2001 Media Godfather

Chapter 66 5W Model
In 2002, Chu An's act of going online to berate himself was seen by Lin Wanchen as a sign of mental instability.

I don't understand the point of doing this at all.

Chu An finally stopped stirring up trouble on various forums.

Lin Wanchen and I went out and found a folk music bar to sit in.

Faced with Lin Wanchen's question, Chu An thought for a moment and decided it would be better to answer it.

He then said, "Any college student studying communication, or anyone in the industry who works in planning and publicity, will tell you what information dissemination is—information, channel, and destination if you ask them."

Lin Wanchen chimed in, "I know, the three key elements of information dissemination!"

Chu An, "Do you know the application of the three-element theory?"

Lin Wanchen thought for a moment, "Well, I haven't really looked into that. After all, why would I research that stuff?"

Chu An smiled, "You should study this. Especially in our industry, whether it's artist promotion, media manipulation in the face of scandals and gossip, or creating news hotspots, we all start from these three angles to solve problems. No matter how things change, the principle remains the same."

Lin Wanchen was clearly taken aback, somewhat puzzled.

Actually, it's quite easy to understand.

Information is the content that needs to be disseminated.

A channel is a means of transmitting information.

The receiver is the person who receives the information.

In the early 21st century, the Internet was just emerging and had not yet become a mainstream communication channel.

All entertainment gossip and trending topics, including all information outside the entertainment industry, are disseminated by focusing on three key elements.

Looking at the entertainment industry as a whole, every scandal that leads to public criticism is met with a corresponding response strategy. Without exception, these strategies all involve a counterattack targeting one of the three key elements.

"Take my current situation for example. Either I prove that the news from 'Entertainment Frontline' is fake, which solves the problem at the source of the information."

"Either you pay me to bribe the media to stop reporting on this, which is what is usually called 'cooling off.' This is cutting off the channels."

"Either we make Ji Yang's fans and the public disbelieve the news from 'Entertainment Frontline.' That is, what you strongly recommended I do: hold a press conference to clarify, or, on a more sophisticated level, do something to prove that I did not bully Ji Yang. Ultimately, it's about resolving the issue of credibility."

Lin Wanchen nodded, following Chu An's train of thought.

He was a complete novice in the entertainment industry, and no one had ever discussed these issues with him in depth before.

He said, "Shouldn't we do this? I think it's fine, right?"

Chu An: "Of course, no problem! But the key is that everyone has overlooked the fact that the three elements of information are the simplest propagation model. That is, one-way linear propagation."

"But the actual propagation scenarios we face are far more complex than this linear propagation model!"

Lin Wanchen, "..."

Suddenly it dawned on me, "I understand what you mean. That's why the coping methods you mentioned above are mostly ineffective."

Chu An smiled, "This child is teachable."

In fact, from the perspective of ordinary bystanders, especially from the perspective of those who have seen more of the world in later generations.

In this era, entertainment gossip and scandals almost never have a comeback. Once a scandal breaks, the artist is almost certainly finished.

Many times, it's because of some inexplicable reason, or even because there's no fault involved, that things fall apart.

No matter how you clarify, explain, or issue a guarantee, it won't make much difference.

Take Dao Lang for example. Several top singers in the industry with conflicting interests said that his songs were unsophisticated and lacked any artistic merit.

Then, Dao Lang said, "I didn't!", and that was it. He remained silent for nearly twenty years before making a comeback.

Some people might wonder if there's something going on behind the scenes here?

There's really no inside story; it's just pure competition. The Beijing music scene has suppressed the Guangzhou group, weakened the Hong Kong and Taiwan music scene, and all they need to dominate the market is a guy like Dao Ge, but Dao Ge just happens to have founded his own company.

If you don't believe me, just look at the commercial performance market in mainland China after Dao Lang. For a long time, it was all about who made money.

Dao Ge's reputation only reversed after he signed with Universal Music in 2021.

To put it bluntly, everyone's methods for dealing with communication crises are far too simplistic.

"So, you rejected all our suggestions for helping?" Lin Wanchen suddenly realized.

So Chu An thought their methods might not be effective, which is why he did it this way?

"So how exactly do you plan to deal with this?"

Chu An smiled, dipped his beer in it, and wrote on the table, "[5W Model], have you heard of it?"

Lin Wanchen shook her head, "Never heard of it."

Chu An: "Political scientist and social scientist Lasswell subdivided the communication model into five elements."

which is:
Who

What to say?

Through which channel?

To Whom

What effect is achieved?

"This is the Lasswell model, also known as the 5W model."

Chuan listed out the five elements of the Lasswell model one by one on the table.

"We shouldn't worry about what's so good about this propagation model or what its uses are."

"Just remember that in the future, especially after the rise of the Internet, all information dissemination can find its answers in the 5Ws."

“All entertainment PR firms can find a breakthrough point from this, and that’s it.” Lin Wanchen’s eyes widened. “Is it really that amazing?”

