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Mu Qing (journalist)

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Mu Qing
File:MuQing.JPG
Portrait of Mu Qing (Source: Xinhua News Agency)
Hanyu PinyinMù Qīng
Simplified Chinese穆青
Traditional Chinese穆青
Date of Birth:March 15, 1921
Place of Birth: Bengbu (蚌埠), Anhui (安徽), China
Date of Death:October 11, 2003

Mù Qīng (穆青) (March 15, 1921 - October 11, 2003) has made many contributions to Chinese journalism in the 20th century. As a journalist, as well as an author and photographer, Mu was well known by other Chinese journalists. In addition most of his works were published in journalism textbooks and have been used widely throughout China.

Biography

Youth

Mu was born in Bengbu (蚌埠), Anhui (安徽) in 1921. After attending secondary school in Henan (河南) he joined the Eighth Route Army (八路軍), and in 1937, at the age of 16, he was responsible for a number of publicity works. He joined the Communist Party of China (中國共產黨) in 1939 and entered the Lu Xun Academy of Art (魯迅藝術學院) a year later.

War correspondent

Mu commenced his career in journalism as a war correspondent in Jiefang Daily (解放日報) in the year 1942. Early in his career, he engaged in covering news stories on war, including the Sino-Japanese_War_(1937-1945) (抗日戰爭) and the Chinese_Civil_War (內戰). After Japan had surrendered in 1945, Mu was sent to the North-eastern China and established Dungfang Daily (東方日報).

Career

After the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, Mu was promoted to a senior level in the Xinhua News Agency (新華通訊社). In 1951, Mu was given the title of Vice President for the Xinhua Headquarter in Beijing. Later in 1955, he moved from the Headquarter to the Xinhua News Agency main office in Shanghai, where he was President for the next 3 years.

On 1982, Mu became the Chief President of Xinhua until his retirement in 1992. On October 11, 2003 he died from lung cancer in Beijing.

Concern for the poor

Mu was known for his interest in reporting on the lifestyle of Chinese peasants. He often visited different parts of China and interviewed the poverty stricken communities about their daily experiences. His goal was to make the central government aware of the needs for those who were less fortunate.

While reporting, he also wrote stories on the subject of role models in the Communist Party and the local government. The most famous work of his was "Jiao Yulu - A Good Example of the Secretaries of the County Committee of the Communist Party" (縣委書記的榜樣——焦裕祿), in which Mu recorded the work done by Jiao Yulu in helping the peasants during a time of natural disaster.

Mu's Principles of Journalism

Throughout Mu's career in journalism, there are several principles which he has upheld.

Importance of Investigation

Mu believed that Investigative journalism is a journalist's responsibility to the readers. He thought that investigation is essential in ensuring that the facts reported are accurate. Journalists must be constantly alert and insist on investigation so that the news reported would be honest and truthful.

Mu believed that investigation is so important that it sustains the life of a journalist as a journalist. He also thought that without investigation, news would lose its energy, orientation and meaning. On the other hand, Mu believed that report literature (報告文學), particularly on portrait of people, is a kind of art and he resisted making report literature with vitual people and stories.

Importance of Raising Questions

Mu believed that in order to have accurate news reporting, journalists have to be constantly ready to challenge the information collected. Instead of merely reporting facts in a narrative way, journalists are to reveal to the readers the significance and meaning behind the news reports.

Mu thought that raising questions enable journalists to think more, investigate more, and discover more; only by doing these things, can journalists reach closer to the truth.

Importance of Reporting Up-to-date Social Problems

Mu believed that journalists should discover more up-to-date social problems instead of reporting old problems. This could draw people's attention and motivate them to search for solutions. These reports could eventually help remove the obstacles to social development.

Mu stated that journalists should actively report social issues and policies which aroused great public concern. Transparency in major social issues enabled the public to get hold of more information and hence could react correspondingly. Concensus between the people and the governemnt could be easily reached if the public understood the rationale behind each policy implemented by the government.

