WHY
SILENCER
I remember the paper’s infancy–my mom headed out each morning in a bright yellow safety jacket, joining her colleagues to promote their brand-new newspaper on the streets. I remember late at night, I slept on the couch in my mom’s office, watching her work on the next day’s front page. The room was dark because she had turned off all the lights but the tiny lamp on her desk, just to make sure I could get some good sleep.
I remember hiding under a massive meeting table and eavesdropping on the heated debates. It was a time when different voices were respected, when people shared their opinions and argued and left the room still as friends.
Since the Beijing News was still unknown, my mom and her colleagues managed to get away with their “naughty” behavior–in the eye of the government, of course–for covering stories that no other newspapers would touch.
The consequences were somewhat bizarre: writing formal apologies to the government as a way to reflect on their so-called mistakes. My mom told me she once wrote 76 apologies a year. I wondered if she had some of them pre-written and ready to go before sending out the next day’s stories.
It didn’t take long for the newspaper to take off. For years, people in Beijing turned to the Beijing News as the only source for real news.
In order to survive censorship and maintain journalism integrity, the newspaper always toed the line of censorship protocols, but never quite stepping over.
With their growing influence, however, the government could no longer tolerate it. In 2009, one of the chief editors was replaced by a government puppet. Other founders resigned or were ousted. Many were blacklisted from ever working in journalism again.
My mom stayed a few years longer, trying to maintain the newspaper’s integrity, but eventually she had to admit defeat.
She left the newspaper with an offer to become the CEO of the most influential Chinese company that I would not name here. A few days later, orders from the higher up reached that new company, and the offer was rescinded.
Later, I found out that it was the end of the Chinese journalism golden age that I witnessed.
A few years ago, when I was visiting Beijing, I picked up the daily issue of the Beijing News. It was no different than other party-controlled papers.
When my mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, a thought came to my mind–
I want to create something that commemorates what they did and what they stood for.
Silencer, the project that we have the honor to present to you, is meant to commemorate the journalists and editors who put up a good fight.