatical changes”.
Nor would he boast about having his colleagues’ “respect”. He has in buckets, I’m sure, but he’s more concerned with maintaining his own self-respect by doing the best possible job in very trying circumstances.
If you’re being forced to post poorly written, poorly edited stories by Xinhua News Agency, then that points to the failings of Xinhua as an organization rather than to the efforts of Chris. It also points to the impossibility of lone individuals trying to hold back the vast tide of problematic material in such an organization.
If you’d like to get together with me — and Chris if he’s willing after your gratuitous and childish name-calling — for a beer sometime, perhaps we could figure out a way to work together and understand each other’s problems. Chris has my permission to forward you my e-mail address.
Cheers,
John Macdonald
Danwei | 15-Aug-07 at 6:34 pm | Permalink
Copy-paste lessons unlearned…
People’s Daily acknowledges 1989 in 2004. (click for full-size) As reported on ESWN and widely mocked…
Estella | 15-Aug-07 at 11:46 pm | Permalink
To the award-winning journalist:
I hope you did not insult anyone like this before. To me, your words did not sound like you are a respectable veteran reporter, but a child struggling to “keep face” while failing to explain his own mistake.
Simply speaking, if you polish for this website and you know about the American cartoon, then you should have prevented it from happening. It’s your job. Even the Chinese colleagues might have posted it on in your absence, you should still have been the quickest one to notice and correct it before anyone else respond to it. Age doesn’t mean everything. If you want to show your “award-winning” experience, you should try to explain things properly and keep the discussion open, rather than insulting young colleagues like this.
DAD | 18-Aug-07 at 8:53 pm | Permalink
To the American ‘Expert’
It seems to me that you yourself need a bit of polishing. As the sole(?) foreign polisher for Xinhuanet I share Estella’s comments on your aptitude to carry out your duties as expected.
I shall go further by stating that your puerile plunge into threats of potential violence appears to show your slow realisation that you may well have been at fault in allowing such a faux pas to continue until, that is, Chris stepped into the breach and had the unfortunate Homer depiction removed.
I know Chris very well, (obviously as his father), and I have seen him develop into a well balanced individual with integrity and a determination to carry out his duties to the best of his ability.
I had the pleasure of visiting China in April and I was struck by the warmth of the Chinese people.
This nation is struggling to acheive in 5 minutes what others have strived for centuries.
It needs dedicated people such as Chris to help open the eyes and encourage clearer and more accurate reporting within the Chinese Media.
May I suggest that your attitude could be described as “Dodd in the manger”?
Chris O'Brien | 19-Aug-07 at 6:58 pm | Permalink
Was that a pint of Abbot, Dad?
DAD | 21-Aug-07 at 1:31 am | Permalink
I thinking more of a pint of draught ‘Adnams Broadside’ - or three!!
Gareth W. Dodd | 23-Aug-07 at 8:59 pm | Permalink
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Colleague and minion and dad, my gosh! But no Chris to speak for himself, hmm? Perhaps when he returns from his respite in the UK, refreshed and ready to resume the rigors of biting the hand that feeds him here in Beijing.
Kinda like a dog in a manger, right dad?
Scenario: I’m the crusty, old copy editor, Chris is the “promising” young journalist and we’ll engage in a discussion about his blog entries to decide if Chris is a responsible journalist or should be fired.
Crusty: It says here, Chris, in your words about the Press Watchdog Hotline: “If a member of the public has sniffed out a rat … Don’t ask me why I added the rat line, although I suspect boredom would be high up on the list of reasons.”
Gee, Chris, boredom is an excuse for altering information you’re offering to the public? And deprecating all over yourself after the fact excuses your actions?
Chris: Well, I think I’m funny, and what’s the big deal about four little words?
Crusty: Hmm. And this quote you doctored that you say you hope to be remembered for: “I can’t remember the original translation (similar I might add), but I thought ‘lifeblood’ was a suitably dramatic word the government wanted to use in this context and I would like to think it would be quoted down the ages.”
Chris, you can’t remember the original translation, but you’re sure it was similar. And quoted down the ages, huh. Quite proud of yourself for being so clever with words, right?
Chris: Well, I think I’m funny, and what’s the big deal about one word?
Crusty: Hmm. I see, deprecating all over yourself again.
What about this obit about the death of Tu Guangchi: “I should have left it as it was, but it didn’t seem fair, so I just switched the emphasis from Party members saying sorry to the fact the man had died.”
You say you should have left it as it was, but didn’t, why? Apparently, it didn’t occur to you the family might appreciate what Party members had to say about Guangchi. What gives you the right to deprive them of praise of their loved one, Chris?
And by the way, you didn’t emphasize his death — there are no details on how or where he died — you emphasized his life and achievements, which is what an obit should do.
Chris: Well, I don’t think the Party praise is very important, so who cares what the family thinks. I’ll write the obit the way I want.
Crusty: Oh, I see, you’re position as a foreign polisher with Xinhua News Agency enbles you to be judge and jury.
Chris: What’s the big deal, I only left out a few words.
Crusty: Hmm. Let’s examine your treatment of the story about Chinese products: “On that occasion I changed the angle of the story from 80 percent of products made in China for domestic consumption to 20 percent bad. It was changed back at the whim of a releaser. Fuck it.”
