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Faked good Samaritan news hurts social morality

By Ni Tao: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 29, 2013

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China is described with many superlatives, quite a few of which are now often applied to its citizens.

We are accustomed to hear such expressions as "the most beautiful policewoman," who breast-fed nine infants in the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, and also "the most beautiful teacher," who lost her legs saving two students from being crushed under car wheels in traffic.

These role models merit kudos for their bravery and selflessness, but there are signs that an excess of the "most beautiful" superlative is causing aesthetic fatigue, to say the least.

In some cases, the usage is scrutinized by a skeptical public.

The photo taken by Shi Jinquan quickly grabbed headlines nationwide.

It is reported that a recent news item about the "most beautiful girl of Shenzhen (of Guangdong Province)" was suspected to be fake news.

In the story published by China News Service, a girl in her early 20s was pictured feeding a disabled vagabond mouthfuls of food along a busy street in Shenzhen. The story quickly grabbed headlines nationwide.

According to the original report, the girl spotted the gray-haired old man salivating over the packed meals on display in a roadside eatery. Out of sympathy she bought a pack and kneeled down to feed him.

A few days later, suspicious journalists began to scrutinize what had been hailed at first as a rare moment when a member of the so-called lost generation helped a person in need.

A few local reporters spoke to Shi Jinquan, reporter and photographer on the story, and found that his own accounts conflicted.

In his report, the girl bought the pauper food after seeing him noticeably suffering from hunger. But later Shi said the beggar was eating a bowl of noodles and she bought him more.

The deepening inquiry, peppered with hard questions, caused Jin's story to fall apart. He turned down journalists' requests for the girl's contact information for further interviews, citing the dubious reason that "she wasn't in a stable mental state."

Hints of fabrication

Asked if she would vouch for the report's authenticity, the China News Agency's Shenzhen bureau chief at first stalled and then finally admitted that the bureau didn't double-check Shi's work. However, she had no plan to explain or correct.

Hints abound of Shi fabricating the story. Witnesses said the whole feeding show lasted less than two minutes, with the photographer taking pictures by her side. Everything looked like a premeditated publicity stunt, said some.

And Shi may not deserve the benefit of the doubt, given his track record of fabricating news. Two years ago, he faked a sensational news item about a young mother made to crawl to please a second-generation rich man who promised payment to treat her child afflicted with cancer. Shi later apologized for the fabrication.

This time around, the usual elements that make up a sensational story are again in place, a hungry vagrant, a young member of a spoiled, egocentric generation, a free meal.

The difference is that this time the elements are a recipe for a touching story, rather than one accentuating the negative stereotypes about wealthy second-generation people.

We don't know if Shi played his old tricks again. If so, it's time he got fired.

No reporter should be forgiven for flirting with facts, the sacred lifeblood of news, and not just once, but twice.

Obviously his employer shoulders some blame too. The public probe has called into question the quality of its fact-checks. Or does it have a fact-check division at all?

For a society whose morality is said to be on a slippery slope, occasional news about citizens' good deeds plays into the hands of certain local authorities keen on getting across the message that ethics is not dead, not on their watch. Reporters like Shi find a niche in crafting news to their liking.

Yet bogus news items about morally upstanding leaders can only be counterproductive.

The overused "most beautiful" encomium is ironic, for contrary to its intended effect, it conveys only the poverty of morality, so much so that a small gesture of good will towards a needy person needs to be dramatized at length.

At the same time, the controversy surrounding the allegedly faked good Samaritan news is a reminder that the public isn't always easily duped by well-meaning theatrics.

The Internet, for all its merits as an information provider, sometimes lacks a filter for separating lies from truth. Sensational news sells well, and in this age, stories extolling moral decency sell even better.

But in the absence of sound proof, it is necessary to critically assess them before applauding. Abused sympathy hastens moral cynicism.