Mu's Influence on Journalism in China

Resisting Threats and Criticisms

Apart from news writing, Mu was also famous for his directorship of the Xinhua News Agency. He maintained independence of journalism even during a period when biased news reporting was prevalent. When the Anti-Rightist Movement (反右派運動) started in 1957, the Shanghai (上海) Office, under the leadership of Mu, was the only Xinhua branch that did not engage in criticism of the rightists.

Mu was under severe criticism during the Cultural Revolution. Nevertheless, he maintained his principles. In 1975, Mu reported to Mao Zedong (毛澤東) about Jiang Qing's (江青) opposition towards Zhou Enlai (周恩來) and Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) once he got hold of the information from his reporters, ignoring the potential consequences that might had caused him.

Political Role of Xinhua

Mu claimed that the Xinhua News Agency was a tool for Communist Party of China's (CPC) propaganda. It represented the Party and the People's Republic of China (PRC), and was also a medium for the promotion of Marxism and the CPC's orientation, direction and policies. He required all journalists of the Xinhua News Agency to work in conformity with the principles of the Party and the Central Government.

Claiming to be at the side of the proletariat, Mu heavily criticized the appearance of capitalism in Chinese journalism. Mu believed that the thoughts of liberation advocated by capitalism would lead to a denial of the CPC leadership. He constantly reminded the journalists in Xinhua to maintain absolute obedience towards the CPC.

Mu's strong stance helped preserve the political orientation of the whole of Xinhua News Agency.

Leading Xinhua to the World

Mu's contribution to Xinhua's development had been widely recognized. He envisioned that for Xinhua would become an international news agency, it had to be more accurate and efficient in its news reporting, as well as to acquire a wider coverage on the news of developing countries.

Under the leadership of Mu, Xinhua endeavoured to give the world a Chinese voice, by developing its own perspective. Aiming at this goal, Mu introduced new strategies to the agency and improved on the standard of news reporting. He placed emphasis on the training of young reporters, and advocated the idea of searching for truth by reaching out to the lower class of society.

Famous Quotes by Mu Qing

  • "As a Communist Party member, a journalist of our people, I cannot conceal the truth." - self-criticism for doing something wrong in the past. (作為一個共產黨員﹐一個人民的記者﹐不能不說實話) - 憶起放“衛星”的稿子而深刻自省
  • "I am a journalist, I am willing to have a look for myself" - when others prepare the interview material for him, he says. (我是記者﹐我願意自己去看看。) - 每次採訪﹐面對別人准備好的材料﹑匯報﹐他總會說
  • "We can write news reports like prose" (用散文的筆法寫新聞), "the future development of news article writing should be based on the style of prose writing with a perservation of its flexibility and a usage of lively words......" (我們的新聞報道的形式和結構也應該向自由的活潑的散文式的方向發展)
  • "Whether an event should be reported or not, when to report, how to report, first of all, we need to consider the overall situation." - a conclusion based on many past bitter lessons (一件事情應不應該報道﹐什麼時候報道﹐採取什麼方法報道﹐首先要看大局) - 以歷史的慘痛教訓總結出來

References

Comments about Mu Qing


Famous works by Mu Qing

Correspondences

link for other works of Mu

Books

  • Ding ci yi shu (定瓷藝術) written and edited by Mu Qing (2002)
  • Ming dai min yao qing hua (明代民窯青花) (With Tang Weijian) (2000)
  • Hsin wen san lun (新聞散論) (1996)
  • Zhongguo xin wen yi da xi, 1937-1949. Bao gao wen xue ji (中國新文藝大系, 1937-1949. 報告文學集) (Edited by Mu Qing) (1996)
  • Zhongguo xin wen yi da xi, 1949-1966. Bao gao wen xue ji (中國新文藝大系, 1949-1966. 報告文學集) (Edited by Mu Qing) (1987)
  • Mu Qing san wen xuan (穆青散文選) (1984)
  • Xin wen gong zuo san lun (新聞工作散論) (1983)
  • Weiyena di xuan lü (維也納的旋律)(1983)
  • Jiao yu lu (焦裕祿) (1980)
  • Xiang zhong de hong qi (湘中的紅旗)(1950)
  • Shi ge gong chan dang yuan (十個共產黨員)

Photographic Work

Calligraphy

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