’sbroadcast started at 6 pm. In other words, they had only 15 minutes left untilbroadcast.Thankfully, most of County S TvStation’s program was prerecorded. Xin Yu had done the reporting in her studio,if not it would be impossible to achieve the deadline.
“Xiao Zao, I feel sorry for puttingsuch pressure on you while you’re in such condition but understand that manypeople are sitting in front of their tv sets waiting for this news.”
Manager Wei continued sincerely,“As the media, it’s not only our responsibility to disseminate the news butalso to be a trustworthy source of information. Today’s suicide incident hasalready created multiple online versions. There was even one about it being aterrorist attack. It is thus our responsibility to correct wayward publicimpression and present them with credible news.”
He then added, “But due to time constraint, we’lluse tape broadcast to save time.”
County S Tv Station had 2broadcasting systems. One was the newer digital broadcast which was introducedlast year. This system was more stable and easier to manage. One needed toupload the news files into the broadcasting server and go from there. Tapebroadcast on the other hand was more traditional. Its weakness was its instability.The tapes tend to lag and drag. Since the introduction of digital broadcast, ithad been relegated to a backup plan.
Its only saving grace was its simplicity.After the tapes were inserted into the system player, they would start playing.There was no fuss.
In a time crunch like this, itserved its unique purpose.
“Sai Wu? Is that what it said?”
Halfway through the tape, DeputyStation Manager Xu Jing Song asked. Heasked the editor to roll the tape back to allow him to double-check it againstthe written script.
This Xu Jing Song was also XuRan’s father. He normally handled the advertising department, if not for Xu Ran’srelations to that particular news, he wouldn’t even be there.
Xin Yu offered quickly, “ManagerXu, I’ve checked the dictionary, it does have an alternative p.r.o.nunciation.”
During the final tape review,County S Tv Station would have the anchor there so if there was any mistakes,changes could be made quickly.
“But… Sai is such an awkwardp.r.o.nunciation. Even the Province Station read it as Xie.”
Xu Jing Song grumbled with afrown, afraid to criticize Xin Yu directly.
“It’s me who asked her top.r.o.nounce it like that.”
Se Cai quickly stood up andsaid.
It was after all his advice thatXin Yu went with. He couldn’t just leave her hanging like that.
“Are you joking? Why would youdo that? Xiao Se, didn’t Director Bai asked you to supervise Xiao Zhang? Younot only didn’t do that but persuade her to commit such an obvious mistake. Doyou purposely want to bring Commissioner Xie’s wrath to our tv station? Getyour b.u.t.ts out there and fix this immediately!”
Se Cai was an easier target soXu Jing Song upbraided him sternly.
“But Manager Xu, that is thecorrect p.r.o.nunciation.”
Se Cai argued with a hint ofchallenge in his voice. He was exasperated at Xu Jing Song’s obvious partialtreatment.
Xu Jing Song smiled slyly as ifSe Cai had walked into his trap, “I’ve seen province news’ report on Xie Wubefore. They all call him Xie Wu and not Sai Wu. You know that this is a pieceof news that might end up at the central news station. Are you willing to bearthe responsibility when the higher-ups start asking question?”
Se Cai shivered with anger. Heknew misp.r.o.nouncing a government official’s name could be either a non-issue ora suicidal career move depending on the scope of the news. If the news waslimited to the county station, the worst thing that could happen was a slap onthe wrist by the county PR department. If it reached the national scale though…the consequences were not something bearable by a small reporter like Se Cai.
I’ve accidentally stolen yourson’s credit but do you really need to have my head out on the line like this?
“Should we call and ask?”
The usual peacemaker, Hai Dongoffered to defuse the tension in the room.
“We don’t have time for that.This is what his driver told me personally, I swear on my life that this iscorrect. Should anything go wrong, I shall bear the consequence!”
They only had 12 minutes tobroadcast. Se Cai knew they didn’t have time to dally on this issue so he tookXu Jing Song’s bait.
“Wonderful, everyone here heardhim.”
Xu Jing Song sat down with a triumphant grin.
“So… Should I change it or not?”
Editor Zao asked cautiously.
“Keep it in.”
Manager Wei who had been silentsuddenly said, “This surname Sai… does remind me of an incident in my youth.When I was still a starting reporter, there was an old supervisor who had thesimilar surname in this county. During one of our talks, he told me that hissurname should be called Sai instead of Xie. But since everyone kept callinghim wrongly, he got used to it eventually. The senior has been promoted to thestate commission long time ago but if this Sai Wu is his relatives… this meansthat he comes from an impressive background.”
And that settled all argument.
Xu Jing Song was the second in commandat the tv station so Wei Jian Guo couldn’t just berate him outright in front ofso many people but his stance was clear.
Editor Zao sighed in reliefbecause they really didn’t have the time to rerecord the piece.
The ancient line encoder grindedthrough its motion with a series of creaking sound. It would take 10 minutesfor the encoder to convert the digital files into tapes that could be used bythe tape broadcast system. Normally, the 10 minutes would just fly by.
However, that day, a group ofpeople stared at the encoder with bated breath.
“Please! Please don’t lag now!”
Se Cai prayed vehemently in hisheart.
The several minutes stretchedout like an eternity.
Finally, at 5.55 pm, thecreaking stopped and the tape was successfully converted.
“Quick, get the tape to the broadcastingdepartment!” Hai Dong yelled hurriedly.
Since the supervisors wouldn’tbe doing foot work, the task fell on either him or the pregnant Editor Zao. Therefore,he grabbed the tape and ran.
With the last minute remaining,Se Cai clambered up the stairs to the broadcasting room.
“Did you bring the tape? Good!Quick! We’re racing the time here. If there’s a blank screen tonight, we’re allgoing to suffer.”
A balding man waited agitatedlyoutside of the broadcasting room.
Se Cai recognized him as DirectorHuang of the broadcasting department. Station rumors said his baldness wascaused by constant exposure to radiation in the broadcasting room.
Director Wong accepted the tape,rushed into the broadcast center and pushed into the system.
The clock struck 6. The openingnumber for started playing and then the anchorwoman,Zhang Xin Yu appeared on the broadcast monitor…“Good evening fellow viewers, welcometo today’s , I’m your host, Zhang Xin Yu. Tonight’s newsinclude…”Se Cai almost fell to the floorin relief hearing the familiar opening.
A slow clap started in the roomwhich then rose to a rousing crescendo.
Pulled along by the emotion, SeCai joined in the festivity and a warm fuzzy feeling suffused his heart.
It was mixture of joy, satisfactionand most importantly, of pride!