Mr. Cao Jingxing is like a flame, burning his whole life for the cause of journalism, which is the connection of his life and the driving force that supports him.
Speaking of Mr. Cao Jingxing, I think it can be described by the word "crazy". Why "crazy"? His father was The Republic of China newspaperman Cao Juren, Mr. Cao Juren is a person who dedicates his body and mind to journalism, and Mr. Cao Jingxing continues such a gene - his dedication to journalism. Even in the course of two years of illness and treatment, he has not stopped working, and has been continuously publishing video creation content about Shanghai culture on self-media.
Cao Kefan and Cao Jingxing (right) Courtesy of this article: Cao Kefan
After the reform and opening up, Cao Jingxing went to Hong Kong and successively worked as a reporter, editor and editor-in-chief in many newspapers. After Phoenix TV was born, he was also invited to Phoenix TV as a news commentator. The rise of Phoenix Satellite TV is related to the mechanism, and the second is inseparable from the "old men" who have invited Cao Jingxing and Ruan Cishan. The first time I was deeply impressed with Cao Jingxing was when I saw Cao Jingxing on Phoenix TV as a live commentary on the "9/11" incident. At the time of the incident, Hong Kong was still sweltering hot in September, and he put on a suit in addition to his daily wear of undershirts and shorts and ran to the studio to serve as a commentator. Even in such a hurry, he did an excellent job, talking unpreparedly, and was able to dissect the causes and consequences of 9/11 from international politics to geopolitics, from history to the present.
After retiring from Phoenix TV and returning to Shanghai, Oriental Satellite TV invited him to serve as a special commentator on some cross-strait programs, and also a news commentator for our evening news, despite his age, his passion and sensitivity to news remained unchanged, and he played the role of the main axis in these programs.
What I admire most is that the energy and passion in his body seem to never end, and before he fell ill, he also did two reports every year. He huddled with young journalists in his twenties and thirties to conduct interviews with various deputies and committee members in the Great Hall of the People. Because I was a member of the Shanghai delegation, he often asked me to help him pull people, and we made an appointment to "join" in front of the piano in the hall of the Great Hall of the People.
Cao Jingxing at the two sessions
Cao Jing acts with enthusiasm, leads people sincerely, and spares no effort to help the younger generations. People are also very fun, he found someone to brew a "Cao Jingxing" yellow wine, when the party brought us to drink. Every time we get together and chat, we benefit a lot, know a lot of new news, and you will be amazed at how much he reads and how widely he has heard. He can send dozens of messages in the circle of friends every day, hundreds more often. He said that he just wants to provide you with some news resources and clues, choose what you need, and if you don't want to see it, you can block it.
After falling ill, he turned his energy to self-media, and he went to photograph the streets, alleys and buildings in Shanghai, telling the historical stories behind these buildings. I think he is really too similar to his father, Mr. Cao Juren. Mr. Cao Juren was a student of Zhang Taiyan and went out with Lu Xun. Some of the past events written by Mr. Cao Juren about Shanghai culture now seem to be precious historical materials and a very important part of the study of Shanghai's development history. Cao Jingxing's concern for cross-strait relations is also inseparable from his father, and Mr. Cao Juren made many contributions to cross-strait relations in those years.
Cao Jingxing continued his father's mantle, they did journalism with the eyes of a cultural person, and they looked at culture from the perspective of a journalist. In the past ten years, Cao Jingxing and his sister Cao Lei have been sorting out Mr. Cao Juren's manuscripts, which are about 10 million words, which are extremely valuable materials for studying the history of the Republic of China. History is yesterday's news, news is tomorrow's history, they are all with the perspective of writers and historians to do news, so their news can be enduring, through time and space, become a precious historical material. The contribution of the two generations of Cao to journalism is worthy of a big book.
Cao Jingxing at work