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New Yellow River Commentator: Li Ming

The highly-watched article "A girl from another place died in a rented apartment" is transforming from the initial shock of grief to a wave of anti-counterfeiting.

Following on-site investigations by multiple media outlets, the details revealed indicated that there were many inaccuracies in the original text. For example, the 10,000 yuan that the mother transferred to the deceased was not borrowed, the deceased was not a graduate of a 211 university, the deceased had taken the civil service examinations three times but had never entered the interview stage, he had not been the first in the written examinations for many years but had been repeatedly rejected due to failure in the interviews, etc.

Fighting against counterfeiting is meaningful

Even if the media should not disturb the family members too much due to ethical considerations, it is still meaningful to restore some details through citing some references. Because whether it is recording the ups and downs of others' fate through editing and compiling techniques or recording the dark life of the female tenant from the perspective of an observer like the author of this article, this kind of recording and writing itself is a right. Since it is a right, it should be kept modest, and truth is the only criterion.

As for the public opinion that since the police have admitted that such a case has occurred, the self-media without the right to collect and edit should be forgiven for not accurately grasping some details, this seemingly fair voice itself lacks fairness. Deliberately distorting and inaccurate reports is a kind of arrogant power. Today, it can seek attention and sympathy for the parties involved under the guise of pleading for the people. Then tomorrow, such power can also make the parties involved or others suffer unjust accusations. As a tragedy that has attracted public attention, in the face of noisy disputes, we should not give up the pursuit of truth because "the dead are the greatest". On the contrary, restoring a real rather than fabricated individual and not letting her be kidnapped by cheap and false sympathy is the best way to "not disturb" the deceased who can no longer make a sound.

Just like some of the truth restored by the media, the deceased may not be that outstanding, and the family is not that tragic, but it is the young people in such situations who constitute the silent majority in our society. Over-exaggeration, beautification and tragic exaggeration are both numbness to the real group.

In this great discussion about truth and falsehood, true feelings or false hypocrisy, public opinion has overlooked one point, which is why, after thirty years of surfing the Internet, after experiencing various truth reversals and the farces of Mimi Meng and others, the public, who have a built-in skeptical filter for information, would still be moved by a "watery" self-media article at first.

In fact, most readers unconsciously identify with the story at the first moment because the social emotions implied in such stories are not rootless, but are isomorphic to the real pain of everyone - that is, the anxiety of ordinary families about "a noble son born in a poor family" and the difficult-to-relieve heaviness of gamble everything on taking civil service exams.

Thinking should not stop at fighting fraud

The social picture implicated in the false article "Death of a Female Tenant" is real: for some people from poor families, at a time when higher education has long been popularized and it is difficult to create a major turning point in life, how to anchor their own life direction in future expectations, family hopes, and the harsh reality is a question from reality.

Many families place their hopes on passing the civil service exams, but young people naturally desire openness and mobility, which is essentially in conflict with their morbid obsession with passing the civil service exams. The longer they are trapped in this morbid obsession, the more mental and material blows they suffer for the people who lack financial security and their original families who have high expectations.

Some people may ask why young people and their families must rely on the civil service examination. Is it so difficult to take off the "Kong Yiji gown" and work as a blue-collar worker or go to an ordinary enterprise? Why do we have to go all the way on the "exam road"? Others say that choosing to take the civil service examination is the result of a personal choice. Since you have made the choice, you should bear the price that comes with it. Such criticism and warnings are reasonable, but they also ignore the real social soil.

Recently, whether it is the strange news of some companies exploiting their employees that has appeared in the newspapers from time to time, or the involution under the highly competitive environment that has become the standard of corporate culture, these phenomena are increasing the risk cost of young people's free choice. When the stability of the two tracks inside and outside the system is clear at a glance, no matter what their true wishes are, they may seek benefits and avoid harm and rush to the path of civil service examinations. This has nothing to do with choice, but is due to human nature.For example, in the controversial "Jiayuguan Short Composition" incident not long ago, the girl involved revealed this kind of sentiment.

In pursuit of stability and fear of unfair treatment, people seek the "protection" of the system. This conservatism is becoming a social consensus. Some parents, students and even college teachers have accepted this discipline, and it seems to be passed down from generation to generation. This is a regression and a helplessness.

For this reason, we should not always blame these individuals and families who are stuck in real choices with the attitude of people who have experienced it or are in a higher position. A warm society cannot always expect young people to save themselves in the complex tide of the times, and cannot always expect young people to be strong. Instead, it should provide necessary assistance, provide a relatively fair environment and necessary safety net mechanism for achieving class mobility without distinguishing between inside and outside the system.

Although these tasks may not be easy to accomplish in the current context, we must at least start by facing up to the collective plight of young people.

In short, a false report will not shake the basic foundation of public values, but the real emotions contained in the false report cannot be avoided. Public opinion does not need to feel sad and depressed from an extreme case that has been artificially polished, but it cannot ignore the corresponding real social pain. Therefore, we need to move from criticizing the fate of individuals to the higher ground of more progressive and caring public issues.

Editor: Cao Mengjia Proofreader: Dong Ping