Zhang 3 Feng’s World | What exactly is at the press conference

Many years later, people will forget what was specifically said at the press conference, and what measures were taken. What they might remember is a certain emotion and something personal. Yes, real policies will have more formal documents, and what people really want to see is actually the person themselves.

The Premier’s press conference at the Two Sessions began in 1988 and truly became a regular event in the 1990s. This is because in the 1990s, not only did television enter ordinary people’s homes, but also urban newspapers in various places sprang up, and China entered the “mass media era”.

When Zhu Rongji was the Premier, the press conference was also a high point for this form, because he was very good at and enjoyed that kind of answering, and also because this was the first time Chinese people had watched such a live broadcast, and they had a strong sense of novelty. He became a star.

For our generation, Phoenix Satellite Television and Wu Xiaoli also became stars. Who could ask the Premier a question seemed more important than what question was asked. Perhaps, what was important was also the tone and even the dress of the reporters. There was something called fashion or personality there, and it could be called “confidence”.

For market-oriented media, being able to raise their hands and be named to ask a question is already a “success”. This is the most important chapter in the media’s coverage of the conference. Improving the media’s own visibility means credibility, and it also means the possibility of winning the market. This requires arduous efforts, and ultimately still relies on luck and the situation on the spot.

People know that the first few questions are prepared, and there will be a lot of data, and usually the central media will ask the questions. In the middle section, market media will have some opportunities, and foreign media will ask questions at a certain point. Many viewers are looking forward to foreign media asking questions, because those questions give people the impression of being unexpected (in fact, foreign media are usually very polite and will not really embarrass people).

Everyone will abide by a certain tacit understanding, and such occasions are a bit like festivals, and no one will really spoil the atmosphere. Even the translation and behind-the-scenes stories will cause heated discussions.

In this “festival”, the questions and answers themselves are a kind of ritual, which means communication and persuasion, rather than unilateral notification.

People have been exposed to too many notifications, have seen too many documents, and even have mastered the specialized knowledge needed to understand those documents. But at such moments, people want to temporarily put those documents aside and engage in a certain degree of “people-to-people” communication.

The essence of this ritual is actually “many people watching one person at the same time”, although it is weak, it is also a kind of scrutiny. And knowing that you are being watched by many people also means a lot.

People will not expect too much, and no one will naively expect there to be questions that are truly embarrassing. What people expect is that even if everything is rehearsed, the “live performance” will still have something “accidental”, there will be some flashes, some interesting moments.

In fact, in such occasions, all the “accidents” ultimately prove to be beautiful, because such moments have more “humanity”.

This is the truth of the mass media era. Many trust and consensus are generated in this kind of interaction. A smile, a gesture, can often convey more powerful information than policies and documents. “Interaction” itself is its entire mystery.