"Is this the truth?"
Jing Zhe smiled.
Chen Jiannan nodded, then looked at him and said, "Yesterday, President Jing gave me a lesson that was like a wake-up call, making me see the light. I've decided that from now on, I will follow in President Jing's footsteps to the death. Whatever President Jing asks me to do, I will do without hesitation!"
Jing Zhe patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "Not bad, not bad! It's much better to be my friend than my rival in love!"
"..."
"By the way, go and call Zhao Wei over. I want to see the interview transcripts you two wrote yesterday."
A moment later, Zhao Wei arrived, bringing with him the manuscript he and Chen Jiannan had collaborated on and handing it to Jing Zhe. The two then stood by like elementary school students waiting for their teacher to grade their papers, trembling with fear and walking on thin ice.
As Jing Zhe looked at the manuscript, he mostly frowned, and both of them were on tenterhooks.
After a while, Jing Zhe threw down the manuscript and said, "It's written in a mediocre way. There aren't any major flaws, but there's nothing particularly outstanding either."
The two finally breathed a sigh of relief. Chen Jiannan spoke first: "President Jing, this is our first time writing. We racked our brains while writing, but we could only repeat what you said yesterday. We really can't think of anything else that can attract everyone's attention. Perhaps President Jing could give us some pointers!"
Zhao Wei quickly nodded as well.
"Okay, then I'll tell you about it!"
Jing Zhe pointed to the title of the manuscript and laughed, "First of all, your title is no good. What's with this 'An Interview with Minister Wu'? Let me tell you, even the most clueless netizens in my hometown wouldn't write something like that!"
"..."
The two wanted to ask what "silly netizens" meant, but they felt it didn't sound like a compliment, so they gave up.
"Today I'm going to teach you a sensationalist headline that will make people eager to read the content as soon as they see the title!"
"Shocking headline?"
"Yes, the 'shocking style' means it starts with 'shocking.' For example, this could be written like this: Shocking! A 60-year-old man actually did this in front of his two daughters-in-law!"
"..."
After hearing this, the two broke out in a cold sweat.
Seeing that they remained silent, Jing Zhe said smugly, "Hehe, were you also scared off by such a great title? Tell me, after seeing this title, do you want to keep reading?"
Chen Jiannan paused for a moment, then nodded: "President Jing, this headline is indeed quite sensational; I definitely want to read it..."
Zhao Wei nodded in agreement at first, then asked, "But President Jing, didn't you say this article was going to be placed in the current affairs section? This title... isn't it... a bit too much? And although we have the right to conduct interviews, if we fabricate stories, Vice Minister Wu is no ordinary person. What if he reports us to His Majesty? How will our newspaper survive after that?"
Jing Zhe glanced at him and said with displeasure, "What do you mean by fabricating nonsense? If you say that, I'll sue you for defamation!"
"..."
"How old is Vice Minister Wu?"
"I heard he's over sixty years old."
Chen Jiannan replied.
"That's right, how could a sixty-year-old man be lying?"
"..."
Although the two felt it was the truth, it was too truthful! Didn't they consider how upset Minister Wu would be if he heard it?
"Also, you all saw it yesterday in the Wu family courtyard. In front of his two daughters-in-law, didn't he throw all the firecrackers I bought on the ground?"
"yes…"
"So, is it wrong for this 60-year-old man to do such a thing in front of his two daughters-in-law?"
The two men exchanged a glance and nodded. Zhao Wei then cautiously asked, "President Jing, according to your understanding, the title is indeed fine. But the key is, when others see this title for the first time, they'll probably think the same as us—that... that Vice Minister Wu is doing something immoral with his two daughters-in-law!"
"Heh, that's what other people think. What does it have to do with me?"
Jing Zhe sneered: "Remember, what we need to do is attract as many people as possible with limited facts! Look, first of all, the word 'shocking' is printed in large font, so that people will want to keep reading after just one glance."
Then there's the sixty-year-old man and his daughters-in-law, and most importantly, the two daughters-in-law—that's what you call highlighting the key figures. Of course, if you added a wife too, wouldn't it be even more explosive?
Chen Jiannan drew inferences from this example: "Shocking! A man in his sixties actually did this in front of his wife and two daughters-in-law!"
"Great! Look at Editor-in-Chief Chen, he's learned it right away and has completely grasped the essence of this sensationalist writing style. I'm so gratified!"
A satisfied smile spread across Chen Jiannan's face.
Zhao Wei retorted sharply, "Shocking! A man in his sixties did this kind of thing in front of his wife and two daughters-in-law, and not just once!"
"Alright, Minister Zhao can graduate now!"
A smug look appeared on Zhao Wei's face.
In fact, the "shocking style" was already ubiquitous in Jing Zhe's time, and the editors' actions were even more outrageous, drawing a lot of criticism from netizens. Later, these silly netizens, without any instruction, were able to use the "shocking style" to write many popular jokes.
For example, headlines like "Shocking! A female student was assigned homework by six teachers in front of her" are something Jing Zhe disdains. However, in this era, especially when dealing with an enemy like Wu Xianyong, it's not unacceptable to use such headlines, and they actually work!
"Of course, when you write the title, you can also add some other words that can highlight the key points, such as unexpected, amazing, unbelievable, etc."
Chen Jiannan and Zhao Wei both nodded; they seemed to have mastered this kind of attention-grabbing headline that skirted the edge of legality.
Seeing that the two had good comprehension skills, Jing Zhe was also pleased. He then pointed to the content of the manuscript and said, "Take another look at this sentence: 'Minister Wu was seriously injured'—this is clearly wrong!"
"President Jing, something's not right?"
"This was written by Zhao Wei," he immediately asked.
"You must remember that, as members of the newspaper, the most important thing for us in interviewing and writing is to ensure the truthfulness as much as possible within the limits of our abilities!"
"But... President Jing, this is also true, Minister Wu is indeed seriously injured!"
Zhao Wei was a little confused.
"What you said is only half true! You clearly know what kind of injury Minister Wu suffered and how serious it was, so why did you use such a vague term as 'seriously injured'? If someone who really cares about Minister Wu were to want to know where he was injured and to what extent, how would you explain that?"
"..."
In fact, Zhao Wei had indeed thought about this, but he always felt that if the fact that Wu Xianyong had been castrated was openly written in a newspaper that was aimed at the entire Jingzhou—and even the entire Anguo—how much of a blow would it be to Wu Xianyong?
That's why "seriously injured" was used...
————
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