Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 5: The counterattack of New Sprout Magazine and the decision of Southern Weekend
At the same time, in Yan Jing, a pair of bloodshot eyes were fixed on the computer screen, which displayed the backend of the Blog China website.

Dongfang Xing was a little anxious when he saw the tepid traffic on the website. When he founded Blog China, he was stimulated by the fact that two articles criticizing Microsoft were deleted by Microsoft's public relations department. He saw this opportunity and wanted to establish a presence in the Internet world and become the king.

In 2004, the domestic Internet "portal competition" pattern has been basically determined. Portal websites such as Xinlang, Sohu, and Wangyi are standing on equal footing. Even if latecomers want to get a piece of the pie and invest ten times more, they may not succeed - the inertia of users is huge.

The rise of blogs is considered to be the death knell for portal websites.

But since he founded BlogChina in 2002, its development has not been as rapid as he imagined. Although it has attracted elites from all corners of the world to open blogs, it has never been able to "break out of the circle".

That is, it cannot break through the communication barrier, and most reading still occurs in the "stratosphere". The traffic of ordinary netizens is still concentrated in a few major portals, and no matter how good the content of the blog is, it is difficult to be seen.

Originally, in the second half of 2003, Mu Zimei's own poker experience successfully made the website and the concept of "blog" popular, but before the end of the year, the relevant departments issued a serious warning. I had to delete the relevant articles and block Mu Zimei's account. The growth of website traffic slowed down again.

Finding blog content that can break down barriers is his most important task now.

Suddenly, a shocking article caught my eye: Is it a "new concept" or a "new examination"? New Sprout Magazine, please apologize to Chinese literature!

Dongfang Xing, who already had a keen sense of communication, immediately realized that the author who could come up with such a title must be extraordinary. He looked at the ID. Midnight Tide? He didn't recognize it. After all, he had only registered for two days.

The 3000-word article was quickly finished. Dongfang Xing clenched his fists tightly - this was the breakthrough he was looking for!

Whether it is the topicality, the sharpness of the views, or the control of the writing style, it is an excellent choice.

The only doubt is whether the author wrote this article on impulse or intends to continue writing. There are 300 million registered blogs in China, but in fact most of them are short-lived, and some have never posted a single article since they registered. The average update frequency of the remaining blogs that can be updated is also very low.

If you invest resources to support a blog that flashes by like a shooting star but fails to generate sustained traffic, then your efforts will be in vain.

Just as he was doubting, the background prompts the user that "Midnight Tide" has been updated again - the second question to "New Sprouts": How many blood-dipped steamed buns of literary youths can feed you?

Click to check it out, from the title to the content, it is as sharp as ever, exposing all the little thoughts of "New Sprout" magazine in organizing the competition to the sun for everyone to see.

Dongfang Xing wondered if there was some personal grudge between this "Midnight Tide" and some people from "New Sprout" magazine.

I can't hesitate any longer. Because it's a new blog, there are no accumulated readers, so the number of readers will definitely be very low in a natural state. If I don't support it, this author will simply stop writing. Wouldn't I lose a magnet that can attract clicks in vain?
Dongfang Xing is a person with strong execution ability. Once he makes a decision, he will act immediately. He first recommended both articles on the homepage of Blog China, placing them in the most prominent position and making the titles bold and thick.

Then, using the registration information of "Midnight Tide", I sent an email to his email address, telling him that I appreciated the viewpoints expressed in the two articles, and encouraged "Midnight Tide" to continue creating and updating steadily, and that I would also give strong support.

After doing all this, Dongfang Xing went to bed with peace of mind.

Early Friday morning, these two articles caused quite a stir at Shanghai's New Sprout magazine.

As soon as the magazine's editor-in-chief Zhao Changtian arrived at the office, editorial board member Li Qigang knocked on his office door.

"Editor-in-chief, please take a look at these two articles." Li Qigang placed a stack of printed manuscripts in front of Zhao Changtian.

"Oh? Is it a submission? Can't you review it yourself?" Zhao Changtian was a little curious and picked up the manuscript and started reading.

As soon as he saw the title, his brows furrowed, and the more he read, the uglier his expression became. The two manuscripts together were less than 7000 words. Zhao Changtian, a senior writer and editor, quickly finished reading them and slammed the manuscripts on the table:
"This is outrageous! This is a slander against our magazine! Qigang, where did you see this?"

"This is what Xiao Wang, who is in charge of the network, saw on an online forum last night. He thought it was very important, so he printed it out. He showed it to me this morning, and I thought it was a bit serious, so I came to see you."

"Seriously? Where were these two manuscripts posted? Who is this 'Midnight Tide'?"

"I asked Xiao Wang to check. It's an account that was registered not long ago. We don't know who it belongs to. The articles are mainly posted on Blog China, as well as forums such as Darongshu, Dongci Hutong, and Tianya. Some of the discussions on the forums are said to have nearly a thousand comments."

"There are already thousands of articles in just two days? The semi-finals of the sixth competition will begin next week. If this kind of article spreads in society, it is likely to impact the normal development of the New Concept Competition! We must find a way to eliminate the impact."

