Literary Master 1978

August has passed, and the debate about the royalty payment system and the criticism of Lin Chaoyang are still going on.

In the past month, there have been many such articles in newspapers and magazines around the country. Except for some articles that popularize the "royalty payment system", most of the other articles are mainly critical.

The reason for this phenomenon is that those who support the royalty payment system dare not speak out.

Why don't they dare to speak out?

Because as long as you speak out in favor of Lin Chaoyang's approach and the royalty payment system, you will immediately be labeled as a money worshiper and a money-first person.

These days, everyone still cherishes their reputation. Who is willing to bear such a stigma for nothing?

Once such a chilling effect ferments to a certain extent, it is likely to completely reverse black and white and truly nail Lin Chaoyang to the pillar of shame.

Lin Chaoyang naturally cannot sit and wait for death. Not only him, but also his colleagues in the literary world cannot sit and watch.

We writers have finally fought for some rights for ourselves, but you journalists, you open your mouth and shut your mouth, so we are not worthy of earning royalties? We worship money by taking royalties?

Why do you ask for royalties for writing reports? Why do you get paid for work?

Led by Li Tuo, after more than ten days of planning, the Yenching writers circle finally began to fight back against this news report.

On August 21, 1984, the Yenching Daily published an article titled "Three Questions to Yangcheng Evening News, What's the Sin of Royalties?" The article was signed by Li Tuo;

On August 22, Liu Xinwu published an article titled "The Royalties Payment System is a Win-Win Cooperation between Writers and Publishers" in China Youth Daily.

On August 25, an article titled "On the Pros and Cons of the Royalties Payment System" appeared in the new issue of People's Literature, signed by Wang Meng, the current editor-in-chief of People's Literature.

In less than a week, three heavyweight media outlets published their opinions on the royalty payment system. The authors of these articles were not the same person, but their views were surprisingly consistent:

The royalty payment system has more advantages than disadvantages, and can inspire the creative enthusiasm of writers. It is a good system worth promoting.

In addition, these articles all mentioned the criticism and attacks on Lin Chaoyang by many media outlets over the royalty payment system in the past month, expressing indignation at such behavior.

"It is obviously a system that benefits writers across the country, and shares risks with publishers. How come it has become money worship in the mouths of some media outlets?

Can those media outlets that keep accusing others of "worshiping money" reflect on themselves? They have said too many empty words and really regard themselves as moral saints?"

Among the three articles, Li Tuo's "Three Questions to Yangcheng Evening News: What is the Crime of Royalty Payment?" has the most intense attitude, almost pointing at the noses of those media outlets that have criticized the royalty payment system and Lin Chaoyang in recent times.

Although the Yanjing Daily is a local newspaper, it is also considered a half-central-level media because it has the word "Yanjing" in its name, not to mention China Youth Daily and People's Literature.

The three authoritative media have published articles so intensively to express their support for the royalty payment system and Lin Chaoyang, which has suppressed the voices of abuse and criticism in the media in the previous month.

If you don't make a sound, you will be shocked.

Li Tuo and Lin Chaoyang know that in the face of long-term attacks and smears from those media, if you don't take action, you will definitely have to use thundering means.

The articles of the Yanjing Daily, China Youth Daily and People's Literature are just appetizers. In terms of the media discourse power held by the national writers' circle, Yanjing writers are second, and no one dares to claim to be first.

Lin Chaoyang was attacked by dozens of domestic media because of the royalty issue this time, which has triggered the collective resistance of the Yanjing writers' circle.

At the same time, it is not just the writers of Yenching. Lin Chaoyang has made many friends over the years and has a wide network of contacts in the domestic literary world. In just one cultural salon in March every year, he has made friends with 20 to 30 writers.

Moreover, these writers are not unknown. Any one of them may be a leading figure in the literary world of a certain province.

These people may have some concerns and dare not speak out easily when the outside world attacks Lin Chaoyang crazily.

But when Li Tuo dares to be the pioneer of Lin Chaoyang and blows the horn of charge, these people are definitely the best candidates to help.

"The road to royalty payment is long and difficult", author: Lu Wenfu, "Wenhui Daily" No. 238, 1984.

"Some thoughts on the royalty payment system", author: Lu Yao, "Shaanxi Daily" No. 240, 1984.

"Starting from life - also on the royalty payment system", author: Jiang Zilong, "Tianjin Literature" No. 8, 1984.

…

Under the call of Li Tuo, Wang Meng and others, in less than half a month, more than 20 writers from all over the country published their support for the royalty system and Lin Chaoyang in newspapers, literary magazines and other media.

These 20 writers are all outstanding figures in the literary circles of their respective provinces, and they are the future leaders of the literary world. Everyone speaks out for one thing and one person with such a heart, and the topicality and influence generated are naturally not to be underestimated.

The high frequency of speaking out for more than 20 consecutive days has caused the original one-sided criticism of the royalty system and Lin Chaoyang to change 180 degrees, and the response aroused among the general public is also greater than before.

