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Liu Zheng: Professionals and amateurs, assemble under one roof

By Liu Zheng (chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2015-03-13 15:17:51

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Some NPC deputies and CPPCC members at the two sessions are tired of repeating the same answers since reporters are always chasing them for same questions.

Do your homework before heading to the frontline; this is a simple but golden rule for a reporter covering the annual political event.

However, a considerable number of reporters, or I shall call them amateurs; squeeze themselves in the scrum with digital recorders in their hands without even knowing who the interviewees are.

Some even grab selfie sticks to shoot the interviews with no sense of film making. I'm pretty sure their editors will cry when the footage arrives at the base.

A short video posted on China Daily's official Twitter-like Sina Weibo shows several journalists falling over each other to chase a celebrity in front of the Great Hall of the People.

According to figures posted on Tencent, 3,100 reporters have registered to cover the two sessions, surpassing the total number of 2,965 NPC deputies.

If we add the reporters that come with the deputies and members, the figure could easily reach 8,000, said Cao Lin from China Youth Daily, citing a quote of Ge Jianxiong, member of CPPCC and professor on politics at Fudan University.

Here's hoping that the journalists may lose some weight and stay healthy in producing in-depth news and original opinions next year.