Training the Heavens

Chapter 128 Xinhua News Agency

Arriving at Zhang Changqing's office, a middle-aged man wearing glasses extended his hand. "Hello, Jialin! I'm Wang Yangxia, deputy director of the Xinhua News Agency's Shanghai branch. I've been asked by my superiors to invite you to intern at our company."

"Hello, President Wang. I'm so sorry to bother you making this special trip." Gao Jialin responded politely. After sitting down, he asked curiously, "Why did your company think of inviting me to intern? You're such a good company, so you shouldn't be short of interns, right?"

"We're definitely not short of interns in general, but we're in dire need of people like you!" Wang Yangxia pointed at Gao Jialin and said with a smile, "Speaking of which, you've been with our agency for quite a while now. The articles you've submitted before were of very high quality, and many leaders and senior reporters praised you highly, thinking you were born to be an investigative reporter. We really didn't want to give up such an outstanding talent like you, so we took the initiative to invite you."

He turned his head and looked at Zhang Changqing. "Teacher Zhang, you must have been answering a lot of calls recently, right? If I hadn't come soon, Jialin would have been snatched away by another unit."

"Indeed there are some. The Municipal Youth League Committee, the Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and several magazines have all called. I thought Jialin had to prepare for the exam during this period, so I didn't notify him for the time being. I plan to tell him after the exam." Zhang Changqing said reservedly. In fact, he looked down on these units.

For others, these are definitely good units, but it is different for Gao Jialin. If he wants to do an internship, he can find a better unit. Even if he goes to Beijing, there are a lot of units vying for him, and not just for internships, he can basically stay.

"I just said I arrived in time." Wang Yangxia was very fortunate. Fortunately, these units were not attractive enough, otherwise he would be criticized. The headquarters finally found a talent, but it was snatched away by someone else. What was going on?
"I wonder what your company plans to have me do there?" Gao Jialin asked. To be honest, this invitation did make him a little tempted.

He will graduate next year, and there are still a few years before the 92 Southern Tour. He must first find a unit to work in, preferably one that provides relative freedom and is also helpful for his future career.

Xinhua News Agency fully meets these two criteria. If you become a reporter, you don't have to stay in the office every day. You can travel around the country under the banner of interviews and investigations. This is much better than sitting in the office and engaging in intrigues with others.

Moreover, during the interview process, you can gain an in-depth understanding of the current situation of certain industries, meet industry elites, and obtain key information. Isn't this equivalent to using the name of the unit to do things for yourself?
Of course, the premise of all this is that Xinhua News Agency wants me to be a reporter, not to sit in an office, and I have to give myself a certain degree of freedom so that I don’t have to follow behind senior reporters.

"Of course I want to be a journalist, and an investigative journalist at that. When you went to Guangdong, Northeast China and even Japan before, you were able to discover key information in a very short time and write high-quality articles. It would be a pity if you didn't become an investigative journalist." Wang Yangxia answered as a matter of course.

"Although I'm the vice president of the Shanghai branch, I'm not recruiting you on behalf of the branch. It's the headquarters that wants you to come! After you go to the headquarters, you'll first learn from a senior reporter for a while. Once you're familiar with how to be an investigative reporter, you can do an investigation with your teacher. If the teacher is satisfied, you can choose your own topics and conduct your own investigations. We don't require you to be at the office every day, as long as you can produce high-quality articles. This will definitely not be difficult for you."

The so-called investigative journalists are journalists who engage in investigative reporting. The reporters conduct in-depth, systematic or detailed reporting on a certain social fact or social phenomenon through their own relatively long-term and complete personal accumulation, observation and recent investigation and research.

They weren't looking for short-term, explosive news, but rather for in-depth exploration of certain issues. This was indeed somewhat similar to Gao Jialin's previous articles in the internal reference, except that they focused more on exposing the dark side, while Gao Jialin focused on other aspects. "I can give it a try," Gao Jialin was tempted.

If he wants to go into politics, Xinhua News Agency is definitely not the best choice. Based on the things he has done before and the impression he left on the leaders, they will all be vying for him whether he goes to the Youth League system or the Political Research Office. He can stay in these two departments for a while, and then seek a transfer when his level is raised. That is a golden road to success.

Unfortunately, Gao Jialin did not have such an idea, so it would be more cost-effective for him to go to Xinhua News Agency.

You have to know that journalists in the 1980s had a much higher status than in later generations, and they were reporters from Xinhua News Agency. They were definitely the uncrowned kings. As long as they had a press card, they would receive high-level reception wherever they went.

It is no exaggeration to say that even if Sha Ruijin, Gao Yuliang, Li Dakang and others are holding a meeting, Gao Jialin can attend as an observer after obtaining permission as long as he has a legitimate reason. If he wants to interview Sha Ruijin and others, the other party will most likely take the time to talk to him. This is the status of Xinhua News Agency reporters.

"What kind of investigation does Jialin want to conduct?" Wang Yangxia asked. Xinhua News Agency reporters also have division of labor. Some are good at interviewing in the political field, some are familiar with the sports field, and some like to interview scholars.

As for Gao Jialin, he is familiar with economics, understands literature and art, and knows about the situation abroad. This requires us to communicate with him in advance so that we can report it to the headquarters and ask them to coordinate a teacher for Gao Jialin in advance.

"Let's talk about the economic aspect, more specifically, the business sector. I want to conduct investigations and interviews with some typical state-owned, private, and foreign-funded enterprises, analyze their gains and losses in the course of their operations, and hope to provide some help to other enterprises." Gao Jialin answered without hesitation.

Wang Yangxia was a little surprised. He had thought Gao Jialin preferred to be a political reporter, but economics and business were also hot topics at the moment, and they also needed talent in these areas. "No problem, I'll inform the headquarters when I get back, and they'll definitely agree."

"Thank you, President Wang. I will definitely perform well when I get to work."

After the exam, Gao Jialin took a train to Beijing. After getting off the train, he went straight to No. 57 Xuanwumenwai West Street. He showed his identity at the door and someone came out soon to take him in.

As soon as he entered, Gao Jialin saw a striking slogan - Xinhua News Agency wants to take control of the earth.

(End of this chapter)