After all, before, the criticisms of those media and journalists were all focused on professional fields, and ordinary people mostly watched the excitement and hardly cared deeply.

But the situation is different now. The joint voice of dozens of well-known writers has completely attracted and locked the attention of ordinary people.

The influence and appeal of writers in the 1980s are no less than that of later performing stars. With so many well-known writers speaking in unison, it is difficult for ordinary people not to care.

And as time goes by, more and more writers and media have begun to join this discussion.

Unlike the early stage, which required people to call for action, these writers and media who spoke out in the later stage were completely out of their own ideas and were not coerced by anything.

It was not until this time that the real public opinion was reflected.

Throughout September, there were more than 100 articles about the royalty system in large and small media across the country, and most of them supported the implementation of the royalty system.

As for the "money worship" hat that some media first put on Lin Chaoyang, everyone has long stopped caring. No one believes this argument at all, and there is no market at all.

The war of public opinion lasted for more than two months, and the dirty water that the media had thrown on Lin Chaoyang was finally washed away, which of course was inseparable from the voices of support from many writers.

Some media who wanted to put Lin Chaoyang to death angrily called these people "Lin supporters", and correspondingly, they naturally became "anti-Lin supporters".

At the beginning of the war of public opinion, Lin Chaoyang was called for by everyone in the news media everywhere, and the anti-Lin supporters had the upper hand, thinking that they could sit back and relax.

They never expected that the firepower of the pro-Lin supporters came so suddenly and so swiftly, and they defeated the anti-Lin supporters in one move.

In the later period of more than a month, they could hardly organize any decent counterattacks, and even if they did, they would be quickly suppressed by the public opinion of the pro-Lin supporters and could not be carried out at all.

Seeing that more and more writers have expressed their approval of the royalty payment system, and more and more readers have learned about the royalty payment system, those media that originally criticized Lin Chaoyang also realized that the situation was over and fell silent.

But the matter did not end. On September 30, the last day before the National Day.

The Economic Daily suddenly published a commentator article titled "The publishing industry adapts to the market and proposes new measures for reform and opening up."

The article reads:

"With the deepening of reform and opening up, the era of knowledge economy is coming, and copyright protection and protection of creators' rights and interests will surely become important cornerstones for the development of cultural industries.

As an important part of copyright protection, the royalty payment system is of great significance for stimulating creative vitality, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of authors, and promoting the healthy and orderly development of cultural industries.

This system ensures that creators can obtain reasonable economic returns from their works, thereby stimulating the birth of more excellent works.

It is not only a recognition of the labor value of creators, but also an important mechanism for maintaining fair competition in the market.

……

The first royalty payment contract in the publishing industry initiated by Guangdong Huacheng Publishing House will surely further promote the further development of my country's publishing industry in the future, stimulate more innovative vitality, contribute more to the prosperity of the cultural industry, and promote the cultural industry to a higher level."

The article "The Publishing Industry Adapts to the Market and Proposes New Measures for Reform and Opening Up" is undoubtedly an official article, and there is nothing amazing about the words and sentences between the lines.

But everyone who reads the article understands that the key to such an article is not the writing style, but the attitude expressed in the article.

Speaking of the Economic Daily, it is not a media with a long history. It has only been published for a year and a half.

But it has a great background. It is a vice-ministerial institution directly under the Central Government of China, and a news agency and a central newspaper managed by the Central Propaganda Department of China.

As the name suggests, the Economic Daily has always been a media that focuses on economic reports.

At the same time, it is also an important public opinion position for the Central Government and the State Council to guide the national economic work, and an important window for the international community to observe the economic situation in China.

Although it has only been published for a year and a half, it has become a mainstream media with a large circulation, strong authority and credibility in the domestic economic field.

In terms of national fame and influence, it is certainly not as good as central-level media such as the People's Daily and Guangming Daily, but in the economic field, the Economic Daily has a more authoritative voice than the former two.

"The publishing industry adapts to the market and proposes new measures for reform and opening up" expounds on the viewpoint from the perspective of the development of the cultural industry, which can be said to be a high-level view, and it is more than one level higher than those media that only stand on the moral high ground and hypocritically criticize others.

The unreserved support for the royalty payment system expressed in this article can almost be regarded as the national recognition of the royalty payment system.

This situation is the same as when two primary school students quarrel and the teacher comes out to mediate. Do you dare not listen?

In this way, this article in the Economic Daily is equivalent to putting an end to the topic that has been constantly debated by domestic media in the past two months.

At this point, it is a perfect solution for Lin Chaoyang.

The original attacks on him by the media have been washed away in the last month or so. Not only that, he has also gained a wave of popularity in the domestic writer circle.

The benefits of the royalty payment system for writers are obvious. If Lin Chaoyang had not argued with the publisher, China's publishing industry might not have adopted royalty payment, which can significantly increase writers' income, in another ten years.

Therefore, no matter what, domestic writers must thank Lin Chaoyang.

In Li Tuo's words, "Chinese writers should build a monument and write a biography for Lin Chaoyang!"