"I've thought about it before I came to you. The people in charge of the relevant sections of Big Banyan Tree and Dongci Hutong are all in our literary circle and have cooperated with us in some ways. I should be able to delete the posts by calling them. Although I don't know the people in charge of Blog China and Tianya, I should be able to solve the problem by using my connections."

"That's it. We must solve it as soon as possible. If it doesn't work, find a leader."

"clear."

Zhao Changtian sighed: "It's not that we don't tolerate criticism. But the scale of the new concept composition is too large to collapse."

Li Qigang also said: "Yes. There were 40 submissions for this preliminary round. These are the hard work of many students. We can't destroy the results of six years just because of this article!"

Both of them are veteran media people, and they understood the threat of the article as soon as they saw it.

Sure enough, before noon, Dongfang Xing received a strange call. He picked up the phone and listened for a while. The more he listened, the tighter his brows furrowed. Finally, he couldn't help but say:

"I'm sorry, Editor Li, I think the most basic freedom of speech should be available, right? Although the words used in those two articles are a bit sharp, I think they are still within the scope of normal criticism. There is neither personal attack nor foul language. I do not agree to delete them."

The person on the other end of the phone was obviously anxious, and his voice was a little louder. Others could faintly hear it through the microphone:
"…stubborn…leadership…consequences…responsibility…"

Dongfang Xing also got angry and replied loudly: "I will take responsibility to the end, come to me if you have any problem!" Then he hung up the phone.

Although he said harsh words, Dongfang Xing was not worried at all - how could a department in Shanghai control Yanjing? Besides, in recent years, the rise of New Sprout magazine relying on the new concept essay competition has made many people jealous.

Thinking of this, he picked up the phone and started to call his friend at the newspaper: "Lao Li, yes, it's me. I have two articles here, they are very good, you can take a look. If you are satisfied, I can contact the author and reprint them for you."

In Shanghai, Li Qigang reported to Zhao Changtian somewhat awkwardly: "Dabongshu and Dongci Hutong have agreed to delete the post, and Tianya Forum did a lot of work before they reluctantly agreed. But..."

"But what? What about Blog China?"

"Dongfang Xing, the person in charge of BlogChina, is very tough. Not only will he not delete the posts, but he has already recommended the two posts as the homepage today."

"It seems he is a 'smart guy'. Let him be. I have seen the website Blog China, its influence is average and it won't make any big waves. But you should ask Xiao Wang to keep a close eye on the Internet and stop this 'Midnight Tide' from messing around. If there is any new situation, nip it in the bud immediately."

Li Qigang nodded and turned to arrange the work.

Zhao Changtian rubbed his temples and began to prepare for the rematch next week. In the past few years, the interests and benefits involved in the competition have become more and more complicated. It is no longer like the past when you could rent a conference room or a few rooms in a hotel and hang a banner to hold the competition happily.

From the preliminary round to the semi-final, how many calls did he receive? Zhao Changtian couldn't remember. He still had a few years before retirement, and he just hoped that this competition would be able to end well while he was in charge. In Yangcheng, a southern metropolis far away from Yanjing and Shanghai, the atmosphere in the editorial office of an influential weekly newspaper was a bit dull.

Because of some sensitive events reported last year, the weekly newspaper has been under tremendous pressure, and even the position of the editor-in-chief is shaky.

The difficult problem facing the editor at this moment is the selection of topics for the next issue of the newspaper. In addition to some regular news commentaries, in-depth reports and interviews with people, the most important value of this newspaper is to comment on those controversial and topical social events.

But there are certain risks in doing so. The newspaper cannot afford to face the pressure again in the short term.

Until the afternoon, the atmosphere in the editorial office was still very dull. The male editors smoked one cigarette after another, and one topic after another was rejected. After each one was rejected, someone would go out to get some fresh air.

It was almost time to get off work, and a young editor suddenly called out to everyone, "Come over and take a look at this, what do you think?"

The editors rushed over and saw that the young editor's computer was displaying the page of Blog China and an article with a shocking title criticizing "New Sprout" magazine and the New Idea Essay Competition.

"How about this topic?"

"The article is well written, but it seems to be about their literary circle and has nothing to do with the theme of our newspaper."

"Yeah, it's just a student essay competition."

"Who said that? The first prize winner of this competition can directly enter top universities such as Yanda and Fudan University."

"Oh, yeah, now that you mentioned it, I remembered that Guo Xiaosi and Han Han came out of this competition, right?"

"Then this will have an impact on society."

"Yes, one essay is enough to get into college. What do those students who studied hard think?"

"For math, chemistry, and physics, there are national and international competitions, and if you win a gold medal, you can get interviews and admissions to top universities. So why can't being good at Chinese be a problem?"

"Being good at writing doesn't mean being good at Chinese."

"Evaluation of essays is too subjective. This article makes sense. It is not like mathematics and physics, where there is always an objective correct answer. What is the correct answer to essays?"

