Some people’s remarks have given me a new understanding of the term “national traitor.”
Han Futao of The Beijing News bravely exposed a dark oil transportation chain that had been hidden for many years, bringing the truth to all consumers.
Anyone with a conscience and common sense would applaud this.
However, another group of people couldn’t sit still.
Facing the exposure of the unspoken rules, Sima Nan jumped out, muddling the waters and trying to smear the conscience media.
He said: “Don’t rush to praise the investigative journalists and this media.”
Then he suggested: “The media that exposed the chaos of oil tankers and the frontline investigative journalist Han Futao and other relevant personnel should be listed as investigation targets.”
He directed the issue to “foreign forces” and labeled the journalist.
Many other netizens also followed Sima Nan’s logic, believing that the large state-owned enterprises would not have problems, and that the problem was with the investigative journalists, who could fabricate information for traffic and hype, damaging state-owned brands.
According to their logic, media reporters should not expose problems in the future, because once exposed, they will be investigated and condemned. Who would dare to expose them?
Therefore, the world is getting worse, starting from the remarks of people like Sima Nan.
In their mouths, loyal patriots are labeled as traitors, while those who are servile become heroes.
There is no doubt that the oil tanker incident has exposed a group of demons and monsters.
They fabricate various conspiracy theories, defend unscrupulous enterprises, and smear righteous people.
They allow problematic food to poison the masses, fuel the anti-intellectual atmosphere in society, force the media to remain silent, and even turn Hu Xijin into a “public intellectual”!
In fact, in the past few years, many investigative journalists with backbone and conscience who dared to pursue the truth have emerged on this land. They have made great contributions to promoting food safety and optimizing the working environment in China, but their outcomes are generally not very good.
For example, the journalist Jian Guangzhou, who exposed melamine, was once subjected to the same accusations as Han Futao today and suffered greatly.
In 2011, Jian Guangzhou recalled in front of the camera: “After the Sanlu incident was reported, many people scolded me, saying that I was the ‘exterminator’ of the national enterprise, causing such a good national enterprise to go bankrupt. On the day of our report, I saw a large number of comments online, at least half of which were scolding us.”
Finally, Jian Guangzhou resigned in 2012 and left the news industry, bidding farewell to his ideals: “The 10 years at Dongzao were the most precious youth of my life. All the joys, dreams, and endurance were because of that pure ideal. Well, the ideal is dead, I’ll leave first, take care, brothers!”
For such whistleblowers, time has given the answer.
It is because of the handling of the Sanlu problem that we dare to consume domestic milk, and the health of tens of millions of children is guaranteed.
After the oil tanker mixing incident attracted nationwide attention, Han Futao also immediately deleted his Weibo, probably because there were many insults in the comment section and private messages.
Looking at his past experience, he is also an excellent investigative journalist, making one in-depth investigative report after another with his spirit of not being afraid of hardship and his keen sense of news.
This time, will we lose him?
People like Sima Nan, who make anti-intellectual remarks every day under the guise of national image and national interests, they love traffic, their houses in the United States, and the freedom to travel back and forth between China and abroad, but they do not love the specific individuals on this land.
On the contrary, investigative journalists like Han Futao dare to face problems directly, use light to illuminate the dark corners, and allow everyone’s lives to be in a safer and more secure space.
He truly shoulders the responsibility of a journalist, which is to ignite public opinion, spark discussion, face the dark side, solve problems, promote the rule of law, and protect people’s livelihood.
We should protect such people, at least support them online, let them feel that they have a strong backing, and still move forward bravely.
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