◎ Lin Jingtang
From Wang Weizhong to Li Siduan: Shen Boyang proved that breaking the circle is not about inclusion, but more importantly, mutual achievement. (Taken from the post) Even though we may not necessarily become friends politically, sometimes, a good communication is enough to make each other a noble person.
Shen Boyang has recently been interviewed by Wang Weizhong and Li Siduan one after another. In addition to how much Shen Boyang "breaks the circle", from the aftermath of these two interviews, we can see that the three people have gained something from this exchange that they did not have before.
This may also be the most noteworthy thing to observe in today's highly confrontational Taiwanese politics.
Please read on...
1. Shen Boyang got a breakthrough, and Wang Weizhong also got a phenomenal show
On September 10, Shen Boyang accepted Wang Weizhong's "Hey! Where did I say it? 》Access. The video exceeded 1.34 million views in two days, and by September 25 it had exceeded 3.13 million, breaking the record originally held by Tsai Kang-yong with about 960,000 views.
China Broadcasting Network itself is also a quite mature channel. Of course, China Broadcasting Corporation has a large number of programs on its shelves every day, but the significant growth during the same period when Shen Boyang's videos exceeded 3 million is itself a traffic change worth observing.
Therefore, this matter cannot only be understood as "Wang Weizhong helped Shen Boyang." What we can see is that Shen Boyang gained Wang Weizhong's original audience because of the interview, and Wang Weizhong also obtained what may become his most representative political interview work in recent years because of Shen Boyang. The two actually opened another door for each other.
2. Wang Weizhong is so powerful that people can let down their guard.
Shen Boyang accepted Wang Weizhong's "Hey! Where did I say it? 》Access. The video exceeded 1.34 million views in two days, and by September 25 it had exceeded 3.13 million. (Taken from YouTube) Wang Weizhong and Li Siduan are completely different types of visitors. He himself said that he "invites people from different positions" to his interviews with political figures, and usually does not give interviews, just chatting.
This is closely related to his decades of background in variety shows, dramas, and cultural programs. Although he graduated from the Department of Journalism, after all, variety shows are his strong point, so what he is best at is asking questions one by one with information. However, he can also suddenly ask an unexpected question while seemingly chatting away.
So the scene between Wang Weizhong and Shen Boyang was so good to watch, to some extent, because the two people's brains work very similarly. They have quick association skills and a wide range of information. They can talk about culture, politics, life, and policies, and then suddenly jump back to Taipei Municipal Government.
Shen Boyang later described Wang Weizhong as having a chatty hosting style of "talking about whatever comes to mind", and the two of them continued to sit and chat after the program ended, which made this matter very important.
Because when politicians no longer only have slogans, press conferences, and offense and defense, the audience begins to have the opportunity to understand "how does this person think?"
3. The really special thing about Shen Boyang is that he is very suitable for this kind of long dialogue without a script.
Shen Boyang's voice has a quality that is easily overlooked. His advantage is not necessarily just in talk show speeches. He is also very capable of organizing information in long questions and answers.
His academic background spans law, criminology, social studies, cognitive operations and civil defense. In an exclusive interview this year, Switzerland's Neue Zurich Zeitung also described him as calm and coherent.
Therefore, when encountering Wang Weizhong's skipping visit, he can follow him; when encountering Li Sixuan's questioning, he can return to the system, financial resources, policies and risk management.
He actually has a political communication ability that is very suitable for the era of podcasts and YouTube.
In the past, TV news only gave politicians 30 seconds, so the most important words were the golden words. Nowadays, an interview can last for an hour, and the audience will start to observe. Will you become confused after being questioned? How do you answer when you don’t know? Do you get angry when you meet a host who disagrees with you?
This is why "long interviews" are becoming another kind of testing ground for candidates, and why Jiang Wanan never dared to make an appointment to appear on Wang Weizhong's program after discovering that he was not as good as Shen Boyang.
