China’s Two-Year Old Smoker and the News
Apparently the youngest smoker in the world is two-year-old Tong Liangliang from Tianjin, who has a pack-a-day habit.
Tong Liangliang - the toddler smoker
Already, online social networks are abuzz with admonitions and sympathy making this story destined for the “news of the weird” (or as I view it, the “condescending look at the poor”) hall of fame.
But a closer look at this story provides a fascinating look at how news is transmitted from one place to another, and from one language to another.
The story first appeared in northern China’s Bohai Morning News on June 22, which quickly got picked up by the Chinese media. From there, the Chinese Internet audience offered admonitions and sympathy.
This must have caught the attention of China Radio International, which first transmitted the story in English. From there, it was picked up by the Eastern European “open source news” site finchannel.com and the U.K.’s Daily Mail online. The story probably got its biggest boost from an item in a Rupert Murdoch News Corporation site in Australia.
What the English websites leave out of the story (and wondering why) is fascinating. They describe how the child’s parents first gave him cigarettes to alleviate pain from a hernia, but instead, attempt a light-hearted slant by describing how an adult Chinese man once claimed he held the world record for being the youngest person to start smoking at age three.
The Chinese web sites provide more detail. CRI’s english version included a line at the end, which accurately mirrors the Chinese-language sites, that said the parents were seeking advice on how to get the child to stop smoking.
And a day after it ran the story, the Bohai Morning Post, had to run a follow up story because so many readers were concerned about the child, including the local hospital which drew up a plan to help the boy quit smoking.
Lost in translation, or just poor reporting?
From Lisa’s Chinese Culture Blog [chineseculture.about.com]