Death of a voice loved by millions

By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-06 08:30

The voice that announced the death of many a State leader for 25 years has been silenced by cancer.

Luo Jing, veteran TV newsreader of China Central Television (CCTV) and known as the "voice of China", died in Beijing Friday morning. He was 48.

Luo quit Xinwen Lianbo, or Network News Broadcast, CCTV's daily live news program, last September, two months after being diagnosed with lymphoma.

A senior member of the program's select group of about 20 presenters, Luo usually got the responsibility of reading important news. It was he who announced the death of Deng Xiaoping on TV in February 1997, and Hong Kong's reunification with the motherland three-and-half months later.

For TV viewers, he was more than just a newsreader; he was part of their collective memory.

"For me, Luo was the voice that conveyed all the important news. It's sad to think he will not broadcast the 60th National Day celebrations this October," wrote a netizen on a website.

"It feels like someone who has been with you since childhood has suddenly disappeared," wrote another.

Luo had a sober style of delivering news, but that did not impair his professionalism. Though he kept a low key, his public image was positive. No wonder, he was adjudged one of CCTV's Best Presenters, the highest honor for newsreaders in China, between 2004 and 2008.

Network News Broadcast, a popular program, was first aired in 1978. For a long time it was the only TV program to telecast news from home and abroad, and bring central government's policies to viewers.

A CCTV-sponsored study by CSM Media Research in 2007 showed the 7 pm news bulletin had an average viewing rate of 11.5 percent, which meant about 135 million people tuned into it every evening.

Luo's colleagues, fellow journalists and TV viewers were shocked by his death.

"He will live in CCTV's and viewers' memory forever," said Zhang Quanling, Luo's colleague in CCTV.

Feng Cunli, a senior CCTV staff member, called Luo a "role model for news presenters", saying his death would leave a void in news telecast.

Luo was a football fan, too. He was a member of China Star Football Team, which included football commentator Huang Jianxiang and comedian Zhao Benshan. Luo at times performed Peking Opera for CCTV special programs to the delight of viewers.

But some viewers complained in the past that Luo and other Network News Broadcast presenters were mere "text-readers". Instead of getting into a tit-for-tat with his critics, Luo said during an online interview in 2006: "Many people think we just read the news instead of expressing them vividly. That is not true ... We cover some of the most important hard news ... and they are best interpreted in a serious and objective way."