So, your whim is to change the angle from a positive reflection of the government to a negative to reflect your prejudice and infer the releaser is at fault for reversing your whim. Hmm. And such language, Chris, wash your mouth out with soap. Perhaps you spend too much time watching “The Simpsons.”
Chris: Hey, Reuters took a negative slant, too, that proves I was right.
Crusty: Really. I think it adds fuel to the Party’s claims the western press is not objective and always writes negative, inaccurate stories about China.
Chris: Well …
Crusty: Oh, and one more thing, Chris, this blog about Homer’s Brain on Xinhuanet. Looks as if you think the Chinese editor who chose the photo is pretty stupid for not being up on “The Simpsons,” not familiar with American pop culture. I presume you know everything one needs to know about American and Chinese culture, so this editor obviously is not as gifted as you. Nice touch.
Nice touch with the telephone conversation too. Made yourself look a big man.
You know what, Chris, I talked with the young woman you mocked, and you don’t have to feel bad. She’s not upset, just wonders why you did not report the conversation in full, instead, taking it out of context.
And this statement of “fact” about Xinhuanet: “It does not have a foreign polisher.”
Followed by another blog in which you say: “I asked four or five people if Xinhuanet had a foreign polisher and they all thought no. But a senior source has confirmed …” Then you deprecate all over yourself with: “Slap on the wrist for me — how will I ever grow up to be a journalist with such lax fact-checking.”
Answer: you won’t grow up to be a journalist with such lax fact-checking. I also doubt you checked with four or five people, and I’m wondering if the “senior source” is Li Wei, the Foreign Expert Department secretary. I’m thinking we may have met briefly there before your blog was brought to my attention.
Nor will you grow up to be a journalist by chastising a Chinese person for not being well-versed in American pop culture. Or by reporting telephone coversations out of context. Or altering stories and doctoring quotes to suit your purpose.
So, Chris, can you give me one good reason why I shouldn’t fire a promising, but irresponsible wannabe journalist like you?
Cause you know what, Chris, promises are like wishes, they don’t always come true.
So, I’ll repeat myself at the risk of being crude (or childish), and in defense of my two colleagues, you’re a jerk not a journalist, at least in this instance.
The criticism you have of Xinhua News Agency is right on, but how long are you going to beat a dead horse.
Show some guts, get macho, instead of hypocritically accepting your monthly salary, which allows you to live pretty well in Beijing, walk up to the president of Xinhua News Agency and tell him: “Take this job and shove it.”
By the way, you claim to be a diligent copy editer (polisher), how often to you refer to the Xinhua News Agency Stylebook when reading stories? Or do you even have one? Are you aware the official English of the agency is American, not British? (Don’t blame me.) How often do you change British spelling, punctuation, grammar to American while performing your job?
Check the stylebook out, it’s a rip-off of The Associated Press Stylebook. If you’d like to see a complete AP stylebook, drop by my desk and say hello. I’m on the 19th floor, back in the corner where the A/C doesn’t reach and the window doesn’t open.
A promising, young investigative journalist should be able to find the only laowai in the building. But just in case you need another clue, I’m the tall, slender guy with a blond ponytail.
Oh, last but not least. The reason I did not change the piece of art of Homer’s peanut brain is because it did occur when I was off work (sorry about that) and I wasn’t aware of the gaff until my department head asked. I recalled seeing the art that accompanied the story about the movie, but never saw the x-ray art until directed to your blog. Probably wouldn’t have happened if we had two foreign polishers here. Bad luck, I guess.
Kinda like the recent BBC television program fiasco with your queen and a problem with context. You seem so anxious to see someone punished for the Homer mistake, can you tell me how many heads rolled at the BBC? Read the apology, but never read about anyone being dismissed or dismembered.
Look forward to your reply upon your return, Chris. Maybe we can talk and I can help you become a real journalist.
You do write well, just not always accurately, objectively or fairly, and often seem self-serving in your blog.
You also have my e-mail if you wish to contact me. Or give it to John. I’ll be answering his submission next. Then Estella, then Dad.
Take care,
Gareth
John Le Fevre | 15-Sep-07 at 6:29 pm | Permalink
Wow, I stumbled on to this site by accident but found it so amusing and interesting I had to come back for another dose.
Sort of reminds me of the days when I was subbing “polishing” text at Viet Nam News.
Seems to me some people are getting really fired up over what to me is a rather amusing incident.
I realise sticking my two-bobs worth in will probably result in provoking Commander Dodd into letting forth with another tirade, but what the hell.
I also have 30 years of journalism (classic trained) experience and a few awards. But so what. Awards are like hemorrhoids, everyone eventually gets one . . . or two.
Seems to me the way Homers’ brain photo was handled was quite appropriate. It also seems to be a tale that journalists would normally sit around and have a good chuckle about over a beer or three.
Polisher’s at Xinhuanet also must have lots of free time to be able to launch such a rabid tirade at a colleague such as above. Call me old fashioned but I see absolutely no need for the personal nature of the attack by GI Dodd and think its quite unprofessional. Thanks for the link to original story. It’s a classic.
Don’t be too Xinhua « Hotel Villa de Art | 27-Apr-08 at 6:46 am | Permalink
[...] Xinhua hat es tatsächlich schonmal geschafft, eine Röntgenaufnahme von Homer Simpsons Gehirn neben einen Artikel über Multiple Sklerose zu setzen. Soviel zum Thema chinesische Medienschelte… ;-) (via Beijing Newspeak - einer echten [...]