Source: China Real Time, WSJ (6/17/16)
Find-a-Journalist App Highlights Murky Media Practices in China
It isn’t a secret that some companies seek to buy favorable news coverage or that many journalists pad their incomes with envelopes of money slipped to them at press conferences, or after interviews.
Now, an app takes “envelope journalism” to a new level.
The mobile application Zhao Jizhe — Find a Journalist in Chinese — connects companies seeking publicity and journalists interested in pocketing some extra cash.
On the loading page, the mobile app described itself as “an intellectual community platform where media professionals help entrepreneurs.”
It works much like Uber.
Similar to how users of the ride-hailing app can choose to go with a normal sedan or more luxurious cars, Zhao Jizhe offers services tailored to companies of all sizes and needs. For as little as 1,000 yuan, or roughly $150, Zhao Jizhe can get the company an ordinary writer, and publicity on one publication is guaranteed, according to the app. Companies with a higher budget can choose mid- or high-level writers. The premium service, at 8,000 yuan, comes with a senior writer, and a guaranteed coverage on 25 publications, including four well-known ones.
Companies can also specify a deadline and other demands. Once a request is sent out, the platform will deliver it to journalists on the beat in question. Reporters will put in a bid with details on which publications they have influence on. The company will pick the most suitable bidder and arrange payment through the app. Like for other services, the transaction ends with a customer-satisfaction review.
According to the app, more than 1,000 journalists are active on the platform, and it boasts of having access to more than 3,000 publications. No commission fee is charged, the app says.The app appears to have raised some alarm bells. At last look, it was frozen and reports in Chinese tech media say that regulators have cracked down. A spokesman for Zhao Jizhe said the company is redesigning the software and declined to give further comments. Regulators at the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CPC couldn’t be reached for comment..
Editors at several Chinese news organizations are warning their reporters not to use the app, and have ordered those who have signed up to inform their bosses, people familiar with the matter told China Real Time.
In a review of the app on Apple’s App Store, one user under the name Zhang Lifan hailed it for its convenience and efficiency and gave it a five-star rating. “Many thanks to Zhao Jizhe…… I contacted many media outlets in the hope of getting publicity with no result. With this app I nailed it within five minutes.”
Others condemned it. Brian Qiao, a communications officer for a Beijing-based company, said the platform “turned the news business into a blatantly commercial exchange, which is disrupting the order of public relations.”
However, he said “the envelope money for journalists has its reasons for existing. Even though nobody thinks it is normal, it still serves the companies well and has become an indispensable means of survival for some journalists in China.”
Qiao Mu, a professor with Beijing Foreign Studies University, called the new app “scary,” and said it would only incentivize journalists to write advertorials rather than investigative stories, hurting the credibility of the media.
“In essence, in China the news business is not a free market, with the government’s heavy-handed control and a lack of peer scrutiny,” he said. “Journalists do not care if their unethical practices hurt the media outlets’ reputation.”
Calls to the All-China Journalists Association rang unanswered on Friday.
–Pei Li Follow him on Twitter @TeamLiPei