What risks are hidden between us and the truth? ——Perspective behind the news reversal of "the impoverished college students from prestigious universities were arrested for stealing food to survive"
Xinhua News Agency, Nanjing, July 21 - Question: What are the risks hidden in between us and the truth? ——Perspective behind the news reversal of "the impoverished college students from prestigious universities were arrested for stealing food to survive"
Xinhua News Agency reporter
Recently, a "community takeaway theft case" in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, was spread by some media with the core content of "prestigious poor college students being arrested for stealing takeaways." The resulting public opinion involved administrative law enforcement standards, subsidies for students in difficulties and even social justice. On the 20th, the police announced the truth of the investigation of the case and confirmed that the relevant dissemination information was seriously inaccurate, and public opinion immediately reversed.
Why have "reverse dramas" appeared from time to time in news communication in recent years? What risks are still hidden between us and the truth? How to improve the quality of social law and media? Xinhua News Agency reporters launched an investigation on this.
How "the impoverished college students from prestigious universities steal food to live" was born
Not long ago, several takeaways were stolen in a community in Nanjing, Jiangsu. Police investigations revealed that it was caused by residents of the community. According to the police, the resident was detained under criminal suspicion for multiple thefts.
How did the ordinary “community takeaway theft” turn into “the impoverished college students who steal food from the prestigious colleges and get caught”? The reporter sorted out the chain of transmission between them.
The reporter discovered that two local media reported the theft on the 16th and 17th. The report on the 16th introduced that the person involved was a "company employee", "I was stolen once for takeaway, and since then he felt vengeful. After work, I stole whatever I saw at the gate of the community" and other information, without revealing more identity background For details, the report did not cause concern.
However, in the report on the 17th, the person concerned suddenly introduced the person as a "college entrance examination student", and said that "the other three brothers and sisters in the family dropped out of school for his further study", and used this to warn people that they should not lose sight of themselves or destroy themselves. future.
According to the reporter's observation, it was the information in the report on the 17th that was suddenly cross-referenced and spread by many self-media and traditional media, and it became a hot spot on online social platforms such as Weibo. "Poverty college students from prestigious schools were arrested for stealing food to survive." As a result, public opinion was formed, and various groundless criticisms against law enforcement agencies and education administration agencies began to emerge.
The public opinion continued to ferment until the 20th, when the police announced the investigation results that day: Li Moumou graduated from a university in Hengyang City, Hunan Province in 2018 and worked in Nanjing that year. He is currently in a company in Nanjing with a fixed income and rents in a community in Yuhuatai District. . Li's parents and eldest sister work in farming in their hometown, and the second and third sisters work in Beijing and Hainan respectively. According to the investigation and Li Moumou’s confession, on May 31 this year, the take-out food he bought was taken away at the gatekeeper of the community, which resulted in a mentality of revenge and taking advantage. From that day on, he stole take-out food from others several times at the above location. .
Since then, authoritative information has been accepted by the society, and unprovoked criticism quickly faded.
According to Zhou Zhaocheng, a lawyer from Beijing First Law Firm, my country's criminal law has clear regulations on the crime of theft. In this case, Li XX repeatedly stole other people's take-out meals, and his behavior has been suspected of theft, and it is reasonable and reasonable for the police to deal with it according to law.
What risks are hidden between us and the truth
Shenyang, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, and Zhi Zhenfeng, a professor at the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believe that due to multiple factors such as the “fragmentation” and “flow first” of current communication, there have been "reversal dramas" in news communication in recent years. Happened, and there are still some "dissemination risks" between the public and the truth.
——The authoritative source information is not accurate enough. "False information is born out of reports from the institutional media and the'brain supplement' from the media, but its'inspiration' often comes from part of the news information released by authoritative sources." Shenyang believes that if the information from authoritative sources is not detailed enough, it is easier Cause dissemination inaccurate.
The reporter found that this time, it was the case-handling officer who released the client as "undergraduate from a well-known university and is currently preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination", "in order for him to go to undergraduate and graduate studies, the other three brothers and sisters have dropped out of school" and other inaccurate and complete information. After the information, other media "brain supplement" followed up and formed the source of the storm of public opinion.
——Some media have low professionalism, and some even ignore ethics and blindly pursue profit. In this incident, some well-known online media reported on the key information without verifying the authenticity of the key information, which led to the cross-quoting of false information among some media.
In addition, according to the relevant person in charge of the National Cyberspace Administration of China, there are some online accounts that conduct malicious marketing to obtain traffic and advertisements, or create hot spots out of nothing, causing social panic; or use the name of authority to publish rumors to mislead the public; or fabricate sensational headlines , Causing group anxiety and anxiety...These behaviors disrupt the normal order of network communication. It is this kind of self-media accounts that are used to "drain traffic" for profit, and deliberately use false information to stir up trouble and create public opinion.
——The public's information limitations and weak awareness of the rule of law increase the risk of communication. Chen Yi, Dean of the Institute of Media Development, Soochow University, believes that the public opinion this time has raised questions about the "difficult college student subsidy" measures. One reason is that the general public has a relatively large access to information on such measures and does not understand it enough. In fact, the reporter learned from the Ministry of Education that China’s student financial aid has achieved the “three full coverage” of all school stages, all schools, and all students with financial difficulties from families. The system basically guarantees that “a student will not be Out of school".
In addition, Zhi Zhenfeng pointed out that many people are not fully aware of the legal responsibility for their online behavior, which has also contributed to the breeding of a large number of acts of disseminating false information. He reminded that we should be particularly vigilant about this kind of risk in network communication, the faster it spreads but the further away from the truth.
The whole society should continue to improve the rule of law and media literacy
"After the release of authoritative information, the public was no longer emotionally incited by the self-media; law enforcement agencies performed well and took into account legal reasoning." Zhi Zhenfeng believes that, on the whole, this incident reflects the progress of the public's awareness of the rule of law and related departments. The improvement of legal literacy.
But he also reminded that such "reversal dramas" appear from time to time, and all parties concerned should work together to improve the effectiveness of social governance.
"After taste the sweetness of the hype, the lawbreakers may intensify and seriously damage the governance of cyberspace." Wang Sixin, director of the Center for Cyber Law and Intellectual Property Research of Communication University of China, suggested that cybersecurity and informatization departments should be good at distinguishing the motives of specific communication behaviors, and punish confusion according to law. By.
In the near future, the National Office of Anti-Pornography and Illegal Actions will carry out centralized rectification against self-media engaging in false news and other illegal activities.
In addition, the person in charge of the relevant work of the Guangdong Provincial Cyberspace Affairs Office suggested that the "Internet News Information Service Management Regulations" should be strictly implemented, the main responsibility of the content platform should be consolidated, the "bo eyeball" "flow first" and other bad orientations should be curbed, and the cyberspace should be cleared.
Chen Yi suggested that cyber police, cyber information, propaganda, judicial and other departments should form a linkage mechanism to promptly speak out on hot issues, strengthen the pertinence and effectiveness of information release, and reduce the time and space for dissemination of false information.
"The frequent occurrence of public opinion reversal incidents not only reflects the need for the media to strengthen their business capabilities, but also exposes the problems of media literacy and insufficient awareness of the rule of law at the social level." said Liu Haiming, a professor at the School of Journalism of Chongqing University. In the era of'microphones', only by enhancing citizens’ media literacy while raising the awareness of the rule of law can we truly shorten the distance between ourselves and the truth.” (Reporters Chen Xiyuan, Yu Junjie, Ke Gaoyang, Zhu Guoliang)