Life of Guangzhou - Reporter Uses Feminine Touch to Land Interviews

Reporters covering the two sessions are having a hard time trying to stop officials for interviews before they hurry away without answering questions. But one enterprising female reporter from the Xinhua News Agency has found an unusual way to get officials to stand still for her questions.

Instead of waiting in the reporters' zone in front of the microphone stand, the video reporter stands beside the officials as if she is their assistant. On some occasions, she has even held an official's arm.

Reporters from other media organizations don't seem to resent the long-haired reporter using her feminine wiles to coax high-ranking officials into interviews. They actually support her use of "physical contact" to drag senior officials in front of the TV cameras. Once the officials are cornered, the entire press corps of news-hounds can call out questions.

The Xinhua reporter, holding a microphone with a "XHTV" logo, does video reports for the Xinhua website, which confirmed that she works for the audio-visual department but asked that her name not be divulged.

She has been seen holding the left arms of at least six ministry-level officials during the two sessions. One of the officials is Chen Deming, the Minister of Commerce.

"Our colleagues all understand her behavior, because all reporters at the two sessions are making a great effort to get close to those who participate in the meeting," one of her colleagues said on condition of anonymity.

"And each reporter has to think how to get interviews with senior figures."

On one occasion, the female reporter "escorted" the Minister of Education Yuan Guiren from his seat in the conference room to meet with the waiting journalists, Singapore-based newspaper Lianhe Zaobao reported.

The paper reported that her methods were successful.

Reporters from other media outlets give her a thumbs-up.

"She did help us a lot, because many senior officials were too busy to talk with reporters. Her behavior deeply moved the officials and convinced them to talk to the media," another reporter was quoted in the Southern Metropolis Daily Thursday.

Lüqiu Luwei, a Phoenix Television reporter who gained fame as the first Chinese fe-male correspondent to cover the battlefield in Iraq, wrote in her blog on Wednesday that the Xinhua female reporter did help other journalists to gain interview chances.

Lüqiu admitted that she sometimes uses creative ways to snag interviews with VIPs, but added that she would never resort to "physical contact."
"It's interesting that the female reporter did not stand in the reporters zone opposite the officials when they were interviewed," she said. "So the photographers also caught her while taking photos."

Reporters have resorted to various methods to grab the attention of officials during the two sessions, including written notes passed to the meeting host, wearing eye-catching clothes, or even snatching the microphone away from nearby reporters, according to a report on people.com.cn, the website of People's Daily.

(By An Baijie)

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