4. When I arrived at Li Siduan, I completely changed my exam method.
If Wang Weizhong was "chatting away" from Shen Boyang, Li Siduan was "taking apart and examining" Shen Boyang.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan did not dare to attend the appointment to appear on Wang Weizhong's program. (File photo) Li Siduan is a typical journalist. His biggest characteristic in the past was to first understand the information and then "tell the news." In long interviews, he himself has said that he will extend the recording time to let the interviewee speak slowly, and he is also willing to put aside the original setting and continue to pursue the interviewee's answer.
Therefore, this interview started with a poll, asking questions about municipal administration, administrative experience, policy and financial resources, cross-strait exchanges, and the most direct question along the way, "Why should we replace Jiang Wanan and replace him with you?"
He even asked Shen Boyang directly, "You don't think that all interactions with China are united front, do you?" This is not to promote the candidate. As a news program host, he is testing whether Shen Boyang's argument can withstand constant questions.
But here's the interesting part. The two people were fighting on camera, but there was no hostility off camera. Shen Boyang revealed that before the official visit began, the two of them chatted for three to forty minutes, even talking about animation policy. Political differences do not prevent people from communicating.
5. As a result, Li Siduan himself became a beneficiary of this traffic
"Finding the Four Ends Tonight" originally only had about 5,000 subscribers on the YouTube channel. A day or so after Shen Boyang's interview was released, the number of subscribers reached 7,710, which is an increase of about 2,710 people and a single-day increase of about 54.2%. The video also exceeded 900,000 views in about a day.
Therefore, if Wang Weizhong found a group of viewers for Shen Boyang who might not have taken the initiative to watch him, then Shen Boyang, in turn, brought a large number of people who did not know "Looking for Si Duan Tonight" into the channel for Li Sixuan. This is a very typical "mutual respect".
Li Siduan did not have to agree with Shen Boyang just because he visited Shen Boyang, and Shen Boyang did not need to ask Li Siduan to be friendly to him. What really happens is that you bring out your expertise, I bring out my content, and the audience makes their own judgment. As a result, good content will bring new audiences to both parties.
6. What is even more rare is that Shen Boyang did not directly incorporate "people who are good to me" into his own
Shen Boyang appeared on the program "Looking for Si Duan Tonight" and accepted an exclusive interview with senior media person Li Si Duan. (Taken from YouTube) After Wang Weizhong’s interview became popular, some Blue Camp supporters began to call him “Lv Weizhong”, and Shen Boyang publicly spoke for Wang Weizhong.
His statement was not that "Wang Weizhong now supports me." He said that this is how Wang Weizhong interviews people. It is unfair to label him a political label just because of one interview. This detail is actually more noteworthy than the 3 million views.
Because the most common pattern in Taiwanese politics is that as long as one person has a good talk with people from different camps, both sides will immediately start asking, "So which side are you on now?"
Over time, everyone can only speak to his own people, but what democracy really needs is just the opposite.
You can disagree with someone, or even never vote for them, but still feel that one of their opinions is worth listening to. The moderator can ask very tough questions, but it does not mean that the moderator is the enemy of the candidate.
7. What politics lacks most is probably more people who can speak well.
So putting Wang Weizhong, Li Siduan and Shen Boyang together, what I see is actually three abilities coming together.
What Wang Weizhong provides is life experience, cultural sense and the ability to chat to make people less wary.
What Li Siduan provides is the questioning, suspicion and examination accumulated by journalists for decades.
What Shen Boyang provides is high information density, quick organization of questions, and the ability to enter different audiences and accept inquiries.
In the end, a very interesting result was produced. Wang Weizhong received 3 million representative interviews, Li Siduan's channel increased subscriptions by more than 50% in one day, and Shen Boyang gave people who might have only known him from political commentary news an hour to re-judge this person.
What Shen Boyang provides is high information density, quick organization of questions, and the ability to enter different audience fields and accept inquiries. (File photo) To be political, you don’t have to be friends, or even agree with each other. But as long as you are willing to sit down, ask questions clearly, and give complete answers, a good exchange may make people who have never met before become a boost in each other's lives.
And if a democratic society can still maintain this kind of space, the real beneficiaries will not only be the three people on the stage, but also everyone in the audience who is still willing to listen to different voices.
(The author is the political editor-in-chief of Sound Quantity)
This article is reprinted with permission from the political Facebook page