Chu An knew he didn't believe him.

He simply continued writing on the table.

Following "Who," the corresponding options are: 1. "Entertainment Frontline."

2. Media that follow trends.

3. Netizens.

The phrase following "Says What" corresponds to: "Chu An bullies his senior."

Following "[Through Which Channel]", it says:
1. Traditional media
2. Network
then
To Whom

1. Ordinary viewers

2. Ordinary netizens

3. Ji Yang's fans
What effect is achieved?

1. Ordinary viewers: Entertainment gossip is irrelevant.

2. Ordinary netizens: Popular online posts and a sense of participation.

3. Ji Yang's fans: Spreading negative news about Chu An, creating a stereotype among the public that Chu An is a morally corrupt person.

After Chu An finished writing, he said, "If we break this down using the 5W model, don't you realize that things aren't nearly as bad as you imagine?"

"For example, regarding the question of 'who,' the source of information is Entertainment Frontline and a few media outlets related to Ji Yang. Other media and online platforms are just following the trend. To put it bluntly, they don't care about right or wrong; they just want to attract attention."

"Therefore, to solve the problem of the source of information, we only need to deal with Entertainment Frontline and the media outlets related to Ji Yang."

Chu An continued, "Take [To Whom] for example, Ji Yang's fan base is far smaller than you imagine. They only make up a small portion of the people who receive information; the majority are just bystanders and ordinary viewers who find it boring."

"As for the impact of the message, ordinary viewers and netizens will not be as indignant as Ji Yang's fans. To them, celebrities are just a source of amusement, a tool for entertainment."

Lin Wanchen was speechless. Sometimes he really had the urge to crack open Chu An's head and see what was different about him.

Why is it that his perspective on problems is different from others?
I still don't understand. "Even if Ji Yang's fans are a minority, as you say, the damage they cause is enormous. Why are you cursing yourself online? Doesn't that just embolden Ji Yang's fans?"

Chu An was speechless. Teaching someone born in 2002 what quantum propagation is, is no easy task!

Chu An said, "The damage they caused is enormous. Even if we do nothing or do not do it well enough, they will influence others and make their opinions of me biased towards the hatred of Ji Yang's fans."

"But all of this is on the condition that—you can do whatever you want with Chu An, just don't fucking affect me!"

"!!!" Lin Wanchen was stunned for a moment, as if she understood something.

With a faint smile, Chu An calmly stated the essence of human nature: "People are selfish. When it doesn't concern them, everyone is a rational, neutral, and objective Virgin Mary."

Who wouldn't want to play the role of a good person standing on the moral high ground?

"But once they get annoyed, angry, or don't like you anymore."

"Then screw objectivity, fairness, benevolence, and morality!"

"At that point, they won't care whether Chu An bullied the seniors or not. Whoever annoys them, they'll deal with them!"

Lin Wanchen, "..."

Chu An then pointed to the "ordinary viewers" and "netizens" in the [5W mode] and said, "So, this is the direction we should focus on!"

"Ji Yang's fans aren't hurling enough insults or making a big enough scene right now! Once they really piss off these majority of men, that's when our counterattack will begin."

"At that time, why would I need to make any clarifications? Why would I need to bribe the media? Everyone will help me investigate the whole matter thoroughly and find a thousand reasonable and kind reasons for me to bully Ji Yang."

"At that time, it won't just be Ji Yang's fans who suffer; Ji Yang himself will basically be finished."

Lin Wanchen, "..."

After hesitating for a while, he simply stood up without saying anything, and called the waiter to pay the bill.

Then, ignoring Chu An, he silently left the bar and headed home.

This left Chu An completely bewildered. He followed behind, asking, "What's going on with you?"

It would have been better if he hadn't asked. But the moment he did, Lin Wanchen walked faster and faster, eventually running all the way to get rid of Chu An.

He rushed home and pushed open Lin Wanxing's door.

Miss Wanxing was sitting with her snow-white toes crossed, wearing a face mask, watching TV contentedly.

Upon seeing him barge in, she immediately flew into a rage, "Lin Wanchen! Can't you knock?! You can't just barge into a girl's room like that!"

Lin Wanchen didn't care, closed the door, and sat down next to her sister. "Stay away from Chu An!"

"Huh?" Lin Wanxing didn't understand. "What's wrong?"

Lin Wanchen said, "That bastard is no good person. He's scheming to the core!"

Lin Wanxing was stunned, and blurted out, "Men...don't they have to be shrewd?"
The next second, before Lin Wanchen could try to persuade him again, Chu An, not knowing what was wrong with him, slammed the door open and shouted, "Lin Wanchen, what the hell are you doing!"

Lin Wanxing was about to get angry: "You're using the city gate?!"
Upon seeing that it was Chu An, he chuckled and said, "Come and sit down."

Lin Wanchen, "..."

Sad.

.

I'm too tired, I'm going to sleep.

(End of this chapter)