……

The debate soon attracted the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Jiang Ping. She came out of her office, listened behind the editors for a while, then walked forward to read two articles before speaking:

"Educational selection and educational equity are also one of the issues that society is most concerned about. Next week is the new New Concept Essay Competition, which seems to be the sixth one. As the saying goes, 'The kindness of a gentleman will be cut off after five generations.' This competition was indeed a pioneering effort when it was in its first session, and it was of great significance. But now it is the sixth session, do they still maintain their original intention? The sixth session should be a time for reflection. If they don't reflect on themselves, we will help them reflect on themselves."

"But wouldn't this offend New Sprouts magazine?" an editor hesitated.

Editor-in-Chief Jiang Ping stared at him and did not answer directly. Instead, he said to the young editor who found the article: "Contact the person in charge of Blog China. We want to reprint these two articles. Contact the author as soon as possible. His writing style is very good. See if he can become our contributor. We also need to publish a few articles ourselves to conduct in-depth reports on the issues of educational equity and educational selection."

All the editors accepted their orders, except for the one who was worried about offending New Sprouts, who stood there in shame.

Jiang Ping said, "You are new here, I don't blame you. But if you come to Southern Weekend, you must have the courage and bravery of Southern Weekend. You don't need to worry about offending people. If there is any problem, I will take responsibility."

Time flies and it is eleven o'clock again. Zhang Chao, who has been slacking off all day, goes into the computer room again and opens his blog China. He is surprised to find that two of his articles have been recommended on the homepage, and the number of readers has soared to more than 5000.

But when he opened the major forums, Zhang Chao's excitement turned into anger - his post was deleted. The reason was also very perfunctory: the article had no actual basis and caused quarrels and abuse.

Zhang Chao knew that this was probably caused by the PR of New Sprouts Magazine. However, he did not expect the other party to react so quickly. But this just gave him inspiration for the third article, and he quickly typed out the title -

Three questions to "New Sprout" magazine: What are you afraid of?
The article of more than 3,000 words was written in one go - he first recounted the experience of his posts on major forums being deleted at the same time, and questioned whether there was an "invisible hand" behind such a neat and unified operation.

Then he put forward his own views on the issue of the educational mechanism behind the New Concept Essay Contest. He believed that the idea of ​​the New Concept Essay Contest to open a new path for students with a strong literary talent to enter higher education was a good one, but it seemed a bit trifling to entrust such a major event entirely to a magazine.

In the early stages of the competition, "one essay to get into college" could be used as an imperfect method to temporarily implement, and it also attracted a lot of attention to the competition. But now it is the sixth session, and "one essay determines life or death" is still the case. What is the difference?

The final conclusion is still sharp:

“Everyone has their own opinion on who the ‘invisible hand’ behind the deletion of posts is. When the fate of more than 100,000 young literary people is controlled by a magazine and a few editors, their conduct should be subject to the most stringent scrutiny. However, they told us in the most arrogant manner that they do not accept supervision, criticism, or reflection. Arrogance is the first of the seven deadly sins of mankind, so today we finally know the answer - why did New Sprout magazine not apologize to Chinese literature?”

It started with an "apology" and ended with an "apology". The three articles ended with a perfect response through the deletion of the post by "New Sprout" magazine. Zhang Chao's criticism of "New Sprout" and the New Concept Essay Competition came to an end.

Without one, it wouldn’t be enough; with one more, it would seem too deliberate. Three is just right.

After checking for typos, Zhang Chao chose to post it on various platforms. Fortunately, this time the post was only deleted, and his account was not blocked.

After sending the email, Zhang Chao checked his mailbox again and found two emails from Dongfang Xing.

In the first email, Dongfang Xing expressed his appreciation for Zhang Chao and hoped that Zhang Chao could update the content stably.

Zhang Chao gave a brief reply, thanked Dongfang Xing for his recognition and support, said that he would try his best to maintain the update frequency and sent his home landline number to Dongfang Xing.

In the second email, Dongfang Xing conveyed the request from Southern Weekend and several Yanjing newspapers to reprint the article, and asked Zhang Chao to provide his real name, address and bank account number.

Zhang Chao hesitated for a moment. He didn't have a bank account yet, so he couldn't provide one. The character created by the three articles was too thin. If he rashly revealed that "Midnight Tide" was a high school student, it might not be a good thing.

After thinking it over, Zhang Chao replied to the email. First, he agreed to the request for reprinting, but he had to inform several newspapers such as "Nan Guo Weekend" to let them know that it was not an exclusive reprint; if exclusive reprinting was required, the royalties would be negotiated separately; if they were to be reprinted separately, the time would have to be unified - on the day of the rematch of the 6th New Concept Composition Competition, which would be next Thursday.

However, the account number for the manuscript fee will not be given until next week. My real name, address, etc. cannot be disclosed for the time being.

The email was quite long. I took all aspects into consideration and wrote it for half an hour. After checking everything was correct, I clicked send.

Zhang Chao breathed a sigh of relief. His first step in getting a chance to go to college was finally successfully launched.

(End of this chapter)