Chapter 79: Intriguing News

On September 15, 2001, an amusing news segment aired on Hunan TV. It reported that a man, seeking friends online, had unknowingly befriended his own coworker. The two ended up fighting and, in perfect synchrony, were escorted to the police station. Such stories would hardly raise an eyebrow in later years, but in 2001, it was quite extraordinary—especially when reporters tracked down the pair. One was a handsome young man, while the other, the deceiving coworker, was a hefty fellow tipping the scales at over two hundred pounds.

The news also featured their chat logs, where the two called each other “husband” and “wife” in nearly every third sentence, with exchanges so saccharine that even in 2021, viewers would cringe. Unsurprisingly, the story quickly went viral.

“Chairman, everything is arranged. Tomorrow, our story will be on Hunan TV!” The person reporting to Huang He was Long Xue, a somewhat corpulent middle-aged woman. Despite her appearance, she was not to be underestimated; she had once been a television station director, but after being ousted for certain reasons, she was recruited by a headhunter commissioned by Huang He to serve as the consultant for Jiangnan Group’s public relations department.

Although her title was “consultant,” she was actually in charge of the entire department. Due to her circumstances, she couldn’t act openly and had to keep the consultant designation. Her salary was exorbitant—three hundred thousand yuan a year, and in 2001, that was a princely sum!

Her greatest asset was her extensive network within the industry, allowing her to accomplish many things for Boss Huang. For example, she could get Hunan TV to produce and air the news story that Huang needed.

“In addition to Hunan TV, I’ve contacted six other major domestic satellite channels and more than thirty prominent newspapers. We should be able to stir up a significant wave of public opinion!” Long Xue said with pride.

This was her opportunity to prove her worth to her new employer, so she worked extra hard. With just over six hundred thousand yuan, she managed to secure all these arrangements.

“Thank you, Sister Long!” Huang He replied with a smile.

“No trouble at all. Honestly, it wasn’t that difficult, since this is genuine news, not an advertisement. For television stations, ads are sold for profit, but news is something they pay for. Naturally, they’re happy to do me this favor!” Long Xue boasted.

“But Chairman, I’m afraid that even with these channels, we won’t achieve your goal of thoroughly disrupting Tengda!” she added, somewhat dismissively.

“No matter. As long as we create some momentum, it will be enough to support our next strategic move,” Huang He replied. He swore to the heavens that he had no intention of making waves—he merely wanted to engineer a modest surge.

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Zhang Fan was a program producer at Beijing TV. Yet, when it was time for the news, he wasn’t watching his own station but tuned in to Hunan TV instead.

This might seem embarrassing, but it was common practice in the industry. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Hunan TV. Before 1997, Hunan TV was a second or even third-tier station, but it had swiftly risen to prominence. Thanks to hit shows like Happy Camp, Rose Date, and Princess Pearl, it had shot to the number two spot in the country, just behind CCTV.

In 2000, Hunan TV’s advertising revenue even reached a groundbreaking five hundred million yuan, making other stations—many of which didn’t break fifty million—green with envy. Beijing TV was no exception.

Studying Hunan TV became a daily ritual for producers across the country. After all, creating something new was difficult, but copying was easy.

Copying wasn’t confined to the internet; it was a tried and true method in every industry.

“Hmm, this news is interesting!” When Zhang Fan saw the footage of the slim and fat, handsome and ugly men fighting, he immediately sensed its potential as an engaging news story.

In journalism, news falls into several categories:

- Mandated stories from above
- Major news events
- Interesting news
- Filler stories
- Paid news

For producers, major news was rare, mandated stories had no audience, filler and paid stories were necessary evils. Only interesting news stories were truly beloved, as they could draw viewers and boost ratings—and with them, bonuses.

Though the world is full of amusing incidents, few reach the ears of reporters and become news. Thus, it’s common practice to scour rival stations for stories to rebroadcast the next day.

An interesting news item being broadcast by satellite channels across the country over the following days was entirely normal.

Zhang Fan decided to air the story on his own station the next day. It was legal to rebroadcast other stations’ stories, and news was meant to be shared.

Zhang Fan thought so, and so did countless others. At least dozens of producers across the country saw the story.

The following day, something happened that left Huang He utterly astonished: news programs on every major satellite channel in China aired the story of online friendship gone awry, repeatedly showing the fight between the slim, handsome man and the fat, ugly one.

Even more surprising, after the broadcasts, television stations received a flood of phone calls from women asking for the story to be replayed. They wanted to watch it again and again, leaving many stations perplexed.

However, viewer requests must be honored. Rebroadcasting news costs nothing and fills airtime, so the story was looped across the country for days.

Curious about this phenomenon, the media investigated and found that these women had never seen a handsome man and an ugly one fighting before. The image struck a chord, prompting them to secretly call and request rebroadcasts.

“Sister Long, is this all your doing?” Seeing the footage broadcast everywhere, hearing reporters indignantly recount the tale of the poor handsome man who, while chatting on QQ, encountered an ugly man and exchanged syrupy “husband and wife” messages, Huang He realized Tengda was in for a rough ride.

But he had spent less than six hundred thousand yuan and only nudged the story a little. How had it blown up like this?

Were news media really so trivial these days?